Electron-capture decay in isotopic transfermium chains from self-consistent calculations

TL;DR

This paper investigates weak decay modes, specifically electron capture and beta+ decay, in transfermium isotopes using self-consistent Skyrme Hartree-Fock calculations, revealing potential new stability pathways in superheavy nuclei.

Contribution

It introduces a microscopic formalism for calculating decay half-lives in transfermium isotopes, comparing beta+/EC- and alpha-decay modes, and identifies isotopes with competing decay pathways.

Findings

Several isotopes have comparable beta+/EC- and alpha-decay half-lives.

The competition between decay modes suggests new pathways to nuclear stability.

Identifies isotopes in the transfermium region with potential for extended stability.

Abstract

Weak decays in heavy nuclei with charge numbers Z=101-109 are studied within a microscopic formalism based on deformed self-consistent Skyrme Hartree-Fock mean-field calculations with pairing correlations. The half-lives of beta+ decay and electron capture are compared with alpha-decay half-lives obtained from phenomenological formulas. Transfermium isotopes of Md, No, Lr, Rf, Db, Sg, Bh, Hs, and Mt that can be produced in the frontier of cold and hot fusion-evaporation channels are considered. Several isotopes are identified whose beta+/EC- and alpha-decay half-lives are comparable. The competition between these decay modes opens the possibility of new pathways towards the islands of stability.