We study the emission of two protons from nuclei where this is the only decay channel. A three-body model is developed. We compare the “diproton” model with the three-body calculations. We present exploratory studies of the ${}^{19}\mathrm{Mg}$ and ${}^{48}\mathrm{Ni}$ ground states, which are good candidates for two-proton radioactivity. The two-proton width for the ${}^{17}\mathrm{Ne}{3/2}^{-}$ state is also estimated. Our calculations give substantially lower values for the width than predicted by the diproton model, but larger than from direct decay to the continuum.

• Received 24 March 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.22