Alpha, beta and gamma decay

Abstract

As discussed in Chapter 1, the radioactivity of heavy atoms, embodied in the three processes of α-, β- and γ-decay, were early indicators of nuclear activity. With the production of many species of nuclei in their ground or excited states through nuclear reactions such decays have been studied throughout the periodic table. These studies, particularly of γ-decay, give valuable information about the structure of nuclear states as well as about the interactions responsible for them.