Evidence for a long-lived superheavy nucleus with atomic mass number A=292 and atomic number Z=~122 in natural Th

Abstract

Evidence for the existence of a superheavy nucleus with atomic mass number A=292 and abundance (1-10)x10^(-12) relative to 232Th has been found in a study of natural Th using inductively coupled plasma-sector field mass spectrometry. The measured mass matches the predictions [1,2] for the mass of an isotope with atomic number Z=122 or a nearby element. Its estimated half-life of t1/2 >= 10^8 y suggests that a long-lived isomeric state exists in this isotope. The possibility that it might belong to a new class of long-lived high spin super- and hyperdeformed isomeric states is discussed.[3-6]

14 pages, 5 figures

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Relativistic mean field study of the properties of Z=117 nucleus and the decay chains of ${}^{293,294}$117 isotopes
• Search for long-lived superheavy eka-tungsten with radiopure ZnWO${}_4$ crystal scintillator
• All-order calculations of the spectra of superheavy elements E113 and E114
• Enrichment of the Superheavy Element Rg in Natural Au
• ICP-SFMS search for long-lived naturally-occurring heavy, superheavy and superactinide nuclei compared to AMS experiments
• Response to "Discovery of the element with atomic number 112" by Robert C. Barber, Heinz W. Gaggeler, Paul J. Karol, Hiromichi Nakahara, Emanuele Vardaci and Erich Vogt (PAC-REP-08-03-05)
• Superheavy elements: existence, classification and experiment