There have been many empirical evindences which show that the single-particle picture holds to a good approximation in atomic nuclei. In this picture, protons and neutrons move independently inside a mean-field potential generated by an interaction among the nucleons. This leads to the concept of nuclear shells, similar to the electronic shells in atoms. In particular, the magic numbers due to closures of the nucleonic shells, corresponding to noble gases in elements, have been known to play an important role in nuclear physics. Here we propose a periodic table for atomic nuclei, in which the elements are arranged according to the known nucleonic shells. The nuclear periodic table clearly indicates that nuclei in the vicinity of the magic numbers can be understood in terms of a shell closure with one or two additional nucleons or nucleon holes, while nuclei far from the magic numbers are characterized by nuclear deformation.
What is the heaviest element? In order to address this question, the elements up to $Z=118$ have been synthesized by now by using heavy-ion fusion reactions. This has completed the 7th period in the periodic table of elements, and new attempts have been commenced in aiming at syntheses of the elements in the 8th period. In this article, we review the current status and future challenges in the research field of superheavy elements, putting some emphasis on perspectives from the nuclear reaction theory.
A large variety of periodic tables of the chemical elements have been proposed. It was Mendeleev who proposed a periodic table based on the extensive periodic law and predicted a number of unknown elements at that time. The periodic table currently used worldwide is of a long form pioneered by Werner in 1905. As the first topic, we describe the work of Pfeiffer (1920), who refined Werner's work and rearranged the rare-earth elements in a separate table below the main table for convenience. Today's widely used periodic table essentially inherits Pfeiffer's arrangements. Although long-form table…
Since the prediction of nuclear chirality in 1997, tremendous progresses both theoretically and experimentally have been achieved. Experimentally, 59 chiral doublet bands in 47 chiral nuclei (including 8 nuclei with multiple chiral doublets) have been reported in $A\sim80,~100,~130$,~and~190 mass regions. The spins, parities, energies, ratios of the magnetic dipole transition strengths to the electric quadrupole transition strengths, and related references for these nuclei are compiled and listed in Table 1. For these nuclei with the magnetic dipole transition strengths and the electric quadru…
Using the Planck scale as an absolute bound of half-life, we give a quick estimate, in the manner of Feynman's fine-structure method, of the highest possible atomic number. We find, upon simple extrapolation, that element 168 would constitute the end of the Periodic Table and its isotope with atomic weight 411, being the most stable. These are remarkably close to current best estimates obtained from sophisticated and much more involved Hartree-Fock calculations.
Quantifying uncertainty in physics-based predictions of rare-isotope production cross sections via Bayesian-inspired model averaging across nuclear mass tables
Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University（稀有同位素束流设施，密歇根州立大学）
Dokkyo Medical University（独协医科大学）；The University of Tokyo（东京大学）；RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS)（理化学研究所跨学科理论与数学科学中心(iTHEMS)）；Saitama University（埼玉大学）；Nishina Center, RIKEN（理化学研究所仁科中心）
Semiclassical periodic-orbit theory (POT) is applied to the physics of nuclear structures, with the use of a realistic nuclear mean-field model given by the radial power-law potential. Evolution of deformed shell structures, which are responsible for various nuclear deformations, are clearly understood from the contribution of short classical periodic orbits (POs). Bifurcations of short POs, which imply underlying local dynamical symmetry, play significant role there. The effect of the spin degree of freedom is also investigated in relevance to the pseudospin symmetry in spherical nuclei and t…
Extensive calculations of properties of supernova matter are presented, using the extended Nuclear Statistical Equilibrium model of PRC92 055803 (2015) based on a statistical distribution of Wigner-Seitz cells modeled using realistic nuclear mass and level density tables, complemented with a non-relativistic Skyrme functional for unbound particles and beyond drip-line nuclei. Both thermodynamic quantities and matter composition are examined as a function of baryonic density, temperature, and proton fraction, within a large domain adapted for applications in supernova simulations. The results a…
Ground-state properties of even-even nuclei with $8\le Z\le120$ from the proton drip line to the neutron drip line have been investigated using the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum (DRHBc) with the density functional PC-PK1. With the effects of deformation and continuum included simultaneously, 2583 even-even nuclei are predicted to be bound. The calculated binding energies, two-nucleon separation energies, root-mean-square (rms) radii of neutron, proton, matter, and charge distributions, quadrupole deformations, and neutron and proton Fermi surfaces are tabulated a…
The origin of the asymmetry in the fragment mass distribution of low-energy nuclear fission is considered from the semiclassical point of view. Using the semiclassical periodic-orbit theory, one can define and quantify the shell effect associated with spatially localized nascent-fragment (prefragment) part of the potential. We investigate the roles of prefragments in the deformed shell effect using a simple cavity potential model but with realistic shape degrees of freedom for describing the fission processes. The results suggest that the prefragment magic numbers play essential roles in deter…
The semiclassical origins of the enhancement of shell effects in exotic-shape mean-field potentials are investigated by focusing attention on the roles of the local symmetries associated with the periodic-orbit bifurcations. The deformed shell structures for four types of pure octupole shapes in the nuclear mean-field model having a realistic radial dependence are analyzed. Remarkable shell effects are shown for a large Y32 deformation having tetrahedral symmetry. Much stronger shell effects found in the shape parametrization smoothly connecting the sphere and the tetrahedron are investigated …
Further exploration of the machine-learning-based nuclear mass table
College of Physics, Henan Normal University（河南师范大学物理学院）；School of Science, Huzhou University（湖州学院理学院）；Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, Henan Academy of Sciences（河南省科学院核科学与技术研究所）；China Institute of Atomic Energy（中国原子能科学研究院）
We review the reasons why one might choose to seriously re-examine the traditional approach to nuclear theory where nucleons are treated as immutable. This examination leads us to argue that the modification of the structure of the nucleon when immersed in a nuclear medium is fundamental to how atomic nuclei are built. Consistent with this approach we suggest key experiments which should tell us unambiguously whether there is such a change in the structure of a bound nucleon. We also briefly report on extremely promising recent calculations of the structure of nuclei across the periodic table …
The strong force that binds atomic nuclei is governed by the rules of Quantum Chromodynamics. Here we consider the suggestion the internal quark structure of a nucleon will adjust self-consistently to the local mean scalar field in a nuclear medium and that this may play a profound role in nuclear structure. We show that one can derive an energy density functional based on this idea, which successfully describes the properties of atomic nuclei across the periodic table in terms of a small number of physically motivated parameters. Because this approach amounts to a new paradigm for nuclear the…
Making use of the semiclassical periodic orbit theory (POT), we propose, for the first time, a method to exclusively evaluate the shell effects associated with each of the nascent fragments (prefragments) generated by the neck formation in nuclear fission processes. In spite of the strong indication of such shell effects in asymmetric fragment mass distributions, they could not have been accessed by any previous theoretical approach since most of the single-particle wave functions are delocalized. In the POT, we have found that the prefragment shell effects can be naturally and unambiguously i…
