Alpha-decay half-lives and Q_alpha values of superheavy nuclei

TL;DR

This paper presents a unified fission model to accurately predict alpha-decay half-lives of superheavy nuclei, introduces a new method for calculating assault frequency, and proposes a formula for Q_alpha values to aid future experimental identification.

Contribution

The study develops a unified fission model with a novel assault frequency calculation and introduces a formula for Q_alpha values of superheavy nuclei, enhancing prediction accuracy.

Findings

The model agrees well with experimental data.

Half-lives become less sensitive to Q_alpha as atomic number increases.

Predicted half-lives for Z=117 isotopes can assist future experiments.

Abstract

The alpha-decay half-lives of recently synthesized superheavy nuclei (SHN) are investigated based on a unified fission model (UFM) where a new method to calculate the assault frequency of alpha-emission is used. The excellent agreement with the experimental data indicates the UFM is a useful tool to investigate these alpha-decays. It is found that the half-lives become more and more insensitive to the Q_alpha values as the atomic number increases on the whole, which is favorable for us to predict the half-lives of SHN. In addition, a formula is suggested to compute the Q_alpha values for the nuclei with Z > 92 and N > 140 with a good accuracy, according to which the long-lived SHN should be neutron rich. With Q_alpha values from this formula as inputs, we predict the half-lives of isotopes of Z = 117, which may be useful for experimental identication in the future.