Disintegration of Positive and Negative Mesotrons in Different Absorbers

The $\beta$-decay of positive and negative mesotrons has been studied in the case of boron, carbon, aluminum, and iron absorbers. Positive mesotrons showed a decay process in all of the above four absorbers, while negative mesotrons indicated decay phenomena (having mean lifetimes greater than about 0.6 microsecond) in only the boron and carbon absorbers. Results are in agreement with other similar experiments of this type, showing that for negative mesotrons decay phenomena predominate in absorbers of small atomic number and capture processes are more probable in absorbers of large atomic number.