Theory of Alpha Decay. I

Abstract

A preliminary report on the application of the perturbation of boundary conditions theory of Feshbach, Weisskopf, and Peaslee to the problem of the decay of a virtual state is presented. In particular, the formulas for alpha decay are derived. The derivation assumes no model of the nucleus nor of nuclear forces. It contains the slope of the logarithmic derivative of the wave function versus energy as the only factor related to the nuclear structure; therefore, it includes earlier theories of alpha decay as special cases.