# Alpha Cluster Formation and Decay in Quartetting Wave Function Approach

## TL;DR

This paper develops a microscopic model to understand alpha-cluster formation and decay in heavy nuclei, emphasizing the effects of the mean field and Pauli blocking, and successfully reproduces observed shell effects.

## Contribution

It introduces a quartetting wave function approach with local density approximation to analyze alpha-cluster formation in heavy and superheavy nuclei.

## Key findings

- Reproduces alpha-cluster formation probability across major shell closures.
- Highlights the sensitivity of cluster formation to the mean field and Pauli blocking.
- Analyzes shell effects on alpha-cluster formation in superheavy nuclei.

## Abstract

We present a microscopic calculation of alpha-cluster formation in heavy nuclei by using the quartetting wave function approach. The interaction of the quartet with the core nucleus is taken in local density approximation. The alpha-cluster formation is found to be particularly sensitive to the interplay of the mean field felt by the alpha-cluster and the Pauli blocking as a consequence of antisymmetrization. The striking feature of alpha-cluster formation probability across the major shell closures of 82 protons and 126 neutrons is reproduced. The shell (or subshell) effects on the alpha-cluster formation in superheavy nuclei are also analyzed.