Nuclear mass formula with shell energies obtained by a new method and its application to superheavy elements

A nuclear mass formula is constructed which is composed of two parts, one describing the general trend of the masses as a function of Z and N and the other representing deviations of individual masses from this general trend. These deviations, referred to as shell energies, are calculated by a new method for spherical as well as deformed nuclei only with use of spherical single-particle potentials. The root-mean-square deviation from experimentally known masses is 0.68 MeV. The obtained mass formula, is applicable to any nucleus with Z ≥ 2 and N ≥ 2. By this mass formula α-decay energies are calculated, and α-decay half-lives of superheavy elements are estimated. (author)