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Is the decay of a radioactive isotope predictable (causally determined) or not?
Asked by ETpro (34605)
March 28th, 2010
Our best knowledge to date says that a parent atom of a radioactive isotope will emit energy and decay into its daughter atom at some point within a predictable time. We call the point at which 50% of that isotope’s atoms will have decayed its half-life. But the exact timing of the decay process appears to be entirely stochastic.
Do you know of any reason to believe that we simply don’t understand the rules governing the decay process, and that in time we will learn that the process is entirely deterministic and predictable down to the nanosecond?
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