Speaker
Description
We present a comprehensive theoretical investigation of electron-capture processes and capture ratios across a broad range of atomic numbers, employing relativistic Dirac–Hartree–Fock–Slater calculations combined with improved treatments of electron correlations, overlap and exchange effects, and shake-up/shake-off processes. An energy-balance approach based on atomic masses is implemented to achieve a more accurate description of neutrino energies, transition probabilities, and capture ratios, particularly for low-energy decays. The framework also enables a detailed assessment of uncertainties and the study of higher-shell dominance in electron capture. Energy distributions for the decays of 95Tc, 97Tc, and 113Sn are analysed as potential candidates for neutrino-mass-determination experiments and compared with the experimentally relevant 163Ho case. Overall, the developed approach provides a consistent and precise description of electron-capture decay, with applications in neutrino physics, nuclear structure, detector calibration, and nuclear medicine.