AUTHOR=Shang Haitao 

TITLE=Probing long-lived radioactive isotopes on the double-logarithmic Segrè chart

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2024.1057928

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2024.1057928

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>Isotopes have been widely applied in a variety of scientific subjects; many aspects of isotopes, however, remain not well understood. In this study, I investigate the relation between the number of neutrons (<italic>N</italic>) and the number of protons (<italic>Z</italic>) in stable isotopes of non-radioactive elements and long-lived isotopes of radioactive elements at the double-linear scale (conventional Segrè chart) and the double-logarithmic scale. Statistical analyses show that <italic>N</italic> is a power-law function of <italic>Z</italic> for these isotopes: <italic>N</italic> = 0.73 × <italic>Z</italic><sup>1.16</sup>. This power-law relation provides better predictions for the numbers of neutrons in stable isotopes of non-radioactive elements and long-lived isotopes of radioactive elements than the linear relation on the conventional Segrè chart. The power-law pattern reveled here offers empirical guidance for probing long-lived isotopes of unknown radioactive elements.</p>