Theoretical predictions and experimental confirmations of cluster radioactivity

In 1980, A. Sǎndulescu, D.N. Poenaru from Bucharest, Romania and Walter Greiner from Frankfurt am Main, Germany, published an article in which cluster radioactivity was predicted. Years later (1984) H. J. Rose and J. A. Jones from Oxford University reported the first experimental evidence of [Formula: see text]C radioactivity of [Formula: see text]Ra. Extensive calculations were published by D. N. Poenaru et al. in 1986 and 1991 in Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables. A very useful review of experimental results was published by Bonetti and Guglielmetti [Rom. Rep. Phys. 59 (2007) 301]. In this paper we compare the measured Q-values and half-lives with predictions within the Analytical Super-Asymmetric Fission (ASAF) model. Cluster radioactivity (spontaneous emission of particles larger than [Formula: see text]) is a rare phenomenon in a large background of alpha decay. For some very heavy nuclei it is possible to observe cluster radioactivity comparable or even stronger than alpha decay.