First direct observation of two protons in the decay of $^{45}$Fe with a TPC

Giovinazzo, J.; Blank, B.; Borcea, C.; Canchel, G.; Demonchy, C. E.; Santos, F. de Oliveira; Dossat, C.; Grevy, S.; Hay, L.; Huikari, J.; Leblanc, S.; Matea, I.; Pedroza, J. -L.; Perrot, L.; Pibernat, J.; Serani, L.; Stodel, C.; Thomas, J. -C.

First direct observation of two protons in the decay of $^{45}$Fe with a TPC

Authors

Santos, F. de Oliveira

Description

The decay of the ground-state two-proton emitter 45Fe was studied with a time-projection chamber and the emission of two protons was unambiguously identified. The total decay energy and the half-life measured in this work agree with the results from previous experiments. The present result constitutes the first direct observation of the individual protons in the two-proton decay of a long-lived ground-state emitter. In parallel, we identified for the first time directly two-proton emission from 43Cr, a known beta-delayed two-proton emitter. The technique developped in the present work opens the way to a detailed study of the mechanism of ground-state as well as beta-delayed two-proton radioactivity.
4 pages, 5 figures