Discovery of Isotopes
We began a project to document
the discovery of all isotopes. In contrast to the
discovery of a new element, the first observation of a new isotope is not as
well
defined.
We decided on two main
guidelines for the claim of discovery of an isotope:
(1) Clean identification, either by decay curves and
relationships to other known
isotopes, particle or γ-ray spectra, or unique mass and Z identification.
(2) The discovery had to be
reported in a refereed journal.
In most cases the discovery is
easy to determine. However, there are many cases
which are controversial for many different reasons.
We would appreciate any help in
resolving the controversial cases. If you have
any information that might be helpful or if you disagree with an assignment
please
let us know by sending an email.
The current status of the
project is:
| Z = 18 Argon | S. Amos and M. Thoennessen | in preparation |
| Z = 20 Calcium | J. Gross and M. Thoennessen | in preparation |
| Z = 21 Scandium | D. Meierfrankenfeld and M. Thoennessen | in preparation |
| Z = 22 Titanium | D. Meierfrankenfeld and M. Thoennessen | manuscript |
| Z = 23 Vanadium | A. Shore et al., | arXiv:0907.1994v1 |
| Z = 26 Iron | A. Schuh et al., | arXiv:0909.0091v1 |
| Z = 27 Cobalt | T. Szymanski and M. Thoennessen | arXiv:0909.0864v1 |
| Z = 33 Arsenic | A. Shore et al., | arXiv:0902.4361v1 |
| Z = 36 Krypton | M. Heim et al., | arXiv:0904.2362v1 |
| Z = 47 Silver | A. Schuh et al., | arXiv:0907.1629v1 |
| Z = 48 Cadmium | S. Amos and M. Thoennessen | arXiv:0910.4231v1 |
| Z = 49 Indium | S. Amos and M. Thoennessen | manuscript |
| Z = 50 Tin | S. Amos and M. Thoennessen | manuscript |
| Z = 56 Barium | A. Shore et al., | arXiv:0908.1944v1 |
| Z = 58 Cerium | J.Q. Ginepro et al., | At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 95, 905 (2009) |
| Z = 74 Tungsten | A. Fritsch et al., | arXiv:0903.4281v1 |
| Z = 79 Gold | A. Schuh et al., | arXiv:0903.1797v1 |
| Z = 80 Mercury | D. Meierfrankenfeld and M. Thoennessen | manuscript |
| Z = 99 Einsteinium | A. Bury et al., | manuscript |
In addition, we have done the initial
literature search for over 2000 additional
isotopes. This is a huge project and if anybody is interested in helping with
an
element please let us know.