Self-consistent calculations of electron-capture decays in Z=118, 119, and 120 superheavy isotopes

TL;DR

This paper investigates weak decay modes in superheavy nuclei with Z=118-120 using microscopic calculations, comparing beta+ decay and electron capture half-lives with alpha-decay, and analyzing decay mode competition across multiple isotopes.

Contribution

It provides a detailed microscopic analysis of decay modes in superheavy isotopes, highlighting the dominance of alpha decay and the sensitivity of half-lives to nuclear mass models.

Findings

Alpha decay is dominant in the studied superheavy nuclei.

Half-lives are sensitive to nuclear mass uncertainties.

Decay mode competition varies across isotopes.

Abstract

Weak decays in superheavy nuclei with proton numbers Z = 118 - 120 and neutron numbers N = 175 - 184 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. The sensitivity of the half-lives to the unknown Q-energies is studied by comparing the results obtained from different approaches for the masses. It is shown that alpha-decay is always dominant in this mass region. The competition between alpha and beta+/EC decay modes is studied in seven alpha-decay chains starting at different isotopes of Z=118, 119, and 120.