The legacy of A.H. Wapstra and the future of the Atomic Mass Evaluation

TL;DR

This paper honors A.H. Wapstra's legacy and discusses the current status and future prospects of the Atomic Mass Evaluation, highlighting recent data collection and ongoing efforts to maintain and improve atomic mass tables.

Contribution

It provides a historical overview of the AME, summarizes recent mass measurements, and discusses plans for its continuation under new coordination.

Findings

Updated atomic mass data since 2004

Current status of the AME and its challenges

Future plans for the Atomic Mass Evaluation

Abstract

This contribution pays homage to Aaldert Wapstra, the founder of the Atomic Mass Evaluation (AME) in its present form. Producing an atomic mass table requires detailed evaluation and combination of the various decay and reaction energies as well as data from inertial mass measurements. Therefore, a brief summary of all mass measurements published since the last ENAM (2004) is given (as of 2008). The status of the AME is then discussed and as well as attempts for its continuation. (Since this paper was the written, coordination of the Atomic Mass Evaluation was taken over by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Modern Physics, in Lanzhou.)