IsoplotR (version 0.8)

lambda: Decay constants

Description

Gets or sets the decay constants of radioactive isotopes

Usage

lambda(nuclide, x = NULL, e = NULL)

Arguments

nuclide

the nuclide name

x

new value for the decay constant

e

new value for the decay constant uncertainty

Value

if x=e=NULL, returns a two-item vector containing the decay constant [in Myr$^{-1}$] and its standard error, respectively.

References

U: Jaffey, A. H., et al. "Precision measurement of half-lives and specific activities of U$^{235}$ and U$^{238}$." Physical Review C 4.5 (1971): 1889.

Th: Le Roux, L. J., and L. E. Glendenin. "Half-life of $^{232}$Th. "Proceedings of the National Meeting on Nuclear Energy, Pretoria, South Africa. 1963.

Sm: Lugmair, G. W., and K. Marti. "Lunar initial $^{143}$Nd/$^{144}$Nd: differential evolution of the lunar crust and mantle." Earth and Planetary Science Letters 39.3 (1978): 349-357.

Ar: Renne, Paul R., et al. "Response to the comment by WH Schwarz et al. on "Joint determination of 40K decay constants and $^{40}$Ar*/$^{40}$K for the Fish Canyon sanidine standard, and improved accuracy for $^{40}$Ar/$^{39}$Ar geochronology" by PR Renne et al.(2010)." Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 75.17 (2011): 5097-5100.

Examples

print(lambda('U238'))
# use the decay constant of Kovarik and Adams (1932)
lambda('U238',0.0001537,0.0000068)
print(lambda('U238'))