On the possibility of controlling the decay rate of low-lying nuclear levels upon excitation in a laser plasma

The possibility of controlling the decay rate of low-lying nuclear states in a femtosecond laser plasma is demonstrated. In particular, for a ~100–500-fs laser pulse with an intensity of ~2×10¹⁶ W cm^-2, a complete suppression of the conversion decay channel can be observed in a fraction of a ²⁰¹Hg plasma expanding in vacuum.