Enhanced stability of superheavy nuclei due to high-spin isomerism

Configuration-constrained calculations of potential-energy surfaces in even-even superheavy nuclei reveal systematically the existence at low excitation energies of multiquasiparticle states with deformed axially symmetric shapes and large angular momenta. These results indicate the prevalence of long-lived, multiquasiparticle isomers. In a quantal system, the ground state is usually more stable than the excited states. In contrast, in superheavy nuclei the multiquasiparticle excitations decrease the probability for both fission and α decay, implying enhanced stability. Hence, the systematic occurrence of multiquasiparticle isomers may become crucial for future production and study of even heavier nuclei. The energies of multiquasiparticle states and their α decays are calculated and compared to available data