Double electron capture in 156Dy, 162Er and 168Yb

Abstract

The double electron capture half-lives of 156Dy, 162Er and 168Yb are evaluated using the pseudo SU(3) model, which describes ground and excited bands as well as their B(E2) and B(M1) transition strengths in remarkable agreement with experiment. The best candidate for experimental detection is the decay 156Dy -> 156Gd, with tau{1/2} (0+{gs} --> 0+{gs}) = 2.74 E22 yrs and tau{1/2} (0+{gs} --> 0+{1}) = 8.31 E24 yrs.