Nuclear Induced Autoionization of Radioactive Atoms

In the experiment, were atomic electron cloud serves as an indicator of nuclear isomeric transitions, measurements of the perturbation of the ionic charge states distribution from the known isomeric transition of the ¹⁷³Hf nucleus, obtained in a heavy-ion induced reaction were carried out. As a result, a definite experimental confirmation has been obtained for the effect of nuclear forbidden transitions on their atomic electron cloud. The importance and possibilities of this effect investigation for the study of the interplay of nuclear and atomic excitations are discussed.