Late-Time Power Laws in Fluorescence Decays: Quantum Decay or Alternative Mechanisms?
Abstract
In quantum mechanics, the properties of an unstable system are closely related to its corresponding energy distribution. One of the predictions of the theory is the emergence of a late-time power law in the survival probability P(t) of the unstable state. However, in complex systems, similar effects may emerge due to other phenomena. This is the case for nonextensive statistical models, for some continuous lifetime distribution models, and also for certain energy-migration models applied to fluorescence. In this work, these alternative interpretations are confronted with data from time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy experiments with erythrosine B and eosine Y as fluorophores. It turns out that some of the features expected within the quantum-mechanical description, such as the sharp transition from the exponential to the power-law regime, cannot be reproduced by the specific statistical and energy-migration parametrizations fitted in the analysis.
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BibTeX
@misc{giacosa2026latetime,
title = {{Late-Time Power Laws in Fluorescence Decays: Quantum Decay or Alternative Mechanisms?}},
author = {Francesco Giacosa and Anna Kolbus and Krzysztof Kyziol and Magdalena Plodowska and Milena Piotrowska and Karol Szary and Arthur Vereijken},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.00603},
eprint = {2610.00603},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.00603},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Late-Time Power Laws in Fluorescence Decays: Quantum Decay or Alternative Mechanisms?
AU - Francesco Giacosa
AU - Anna Kolbus
AU - Krzysztof Kyziol
AU - Magdalena Plodowska
AU - Milena Piotrowska
AU - Karol Szary
AU - Arthur Vereijken
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.00603
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.00603
AB - In quantum mechanics, the properties of an unstable system are closely related to its corresponding energy distribution. One of the predictions of the theory is the emergence of a late-time power law in the survival probability P(t) of the unstable state. However, in complex systems, similar effects may emerge due to other phenomena. This is the case for nonextensive statistical models, for some continuous lifetime distribution models, and also for certain energy-migration models applied to fluorescence. In this work, these alternative interpretations are confronted with data from time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy experiments with erythrosine B and eosine Y as fluorophores. It turns out that some of the features expected within the quantum-mechanical description, such as the sharp transition from the exponential to the power-law regime, cannot be reproduced by the specific statistical and energy-migration parametrizations fitted in the analysis.
ER -