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Science 2 September 1977:
Vol. 197. no. 4307, pp. 989 - 991
DOI: 10.1126/science.197.4307.989
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Articles

Nucleon Stability: A Geochemical Test Independent of Decay Mode

JOHN C. EVANS JR. 1 and RICHARD I. STEINBERG 2

1 Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973
2 Physics Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104

By analyzing published geochemical data on xenon isotopes measured in a 2.46 x 109-year-old telluride ore, a lower limit of 1.6 x 1025 years has been obtained for the mean lifetime of the nucleons in the tellurium-130 nucleus. This result is insensitive to the particular mode by which the nucleons decay and therefore provides a rigorous limit on possible baryon number nonconservation. The new limit is about two orders of magnitude better than the previous rigorous limit on nucleon stability.

Submitted on February 17, 1977
Revised on May 31, 1977


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Is the Proton Stable.
M. Goldhaber, P. Langacker, and R. Slansky (1980)
Science 210, 851-860
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