 Mean lifetime (physics)

For an unstable particle undergoing exponential decay in its rest frame, the decay waiting time has an exponential distribution with mean $\tau$. Its probability of surviving to time $t\ge 0$ is $e^{-t/\tau }$, and its total decay width is $\Gamma =\hslash /\tau$. In units $\hslash =1$, $\tau =1/\Gamma$.