Candidates for Long Lived High-K Ground States in Superheavy Nuclei

On the basis of systematic calculations for 1364 heavy and superheavy nuclei, including odd-systems, we have found a few candidates for high-K ground states in superheavy nuclei. The macroscopic-microscopic model based on the deformed Woods-Saxon single particle potential which we use offers a reasonable description of SH systems, including known: nuclear masses, $Q_{alpha}$-values, fission barriers, ground state deformations, super- and hyper-deformed minima in the heaviest nuclei. %For odd and odd-odd systems, both ways of including pairing correlations, % blocking and the quasi-particle method, have been applied. Exceptionally untypical high-K intruder contents of the g.s. found for some nuclei accompanied by a sizable excitation of the parent configuration in daughter suggest a dramatic hindrance of the $alpha$-decay. Multidimensional hyper-cube configuration - constrained calculations of the Potential Energy Surfaces (PESs) for one especially promising candidate, $^{272}$ Mt, shows a $backsimeq$ 6 MeV increase in the fission barrier above the configuration- unconstrained barrier. There is a possibility, that one such high-K ground- or low-lying state may be the longest lived superheavy isotope.

Calculations of the cross sections for synthesis of new {293-296}118 isotopes in {249-252}Cf(48Ca,xn) reactions

A project of using a target consisting of the mixture of (249-252)Cf isotopes to be bombarded with the 48Ca beam, aimed to synthesize new isotopes of the heaviest known element Z = 118, is under way at the FLNR in Dubna. In the present work excitation functions for all the reactions: 249Cf(48Ca,xn)(297-x)118, 250Cf(48Ca,xn)(298-x)118, 251Cf(48Ca,xn)(299-x)118 and 252Cf(48Ca,xn)(300-x)118 have been calculated in the framework of the fusion-by-diffusion model, assuming fission barriers, ground-state masses and shell effects of the superheavy nuclei predicted by Kowal et al. Energy dependence of the effective cross sections for the synthesis of selected new isotopes: (293)118, (294)118, (295)118 and (296)118 is predicted for the particular isotopic composition of the Cf target prepared for the Dubna experiment.

Predictions of the FBD model for the synthesis cross sections of Z = 114-120 elements based on macroscopic-microscopic fission barriers

A complete set of existing data on hot fusion reactions leading to synthesis of superheavy nuclei of Z =114-118, obtained in a series of experiments in Dubna and later in GSI Darmstadt and LBNL Berkeley, was analyzed in terms of a new angular-momentum dependent version of the Fusion by Diffusion (FBD) model with fission barriers and ground-state masses taken from the Warsaw macroscopic-microscopic model (involving non-axial shapes) of Kowal et al. The only empirically adjustable parameter of the model, the injection-point distance (sinj), has been determined individually for all the reactions and very regular systematics of this parameter have been established. The regularity of the obtained sinj systematics indirectly points at the internal consistency of the whole set of fission barriers used in the calculations. Having fitted all the experimental excitation functions for elements Z = 114-118, the FBD model (with the new sinj systematics) was used to predict cross sections for synthesis of elements Z = 119 and 120. Regarding prospects to produce the new element Z = 119, our calculations prefer the 252Es(48Ca,xn)300-x119 reaction, for which the synthesis cross section of about 0.2 pb in 4n channel at Ec.m.= 220 MeV is expected. The most favorable reaction to synthesize the element Z = 120 turns out to be 249Cf(50Ti,xn)299-x120, but the predicted cross section for this reaction is only 6 fb (for 3n and 4n channels).