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In optics there is stimulated emission-absorption pair of equations, switched in perspective of CPT symmetry, allowing to also speedup deexcitation with lasers by stimulated emission/amplified spontaneous emission.

It is used for example in STED microscopes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STED_microscopy - using second laser to cause deexcitation.

Could we analogously cause deexcitation of nuclei to speedup its decay?

Induced gamma emission suggests it should be true for isomeric transition - but what about speeding up other decay modes this way, like with alpha/beta production, or through electron capture?

For example below is spectrum of available synchrotron radiation sources reaching MeVs (source), and some isotopes decaying with low energy gammas (source) - experiment would need to place isotope e.g. in synchrotron plane and test decay speed.

If true, could it have e.g. astrophysical consequences? Could have practical applications e.g. for nuclear fusion/fission, isotope as gamma optical amplifier?

Update: I have just found a few related questions: Nuclear-transition laser , Can stimulated emission happen in nuclear energy states? - however, they are focused on gamma-ray laser, and rather only isomeric transition - while the question here is of just speeding up decay, also for alpha, beta, electron capture modes.

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Jarek Duda
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A Geiger Muller Counter is likely to show higher counts in a room where someone is playing with stimulated radiations.

The word Decay has a connotation that it occurs naturally without any artificial means. So, if something similar to a nuclear decay happens due to an artificial means, it is not likely to be called a Decay.

A lot of research has been done on nuclear reactions, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion based on irradiating the material's nuclei by coherent electromagnetic radiations generated by stimulated emissions. Since energy gaps of typical nuclei have high energy values, electromagnetic radiations needed for nuclear reactions are generally of high frequencies.

Lalit Patel
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