# Predicting decay pathways in superheavy nuclei: theoretical insights into [image] and cluster radioactivity

## TL;DR

This paper uses a theoretical model to predict decay pathways for superheavy nuclei, including alpha and cluster decay, and compares results with existing models.

## Contribution

A new microscopic alpha-nucleus potential is derived and applied to predict decay properties of superheavy element Z=123.

## Key findings

- Predicted alpha-decay half-lives for SHN with Z=104–118 align well with established models.
- Cluster decay channels for Z=123 isotopes suggest heavy clusters may rival alpha-decay in some cases.
- Decay chains for unobserved Z=123 nuclei are proposed based on alpha and spontaneous fission competition.

## Abstract

We employ the density-dependent cluster model to calculate \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\alpha$$\end{document}-decay half-lives of recently synthesized superheavy nuclei (SHN) with \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$Z=104$$\end{document}–118. A microscopic \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\alpha$$\end{document}–nucleus potential is derived via the double-folding method using a realistic nucleon–nucleon interaction. Within the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin approximation, supplemented by the Bohr–Sommerfeld quantization condition, we extract both the \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\alpha$$\end{document}-particle assault frequency and barrier-penetration probability for spherical and deformed daughter configurations. Our predictions for five isotopes of the superheavy element \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$Z=123$$\end{document} are benchmarked against several established models, demonstrating excellent agreement. We also explore the competition between \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\alpha$$\end{document}-decay and spontaneous fission, and propose likely decay chains for the as-yet unobserved nuclei \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${}^{302\text {--}307}123$$\end{document}. Finally, cluster-decay channels of \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${}^{300,303,306,307}123$$\end{document} are studied using the double-folding potential alongside the Universal curve (UNIV), the Universal Decay Law (UDL), the Unified Decay Formula (UDF), and Horoi’s approach. Notably, the UDL framework predicts positive branching ratios \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\log _{10}b_c$$\end{document} for heavy-cluster emission (e.g. \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$^{90}\textrm{Sr}$$\end{document}, \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$^{96}\textrm{Zr}$$\end{document}, \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$^{102}\textrm{Mo}$$\end{document}), indicating that such clusters may rival—or even dominate—\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\alpha$$\end{document}-decay in these SHN.