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Half-Life

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 191 Accesses

Synonyms

Period (half-life period)

Definition

The half-life T 1/2 is the time required to halve the number of atoms of a particular radioactive nuclide. It relates to the decay constant λ through \( {T}_{1/2}= \ln\ 2/\lambda \approx 0.69/\lambda \).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46, Allee d’Italie, 69364, Cedex, Lyon, France

    Francis Albarede

Authors
  1. Francis Albarede
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Correspondence to Francis Albarede .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Albarede, F. (2014). Half-Life. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_691-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_691-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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