Prediction of half-lives of even–even superheavy nuclei

Abstract

α-decay half-lives (-values) of even–even and superheavy nuclei (SHN) are determined employing interaction potential involving Coulomb and proximity potentials. The obtained results are compared with the experimental ones and to assess the precision of the present model in reproducing the experimental half-lives, a comparison is drawn with the other methods as well. We require disintegration energy (Q α -values) as an input in order to predict the (-values) of an experimentally unknown SHN. So, utilizing periodic-orbit theory within microscopic-macroscopic formalism, we have calculated the binding energies and thereafter, Q α -values of known SHN. The results are found to be in good agreement with the experimental ones. Subsequently, we predict the logarithmic values of ’s for even–even unknown SHN whose atomic numbers lie in 118 ⩽ Z ⩽ 126 regime and compare our results with those calculated employing other theoretical methods. Also, the study of spontaneous fission half-lives and branching ratios leads us to predict the SHN which can be identified through α-decay chains in the laboratories. We believe that this work can play a significant role in the experiments leading to the synthesis and identification of new superheavy elements.