Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

sosodank OP t1_iu1i339 wrote

Reply to comment by ehj in why can't a photon of appropriate energy enable P->N conversion? by sosodank

awesome expansion, and I finally appreciate the neutrino a bit after despising it all my life. thanks a lot for being the best part of reddit.

3

sosodank OP t1_iu1ikra wrote

let me add a question: why must the energy of the emitted electron have a non-trivial spectrum? when you emit an alpha, you're falling to some distinct energy level, hence the single value (or at least a discrete spectrum in the case of complex isotopes). what's different about the beta? is it due to the W boson intermediary?

1

mfb- t1_iu2vln7 wrote

You get a continuous spectrum for beta decays (or p + gamma -> n + e+ + nu) because you have three particles in the final state, so there are more options how to share the energy and momentum across the particles. An alpha decay only has two particles, which only leaves one option for the energy distribution because everything else would violate conservation of momentum.

1