Eur. Phys. J. A (2021) 57: 162
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-021-00473-0

Special Article - New Tools and Techniques

Bayesian analysis of the uncertainty in decay lifetimes in the case of poor statistics

Application to superheavy nuclei

¹ GANIL, CEA/DRF/IRFU-CNRS/IN2P3, Caen, France
² Normandie Univ.-Unicaen, Caen, France
³ Lycée Malherbe, Caen, France

^c boilley@ganil.fr

Received: 22 January 2021
Accepted: 25 April 2021
Published online: 12 May 2021

Abstract

In case of rare decay events the lifetime or the decay width is evaluated with low statistics. The uncertainty has to be carefully evaluated. In this article, we propose a Bayesian analysis of the lifetime and decay width and derive simple formulas for their assigned values and for the limits of the credible interval. The results are applied to the decay of superheavy nuclei as an illustration.