Deformation and alpha -decay anisotropies

Abstract
In their theory of alpha - gamma angular correlations, Rose and Brink (1967) leave the relative sign of different partial waves in alpha -capture undetermined. Some confusion has arisen in the experimental literature where the sign has been considered as somewhat arbitrary for alpha -decay. The authors derive an explicit relation between these two processes and show how the above sign may easily be fixed by considering the simpler problem of alpha -decay of a deformed nucleus polarized in a strong magnetic field. They discuss the anisotropy of the angular distribution for this latter problem.