Spectroscopy along Flerovium Decay Chains: Discovery of ^{280}Ds and an Excited State in ^{282}Cn

Advancements in the fabrication and characterization of actinide targets for superheavy element production

The heaviest elements can exclusively be produced in actinide-target based nuclear fusion reactions with intense heavy-ion beams. Ever more powerful accelerators deliver beams of continuously increasing intensity, which brings targets of current technology to their limits and beyond. We motivate efforts to produce targets with improved properties, which calls for a better understanding of targets produced by molecular plating, the current standard method. Complementary analytical methods will help shedding more light on their chemical and physical changes in the beam. Special emphasis is devoted to the aspect of the optimum target thickness and the choice of the backing material.

On the adsorption and reactivity of element 114, flerovium

Flerovium (Fl, element 114) is the heaviest element chemically studied so far. To date, its interaction with gold was investigated in two gas-solid chromatography experiments, which reported two different types of interaction, however, each based on the level of a few registered atoms only. Whereas noble-gas-like properties were suggested from the first experiment, the second one pointed at a volatile-metal-like character. Here, we present further experimental data on adsorption studies of Fl on silicon oxide and gold surfaces, accounting for the inhomogeneous nature of the surface, as it was used in the experiment and analyzed as part of the reported studies. We confirm that Fl is highly volatile and the least reactive member of group 14. Our experimental observations suggest that Fl exhibits lower reactivity towards Au than the volatile metal Hg, but higher reactivity than the noble gas Rn.

Low-Energy Nuclear Excitations along the α-Decay Chains of Superheavy ^{292}Lv and ^{294}Og

We present the first triaxial beyond-mean-field study of the excitation spectra of even-even superheavy nuclei. As representative examples, we have chosen the members of the α-decay chains of ^{292}Lv and ^{294}Og, the heaviest even-even nuclei which have been synthesized so far using ^{48}Ca-induced fusion-evaporation reactions. In our calculations, the effective finite-range density-dependent Gogny force is used and the angular-momentum and particle-number symmetries are restored. Configuration-mixing calculations are performed to determine ground- and excited-state deformations and to establish the collective band structures of these nuclei. Rapidly varying characteristics are predicted for the members of both decay chains, which are further accentuated when compared to the predictions of simple collective models. Based on the present calculations, the prospect of observing α-decay fine structures in future experiments is discussed.

New and Practical Formulation for Overlaps of Bogoliubov Vacua

In this Letter, we present a new expression for the overlaps of wave functions in Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov based theories. Starting from the Pfaffian formula by Bertsch et al. [1], an exact and computationally stable formula for overlaps is derived. We illustrate the convenience of this new formulation with a numerical application in the context of the particle-number projection method. This new formula allows for substantially increased precision and versatility in chemical, atomic, and nuclear physics applications, particularly for methods dealing with superfluidity, symmetry restoration, and uses of nonorthogonal many-body basis states.