Electron capture

A radioactive decay mode in which an atomic nucleus absorbs an inner electron, converting a proton into a neutron and emitting an electron neutrino.

Weak interaction: A fundamental interaction that can change quark flavor and mediate processes such as beta decay. It enables a proton inside the nucleus to become a neutron.
Beta-minus decay: Radioactive decay in which a neutron becomes a proton, emitting an electron and an electron antineutrino. It raises nuclear charge, whereas electron capture lowers it.
Potassium–argon dating: A radiometric dating method based on the decay of potassium-40 into argon-40 and calcium-40. Potassium-40 decays to argon-40 partly through electron capture.
Gian-Carlo Wick: An Italian theoretical physicist whose work included a 1934 proposal of electron capture. His proposal supplied an early theoretical account of the decay mode.
Electron neutrino: A neutral, nearly massless elementary particle that interacts through the weak interaction and gravity. Electron capture emits this particle to conserve lepton number and energy.
Beta-plus decay: Radioactive decay in which a proton becomes a neutron, emitting a positron and an electron neutrino. It shares electron capture’s nuclear conversion but emits a positron instead.
Potassium-40: A naturally occurring radioactive isotope of potassium with a half-life of about 1.25 billion years. Its electron-capture branch produces argon-40 used in geological dating.
Luis Walter Alvarez: An American experimental physicist who demonstrated electron capture in radioactive beryllium-7. His experiment established that nuclei could capture atomic electrons.
Neutrino: A neutral elementary particle that interacts primarily through the weak interaction and gravity. The emitted electron neutrino belongs to this particle family.
Positron emission: The emission of a positron from a nucleus during proton-to-neutron conversion. It competes with electron capture for proton-rich nuclei when energetically allowed.

Linked from 17 pages