Lifespan of a 𝛾-Level

Institut für Kernphysik

Carmen Sánchez Pérez
Elena Bazo González
Group Ba-C-09
Supervised by Raffaela Busse
Carried out: 15th April 2019

Handed in: 8th May 2019

 Contents
1. Introduction 02
2. Theoretical Framework 02
2.1 Radioactive decays 02
2.1.1 𝛼 decays 02
2.1.2 𝛽 decays 03
2.1.3 Electron capture 03
2.1.4 𝛾 decays 04
2.2 Interaction of gamma radiation with matter 04
2.2.1 Photoelectric effect 04
2.2.2 Compton scattering 04
2.2.3 Pair creation 05
2.3 Positronium 05
2.4 Scintillators 06
2.5 Photomultiplier 07
2.6 Decay Law 07
3. Setup and calibration 08
3.1 Measuring principle 08
3.2 Setting the power windows 09
3.3 Time calibration 11
3.4 Determination of the zero point 12
4. Results 14
4.1 Decay constant 15
4.2 Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) 17
4.3 Average 18
5. Conclusion 19
6. References 20

1
 1. Introduction
In this experiment the lifetime of the first excited level of the 44Sc nucleus is measured
by three different approaches.

2. Theoretical Framework
The isotope 44Ti decays into the second excited state of 44Sc by electron capture with
a probability of 100%. The 44Sc afterwards decays by gamma emission into the first excited
level and then again to the ground state by gamma emission.

The 44Sc nucleus decays into the ground state of the 44Ca, either by electron capture
with a probability of 5,73% or by β+ decay with a probability of 94.27%.

44
Fig 1: Decay scheme of the Ti.[5]

2.1. Radioactive decays

2.1.1. α decays

Alpha decay is a type of radioactive decay in which a nucleus emits an alpha particle
and decays into another one with A’=A-4 and Z’=Z-2. The alpha particle consists of a

2
nucleus of Helium completely ionized, i.e., it has no electrons. Their charge is +2e and
their mass is 4 u. The diagram of the decay is:
𝐴 𝐴−4
𝑍𝑋𝑁 → 𝑍−2𝑌𝑁 + 42𝐻𝑒 (1)

The corresponding reaction equation takes place if the binding energies of the daughter
nucleus and the Helium nucleus together are lower than the one of the parent nucleus,
because the probability of the alpha particle is non-zero outside the Coulomb barrier of the
nucleus and they can tunnel through and leave the nucleus. Since the nuclei are also in
excited states after the alpha decay, they are always accompanied by γ-Radiation.

2.1.2. β decays

Beta decay is a radioactive decay in which an electron or a positron (beta particle) is

emitted from a nucleus.

The two main types of beta decay are:

• β- - decay: a neutron decays into a proton, an electron and an electron antineutrino.

The process follows the equation:

𝑛 → 𝑒 − + 𝑝 + 𝜐̅𝑒 (2)

The kinetic energy, which is distributed over the decay products, is calculated
as the difference of the energies of the atoms:

𝐸𝑄 (𝛽− ) = 𝐸𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚 (𝐴, 𝑍) − 𝐸𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚 (𝐴, 𝑍 − 1) (3)

• β+ - decay: a proton decays into a neutron, a positron and an electron

neutrino. The process follows the equation:

𝑝 → 𝑒 + + 𝑛 + 𝜐𝑒 (4)

The energy required to create the positron with the rest energy Eo=mc2 is
taken from the decay energy:

𝐸𝑄 (𝛽+ ) = 𝐸𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚 (𝐴, 𝑍) − 𝐸𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚 (𝐴, 𝑍 − 1) − 2𝑚𝑒 𝑐 2 (5)

2.1.3. Electron capture

Electron capture is a process in which an atomic electron is combined with a proton

and forms a neutron and an electron neutrino:

𝑝 + 𝑒 − → 𝑛 + 𝜐𝑒 (6)

3
 This process occurs only with electrons close to the nucleus, which have a certain
probability of being in the nucleus and are virtually captured by the proton. The missing
electron is filled with an electron from a higher shell, emitting Auger electrons or
characteristic X-radiation.

For this decay to take place, the energy difference between parent and daughter
nucleus must be greater than the binding energy of the electron. The decay energy passes
into the energy of the electron neutrino and the recoil energy of the daughter nucleus. So,
it applies:

𝐸𝑄 (𝐸𝐶) = 𝐸𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚 (𝐴, 𝑍) − 𝐸𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚 (𝐴, 𝑍 − 1) (7)

2.1.4. γ decay

In a gamma decay, a nucleus transitions from an excited higher energy level (X**) to
a lower one (X*) by emitting a photon. The decay equation is:
𝐴 ∗∗ 𝐴 ∗
𝑍𝑋𝑁 → 𝑍𝑋𝑁 + 𝛾 (8)

As there are no particles involving the decay, the structure of the atoms does not
change when this decay occurs.

2.2. Interaction of gamma radiation with matter

2.2.1. Photoelectric effect

When gamma rays hit, with enough energy, a certain material, electrons can be
extracted from it. As the energy necessary for the effect to happen is very low, the electrons
leave the orbits with an energy very similar to the energy of the gamma rays and they can
ionize other molecules.

Fig 2: Photoelectric effect.[1]

4
 2.2.2. Compton scattering

Compton effect is a phenomenon in which a photon (electromagnetic radiation) collides

with a free electron and goes out with a larger wavelength due to the loss of energy. The
frequency or wavelength, and therefore the energy transfer of the scattered radiation
depends only on the scattering angle.

Fig 3: Compton scattering.[2]

2.2.3. Pair creation

Process in which a particle with enough energy creates two different particles. In order
to transform a photon into an electron-positron pair, the photon must have at least an
energy of 1022 keV.

Fig 4: Pair production.[3]

2.3. Positronium

Positronium is a quasi-stable state formed of an electron and a positron coupled

together. Depending on the spin of the electron and the positron they can form
parapositronium (antiparallel, single state) or orthopositronium (parallel, triplet state).

5
 While orthopositronium decays into three or a bigger odd number of photons,
parapositronium decays into two or a bigger even number of photons. This second decay
has a shorter life than the first one, because it is easier to decay into two photons.

Parapositronium consists in a singlet state with antiparallel spins (S=0, 𝑀𝑠 =0). When
it decays into two photons, as it is the most probable case, they have each 511 keV and
move in opposite directions because the momentum is conserved, each photon has spin 1
and they cancel.

Orthopositronium consists in a triplet state with parallel spins (S=1, 𝑀𝑠 =-1,0,1).

When it decays into three photons each photon will have a third of the total energy (1022
keV) and they will configurate in a way that makes the total angular momentum the same
as before the decay (S=1).

2.4. Scintillators

Scintillators are materials that produce a flash of light when particles pass through it.
This light corresponds to the energy emitted, which depends on the incident particles.

There are two types of scintillators: organic and inorganic. While organic ones have
fast signals and worse energy resolution, inorganic scintillators give slow signals but have
good energy resolution.

Inorganic scintillators are crystals in which activation centers are created by doping
them, in order to create energy levels within the band gap and emit photons with less
energy and that are in the visible range. When the gamma radiation hits the crystal,
electrons are excited from the valence band to the conduction band and when they de-
excite, they do it to the energy level created because of the doping, emitting a photon that
can be detected. There exist, however, other possibilities when exciting an electron that do
not contribute to this detection of photons. One of them consists of an electron in an
activator excited state that has a forbidden transition to the ground state. These electrons
would need to be excited into higher states from which the decay to the ground state is
not forbidden. Another possibility is that in which an electron is captured at an activator
site. There are some transitions between these states and the ground state but without the
emission of a visible photon.

Fig 5: Energy levels created in the band gap.[5]

6
 2.5. Photomultiplier

When the flash of light produced in the scintillator is not strong enough, it can be
amplified with a photomultiplier. The photomultiplier converts light into electrical signal.
In order to emit this signal, a photocathode is used. When photons hit the photocathode,
it emits electrons that are accelerated by a potential difference (a few kV) and hit a set of
dynodes that keep emitting a larger number of electrons each time, until there is a current
strong enough to be measured. This current is related to the energy of the initial photons.

Fig 6: Scheme of the scintillator together with the photomultiplier. [4]

2.6. Decay law

The decay of a radioactive material cannot be predicted, it is a statistical process. Let

λ be the probability that a nucleus decays and N the number of nuclei present, then the
number of decays per unit time is:
𝑑𝑁
𝑑𝑡
= −𝜆𝑁(𝑡) (9)

𝑁(𝑡) = 𝑁𝑜 𝑒 −𝜆𝑡 (10)

Where N0 is the number of nuclei at t=0.

The half-life t1/2 is the time after which half of the nuclei have decayed and it is
calculated as:
𝑁𝑜
𝑁(𝑡 = 𝑡1/2 ) = 2
= 𝑁𝑜 𝑒 −𝑡1/2 𝜆 (11)

ln 2
𝑡1/2 = = 𝜏 ln 2 (12)
𝜆

Where τ is called the average lifetime.

7
 The activity of a sample is defined as the number of decays produced per unit of time.

𝑑𝑁
𝐴 = − 𝑑𝑡 = 𝜆𝑁 = 𝜆𝑁𝑜 𝑒 −𝜆𝑡 (13)

It can be expressed in terms of the initial activity: 𝐴𝑜 = 𝐴(𝑡 = 0) = 𝜆𝑁𝑜

𝐴(𝑡) = 𝐴𝑜 𝑒 −𝜆𝑡 (14)

3. Setup and calibration

3.1 Measuring principle

During the performance of this experiment, the 𝛾-decay of the first excited state of
44 44 44
𝑆𝑐 over its lifetime was studied. 𝑆𝑐 results from the decay of 𝑇𝑖, which occurs 100%
44
via electron capture, into the second excited state of 𝑆𝑐 with 146.3 keV. Which, upon
emission of a 78.5 keV photon, de-excites into the first excited state and then goes into
44 44
ground state, emitting a 67.8 keV photon. The 𝑆𝑐 core decays to 𝐶𝑎 by means of
+
electron capture (5.73%) and 𝛽 -decay (94.27%). In order to measure the lifetime of the
first excited state, the emission of the 78.5 keV photon is used as the start signal and the
emission of the 67.8 keV as a stop signal. The experimental setup is shown schematically
in Figure 7.

[1]
Fig 7. Schematic representation of the experimental setup.

8
 Figure 7 shows that the 𝛾-quanta are first detected with two different separate
scintillation detectors and photomultipliers. Then, the initially unipolar signal is amplified
and transformed into a bipolar signal, which can then be electronically processed.
Corresponding discriminators sort the signals according to their energy and ensure that we
receive only the signals to 78.5 keV (start signal) and 67.8 keV (stop signal). With a Time
to Amplitude Converter (TAC) the lifetime (difference between the start and stop signals)
is determined, and converted to a voltage proportional to the lifetime. Using a Multi
Channel Analyzer (MCA), the signal is passed on to the computer and the results are
displayed in the Maestro program.

Since the energies of the photons for the start and stop signals are very close together,
they cannot be cleanly separated. A deeper insight into the consequences of this is given
in the ‘Results’ part. To obtain a sufficient number of events, this measurement runs 24
hours, in our case, we left it running for 48 hours.

Further measurements that were necessary for the calibration are also described below.

3.2 Setting the power windows

For the long-term measurement, it is necessary that the windows on the TSCA are set
so that only the desired signals are measured. For this purpose, an unfiltered spectrum of
44
the 𝑇𝑖 source is first recorded so that the peaks from the 𝛾-decay and the 𝛽 + -decay can
be viewed. In the 𝛽 + -decay, the 𝛾 quanta resulting from the annihilation of the positron
with an electron are recorded. The MCA uses voltages from 0 to 10 volts and has 8191
channels. The position and width of the peaks can be used to determine the channel
intervals and positions. This has been recorded once for the start signal and once for the
stop signal, shown if figures 8 and 9.

9
 Fig 8: Stop spectrum.

Fig 9: Start spectrum.

Based on the selected positions and widths of the peaks, the appropriate ratio can be
used to set the appropriate window on the TSCA for further measurements.

10 V
𝑈(𝑘) = ≈ 0.0012 V/Channel
8191 Channel

Therefore, we can convert the channel number into voltage and then set the filters
correctly. The results are shown in Tables 1 and 2.

10
 Nr. Peak Channel Voltage (V) Window (V)
1 Left 67.8 keV-peak 203 0.2478 0.3687
2 Right 67.8 keV-peak 505 0.6165
3 Left 511 keV-peak 1769 2.1597 0.7630
4 Right 511 keV-peak 2394 2.9227
Table 1: Peak width for the stop signal.

Nr. Peak Channel Voltage (V) Window (V)

1 Left 78.5 keV-peak 152 0.1856 0.2014
2 Right 78.5 keV-peak 317 0.3870
3 Left 511 keV-peak 983 1.2001 0.6116
4 Right 511 keV-peak 1484 1.8117
Table 2: Peak width for the start signal.

3.3 Time calibration

In this part, the relation between channel and time is determined. The separation
between the peaks shown in figure 10 was set to be a period of 𝑇 = 0.64 µs, and the
associated time to each peak 𝑁 is a multiple of 𝑇.

Fig 10: Time calibration plot.

In Figure 11, the time corresponding to each peak is plotted in red dots against the
channel. The conversion factor between time and channel number corresponds to the slope
of the linear regression fitted to the data (in blue).

11
 Fig 11: Linear fit of time vs. channel data.

The linear fitting function has the following form 𝑦(𝑥) = 𝑚 · 𝑥 + 𝑛. The values of the
parameters are shown in Table 3.

𝑚 (s/Channel) 𝑛 (s) 𝑅2
(1.2426 ± 0.0004) · 10−9 (−0.136 ± 0.017) · 10−9 0.999998
Table 3: Parameters from the linear fitting.

Therefore, the sought conversion factor is:

1.2426 ± 0.0004 ns/Channel

3.4 Determination of the zero point

The aim of this section is to estimate the time resolution of the experiment setup. For
that purpose, the two detectors are placed forming an angle of 180°, with the source in the
middle and the energy windows adjusted to detect the two 511 keV photons that are
emitted in opposite directions during the parapositronium decay.

Theoretically, both 𝛾-quanta should be detected simultaneously. However, in practice,

the measured time difference between both photons is not zero; it varies around the zero
point. This variance translates into a distribution peak; whose width enables to find the
time resolution of the device. Figure 12 shows the calibration peak for which the zero point
will be determined.

12
 Fig 12: Count vs. channel plot.

As it can be observed in Figure 13, a gaussian function is used to fit peak and obtain
the resolution.

Fig 13: Gaussian fit for the time peak.

The gaussian fit can be seen in blue and the data from the peak is plotted with red
dots. This gaussian fit differs slightly from an ordinary one since it only fits a certain range
of the experimental data points instead of all of them. The reason behind this approach is
due to an unexpected sudden shift in the time offset, whose cause remains unknown,
resulting in the peak’s uncommon shape and thus, a translation of the peak’s center. Hence,
the gaussian function does not fit the points considered as “shifted”, but only those between
channels 1380 and 1450.

13
 The gaussian function, expressed in terms of the HWHM, is given by equation (15):

(𝑥 − Center)2 (15)
𝑓(𝑥) = Height · exp (− ln 2 · )
HWHM 2

Each of the function’s parameters from the fitting are found thanks to ‘MATLAB’ and
‘Fityk’ and are presented in Table 4:

Center (Channel) Height (Counts) HWHM (Channel)

(1401.7 ± 0.3) (942 ± 12) (20.4 ± 0.3)
Table 4: Parameters from the gaussian fitting.

The resulting curve fits the selected data range with 𝑅 2 = 0.98.

Therefore, the variance of the main peak is:

𝐻𝑊𝐻𝑀
𝜎= = (17.33 ± 0.25) Channel
√2 · ln 2

And we consider the offset time as the center point of the peak:

𝑡0 = (1401.7 ± 17.33) Channel = (1741.8 ± 21.5) ns

Finally, putting everything together according to (16):

𝑡(𝑥) = 𝑚 · 𝑥 + 𝑛 − 𝑡0 (16)

Resulting in the calibration term:

𝑡(𝑥) = 𝑥 · (1.2426 ± 0.0004) ns/Channel + (−1741.9 ± 21.5) ns (17)

4. Results

Using the previous calibrations (equation (17)), it is now possible to evaluate the MCA
spectrum of the γ decay of 44
𝑆𝑐 with respect to the mean lifetime τ. The determination of
τ can be made from the decay constant λ by exponentially fitting the curves in the
spectrum, reading the half-width or by defining the mean value.

However, initially, in order to be able to record the spectrum, the detectors are aligned
at an angle of 90° so the statistical background radiation of β-decay is avoided, i.e. the 511
44
keV photons of the positron, from 𝑆𝑐 . The TSCA power window is set to the previously
measured 67.8 keV and 78.4 keV peak, respectively, and the measurement is started.

To get good statistics, the spectrum was recorded for a period of 48 hours. The
following graph (Figure 14) shows the measured spectrum, whereby the channel number

14
has already been converted into time. In the graph it is also clearly shown the offset, with
a height of approximately 300 counts (dotted line). In the next subsection, the exact value
of this offset will be determined.

Fig 14: Counts vs Time data plot.

As it was previously stated, since the two energies for the start and stop signals are
close to each other, they cannot be cleanly separated. Actually, the probability that a 67.8
keV photon falsely triggers a start signal is the same as a 78.5 keV photon triggering it.
This also holds for the stop signal. For that reason, “negative” lifetimes are also registered
during the lab performance, which, however, are also valid data. Accordingly, the structure
for both signals is mostly symmetrical and thus, so is the resulting spectrum (see Figure
14). As a matter of fact, working separately with each branch of the spectrum and then
taking the average will result in a greater accurateness of the procedure.
44
The lifespan of the first excited state of 𝑆𝑐 is obtained by the following approaches:

4.1 Decay constant

By exponentially fitting the distribution in the spectrum, the mean lifetime τ can be
determined from the decay constant λ of the exponential decay law. For the two
exponential branches, the following fits are obtained using the ‘MATLAB’ program.

15
 Fig 15: Exponential fits for each side of the time peak, in red for the left side and in blue for
the right side of the peak.

Both exponential fits obey an equation of the form 𝐴(𝑡) = 𝐴0 𝑒 −𝜆𝑡 + 𝑘. The parameter
𝑘 is the so-called offset. It arises from accidental coincidences, and has to be removed from
the spectrum in order to eliminate its influence on the data of interest. 𝜆 is the so-called
decay constant.

The results from the fit are presented in Table 5:

Exponential Fit 𝐴0 (Counts) 𝜆 (ns −1 ) 𝑘 (Counts)

Left 1059 ± 9 (−4.65 ± 0.08) · 10−3 305.5 ± 8.6
1125 ± 7 (4.81 ± 0.04) · 10 −3 302.1 ± 1.2
Right
Table 5: Parameters from the two exponential fittings.

Using the values obtained from the fits, the average value of the decay constant 𝜆𝑎𝑣𝑔
(taking absolute values) and the average offset 𝑘𝑎𝑣𝑔 are calculated with their uncertainties
according to linear error propagation statistics.

𝜆𝑎𝑣𝑔 = (4.73 ± 0.06) · 10−3 ns −1

𝑘𝑎𝑣𝑔 = (303.8 ± 4.9) Counts

From equation 12, it can be derived that 𝜏 = 1/𝜆, so the mean lifespan is:

𝜏 = (211.4 ± 2.8) ns

16
 It is worth mentioning that the peak is centered at 𝑡 = 0 s, thanks to the applied
calibration term. The error of 𝜏 has been calculated by linear error propagation, according
to:
1 ∆𝜆𝑎𝑣𝑔
𝜏= → ∆𝜏 =
𝜆𝑎𝑣𝑔 𝜏2

Where ∆𝜆𝑎𝑣𝑔 = (∆𝜆𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 + ∆𝜆𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑡ℎ )/2. It should be noted that ∆𝜆𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 and ∆𝜆𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑡ℎ have
been given by ‘MATLAB’ during the previous exponential fittings and taking into account
the error from the calibration of the zero point. This also applies to ∆𝑘𝑎𝑣𝑔 .

4.2 Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM)

For this evaluation method, the average lifespan 𝜏 is obtained trough the value of the
half life 𝑡1/2, which is, at the same time, determined by the FWHM value of the peak. The
measured data are corrected with the offset value (𝑘𝑎𝑣𝑔 ) obtained in the previous section.

Fig 16: Determination of 𝜏 by means of the half life time 𝑡1/2 with the FWHM of the peak.

First, the maximum point (black dot in Figure 16) is “eye-picked” chosen and the half
height is calculated. Then, two points are obtained (red dot on the left and pink dot on
the right) and the time difference between one of these two points and the middle point
(blue dot), where the peak is centered, corresponds to the half life 𝑡1/2. The error ∆𝑡1/2 is
obtained by taking the smallest value of the scale that the “zoom” tool in ‘MATLAB’
allows in order to determine the position of the red (left) and pink (right) dots with enough
accuracy, in the 𝑡 ± Δt form:

17
 𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 = 150.7 ± 0.1 ns

𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑡ℎ = 149.2 ± 0.2 ns

Recalling that the time resolution has an error of 21.5 ns, we consider the position of
the blue dot as 0 ± 21.5 ns. Then, 𝑡1/2 is calculated and its error estimated by linear error
propagation:
𝑡1/2 = 𝑡 − 0 → Δ𝑡1/2 = Δ𝑡 + 21.5

Therefore, the following values are obtained:

𝑡1/2,𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 = 150.7 ± 21.6 ns

𝑡1/2,𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑡ℎ = 149.2 ± 21.7 ns

Since there are two values of 𝑡1/2 for each part of the peak, left and right, the average
value is calculated and its uncertainty is obtained by linear error propagation, resulting in:
𝑡1/2,𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 + 𝑡1/2,𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑡ℎ ∆𝑡1/2,𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 + ∆𝑡1/2,𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑡ℎ
𝑡1/2,𝑎𝑣𝑔 = → ∆𝑡1/2,𝑎𝑣𝑔 =
2 2
𝑡1/2,𝑎𝑣𝑔 = 150.0 ± 21.7 ns

According to equation (12), the lifespan 𝜏 averages to:

𝜏 = (216.4 ± 31.3) ns

Where the error has been calculated again by lineal error propagation according to:

𝑡1/2,𝑎𝑣𝑔 ∆𝑡1/2,𝑎𝑣𝑔
𝜏= → ∆𝜏 =
ln 2 ln 2
4.3 Average

The mean lifetime 𝜏 can also be determined using a mean calculation:

∑𝑖 𝑁𝑖 𝑡𝑖
𝜏= (18)
∑𝑖 𝑁𝑖

But first of all, before applying equation (18), the offset value 𝑘𝑎𝑣𝑔 previously
calculated in subsection 4.1 has been subtracted from the number of counts of the
distribution, just like in the last approach, and thus, neglected. The averaging is done
separately for the left and the right branches of the distribution. The negative times of the
left half must be multiplied by −1.

For the left side we get 𝜏𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 = (194.3 ± 2.8) ns and for the right side 𝜏𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 =
(201.3 ± 4.3) ns. This results in an average lifetime of 𝜏 = (197.8 ± 3.6) ns. The error for
the mean values was calculated by error propagation in Excel according to the following
formula:

18
 2 2
𝜎 √(∆𝑡 ∑𝑖 𝑛𝑖 ) + (∆𝑛 ∑𝑖 𝑡𝑖 )
𝑁 𝑁 (19)
∆𝜏 = =
√𝑁 √𝑁

Keeping in mind that the error for the number 𝑁 of measured events (Counts) was
chosen to be the Poisson statistics with Δ𝑁𝑖 = √𝑁𝑖 and that ∆𝑡 corresponds to the time
resolution, previously calculated in section 3.4.

5. Conclusion
44
The theoretical value for the half-life of the first excited state of 𝑆𝑐 is 𝑡1/2 = 150 ns
according to our reference [5]. The half-life and the average lifetime 𝜏 are related according
to equation (12), obtaining therefore a 𝜏𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜 = 216.40 ns.

With the decay constant approach, the obtained value for the average lifespan was
𝜏𝑒𝑥𝑝 = (211.4 ± 2.8) ns, which is a bit far from to the theoretical value but still, can be
considered a good approximation since its relative error is of 2.3%. Furthermore, for the
average value approach, the lifespan obtained was 𝜏𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 = (197.8 ± 3.6) ns, which is the
furthest one from the theoretical lifespan out of the three experimental values calculated
(relative error of 8.6%). By means of the FWHM method, the experimental value 𝜏𝐹𝑊𝐻𝑀 =
(216.4 ± 31.3) ns is the exact same as the theoretical data, however, it also has the greatest
uncertainty due to the big inaccuracy of this method (the errors of the other results
calculated by error propagation are much smaller).

According to these facts, even though the values calculated of 𝜏𝑒𝑥𝑝 and 𝜏𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 do not
agree with the literature value within the scope of error, they can be considered close
enough to say that we succeeded in the task of obtaining the average lifetime of the gamma
level, with a relative error <8.6% in all three cases. Moreover, the time calibration was
good enough to give an accurate resolution for the setup despite the problems faced during
the gaussian fitting to the odd-shaped peak.

Under our point of view, the best method seems to be the decay constant approach,
since it gives a quite accurate value with a very small error and it can be considered as an
easy, quick and mostly exact determination method. On the other hand, the worst one
seems to be the average value method, due to the tedious process of taking into account
each of the values separately and doing all the calculations correctly, which takes longer
time and can lead to mathematical miscalculations if not for advanced calculation tools.
Regarding the FWHM approach, we need to say that despite its simplicity, it gives a pretty
good idea of the sought lifespan value, although with such a great uncertainty that the
value cannot be trusted more than that of a rough and quick idea.

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 6. References

[1] “Interaction of Photons with Matter - Emission Tomography.”

Europeanmedical.Info, 2018. Accessed 25 April 2019
www.europeanmedical.info/emission-tomography/interaction-of-photons-with-
matter.html.
[2] “Compton Scattering - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics.” Sciencedirect.Com,
2014, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/compton-scattering.
Accessed 28 April 2019.
[3] “Pair Production and Annihilation - MSE 5317.” Wikidot.Com, 2019,
http://electrons.wikidot.com/pair-production-and-annihilation. Accessed 1 May 2019
[4] “Photomultiplier.” Ipfs.Io, 2009. Accessed 1 May 2019
https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/
Photomultiplier.html.
[5] Versuchanleitung: Lebensdauermessung eines Gamma Niveaus, 2019
[6] Prof. Andronic, Notes for Nuclear and Particle Physics, 2019

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