Influence of atomic modeling on electron capture and shaking processes

Ongoing experimental efforts to measure with unprecedented precision electron-capture probabilities challenge the current theoretical models. The short range of the weak interaction necessitates an accurate description of the atomic structure down to the nucleus region. A recent electron-capture modeling has been modified in order to test the influence of three different atomic descriptions on the decay and shaking probabilities. To this end, a specific atomic modeling was developed in the framework of the relativistic density-functional theory, exploring several exchange-correlation functionals and self-interaction-corrected models. It was found that the probabilities of total shaking, tested on both photoionization and electron-capture processes, depend strongly on the accuracy of the atomic modeling. Predictions of capture probabilities have been compared with experimental values evaluated from available published data for different radionuclides from Be7 to La138. New high-precision measurements are strongly encouraged because the accuracy of the current experimental values is insufficient to test the models beyond the inner shells.