Whilst at the Palmer Physical Laboratory at
Princeton University from 1926 to 1928,[1] he discovered
alpha decay via
quantum tunnelling, together with
Edward Condon and independently of
George Gamow. In the early 1900s, radioactive materials were known to have characteristic
exponential decay rates or half lives. At the same time, radiation emissions were known to have certain characteristic energies. By 1928, Gamow had solved the theory of the
alpha decay of a nucleus via quantum tunnelling and the problem was also solved independently by Gurney and Condon.[3][4][5]
Books
Elementary quantum mechanics, Cambridge [Eng.] The University Press, 1934.[6]
^Friedlander, Gerhart; Kennedy, Joseph E; Miller, Julian Malcolm (1964). Nuclear and Radiochemistry, 2nd edition. New York, London, Sydney: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 225–7.
ISBN978-0-471-86255-0.