Excitation and Dissociation of Molecules Due to β Decay of a Constituent Atom

The theory of electronic, vibrational, and rotational excitation of a molecule, specifically a diatomic molecule, due to β decay of a substituent atom is presented. The nature of the vibrational and rotational excitation for certain specific cases is mathematically investigated. The problem of dissociation arising from the excitation of rotations is discussed. It is shown that it is very difficult to obtain exact figures on the probability of dissociation due to the excitation of vibrations and rotations. Molecular orbital wave functions are employed to gain some insight into the electronic excitation of the daughter molecule. A very rough calculation is made of the probability of nondissociation in the decay of C14 labeled ethane.