ON THE CORRELATIONS OF MASSES AND LIFETIMES OF RADIONUCLIDES AND FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLES

We show that for unstable fundamental particles and beta and alpha emitting nuclides the product of mass M (ergs) and lifetime T (seconds) can be expressed by the quantized form MT = (h) over bar(2(n)/n) where n is an integer. The lifetime T is then expressible in the form T = ((h) over bar/M)e(n/lambda), where lambda in the case of fundamental particles is a function of "n" only. In the case of beta-emitters the mass M is that of the nucleon and in the case of alpha-emitters, the mass is equivalent to the binding energy of the nucleus. The log T vs n plots for the fundamental particles separate them out according to their flavor. The Heisenberg energy spread relation for decay can be written in the form Delta E = M(n/2(n)) shows the connection between the rest mass and lifetime through n. The ranges of n values indicate the strength of interaction during decay; n < 10 - strong, n = 10-30- electromagnetic and "hidden strong" and n > 40 - weak. On this basis we set a lower limit of 6 x 10(-21) s for the weak decay of the top quark (mass similar to 174 GeV). Some interesting mathematical properties of the functional form n/2(n) which is the backbone of the present analysis are discussed at the end of the paper.