We wish in this review to give a short account of the theoretical and ex perimental work on angular correlation of successive nuclear radiation. We confine our paper to problems involving a well-defined intermediate nuclear state. Other topics, e.g., simultaneous emission of two or more particles, radiation from aligned nuclei, and angular distribution of nuclear reactions, will be omitted completely.
ANGULAR CORRELATION IN NUCLEAR PHYSICS3One of the main problems of contemporary low energy nuclear physics is the determination of the properties of nuclear energy levels. We may char acterize nuclear states by the following quantities: energy (E), total angular momentum (1), parity (11"), magnetic moment (J1,), electric quadrupole mo ment (Q), partial level widths, and total transition probability. All these properties are as well defined for excited levels as for stable and for unstable ground states; the experimental determinatioIl of the enumerated quantities is, however, very different for stable and for unstable states. Stable isotopes are usually available in weighable quantities. Their ground states can there fore be investigated with methods in which time and quantity of material necessary for a measurement play no decisive role. The techniques of deter mining the characteristic qualities of ground states have achieved a very high degree of precision, and the known material is rapidly growing.For radioactive nuclei, and especially for short-lived excited nuclear states, most of these well known methods fail completely and new ways have to be developed. Easiest to determine is the energy difference to the ground state by means of the highly developed alpha-, beta-, and gamma-spectros copy. The total transition probability can in most cases also be ascertained by following the radioactive decay over a suitable period or by measuring delayed coincidences. For a large number of radioactive nuclei, the mode of decay has already been established, and some indications regarding the partial level widths have thus been obtained. Mechanical moments (spins) and parities are much· more difficult to determine, because at present in all but a few cases direct methods are inapplicable. Much work has therefore been devoted to the establishment of nuclear decay schemes, from which t The survey of the literature pertaining to this review was concluded in April, 1952.
Further
ANNUAL REVIEWS130 FRAUENFELDER spins and parities may be inferred. Magnetic and electric moments haw completely escaped any determination except for the ground states of � few long-lived radioactive nuclei. But exactly the investigation of these twc properties for excited levels could throw light on topics of current importance, e.g., the explanation of the magnetic and electric moments.The assignment of spin and parity to different energy levels is based mainly on a careful measurement of the properties of the radiation and a comparison with the corresponding theories (e.g., 27, 35, 43, 44, 59, 70, 92 101, 130, 135). A study of the cross section and of...