PROMPT PARTICLE DECAY IN NUCLEI: PRESENT STATUS AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

During recent years the nuclear decay modes of discrete prompt proton and alpha-particle emission from deformed or superdeformed high-spin states have been discovered in nuclei in the vicinity of doubly-magic Ni-56. The particle decays may be viewed as self-regulated two-dimensional quantum tunnelling processes. Due to the decay the remaining nuclear mean-field potential is rearranged dramatically. Quantum-mechanical tunnelling is a wide-spread phenomenon in the natural sciences. Therefore, a full understanding of this process may be of importance far beyond nuclear physics. Significant experimental progress has been made lately. It illustrates that prompt particle decays are "natural" decays in proton rich nuclei in the mass 60 region. New experiments are being planned, involving new instrumentation for charged particle detection.

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