Examination of α-decay half-lives of undetected transfermium isotopes

Abstract

This study reports the [Formula: see text]-decay half-lives of 39 transfermium isotopes with [Formula: see text], most of which have not been observed. The half-lives were calculated using micro–macroscopic approaches and semi-empirical formulae, applying current [Formula: see text]-decay Q-values from the latest mass database, AME2016. These results were compared to predicted values in previous works to evaluate the efficiency of and difference between various calculation methods. We found that the [Formula: see text]-resonance approach used in a previous study is not appropriate to predict though most other approaches are mutually consistent. An uncertainty of 70% was observed in the present theoretical calculations, similar to that observed in measurements. A Q-value uncertainty of 10% can lead to a large variation of 3 orders of magnitude in predicted [Formula: see text]-decay half-life. We also found that the dominance of either [Formula: see text] decay or spontaneous fission is unclear for the isotopes with [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text], whereas most of the nuclei of [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] can be clearly identified as [Formula: see text] emitters. Finally, we provide the updated [Formula: see text]-decay half-lives for the isotopes of interest, including their uncertainties and corresponding decay modes.