Enhanced empirical formulas for α-decay for heavy and superheavy nuclei: Incorporating deformation effects of daughter nuclei

Abstract

Abstract The latest experimental data of $\alpha$-decay half-lives for 573 nuclei within the range of $52 \leq Z \leq 118$ have been utilized to enhance empirical formulas with updated coefficients. These formulas were enhanced by analyzing the contributions of orbital angular momentum and isospin asymmetry. The effect of deformation of daughter nuclei on the $\alpha$-decay half-life is modeled by incorporating two additional terms, dependent on the quadrupole and hexadecapole deformation parameters, into the empirical formulas for $\alpha$-decay half-lives. Incorporating these deformation-dependent terms, along with angular momentum and isospin asymmetry, improved the standard deviation by approximately $17\%$. The revised empirical formulas for $\alpha$-decay half-lives demonstrated better agreement with experimental data when deformation factors were included. Validation of the modified formulas was conducted through comparisons with recent experimental results and further theoretical predictions. This study presents and compares $\alpha$-decay half-life predictions for several isotopes of superheavy nuclei with $Z = 120-126$, which are yet to be experimentally synthesized. For various isotopes of each element, the variation of $\log_{10} T_{\alpha}$ with changes in neutron number is also explored.