On the Stability of Superheavy Nuclei

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the stability of superheavy nuclei by calculating their potential energy surfaces, fission barriers, and decay properties using advanced macroscopic-microscopic models, showing good agreement with experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a rapid Fourier-type shape parametrization and combines multiple models to comprehensively analyze superheavy nuclei stability.

Findings

Calculated nuclear binding energies and fission barriers align well with experimental data.

Estimated spontaneous fission lifetimes and alpha-decay probabilities using simplified models.

Provided detailed potential energy surfaces for superheavy nuclei across the periodic table.

Abstract

Potential energy surfaces of even-even superheavy nuclei are evaluated within the macroscopic-microscopic approximation. A very rapidly converging analytical Fourier-type shape parametrization is used to describe nuclear shapes throughout the periodic table, including those of fissioning nuclei. The Lublin Strasbourg Drop and another effective liquid-drop type mass formula are used to determine the macroscopic part of nuclear energy. The Yukawa-folded single-particle potential, the Strutinsky shell-correction method, and the BCS approximation for including pairing correlations are used to obtain microscopic energy corrections. The evaluated nuclear binding energies, fission-barrier heights, and Q-alpha energies show a relatively good agreement with the experimental data. A simple one-dimensional WKB model a la Swiatecki is used to estimate spontaneous fission lifetimes, while alpha-decay probabilities are obtained within a Gamow-type model.