Single particle orbitals of the heaviest known actinide nuclei

Single particle states in the actinide nuclei have been well characterized by decay scheme, (n, γ) and one nucleon transfer reaction studies. The energies of the single particle states are used to calculate the shell corrections which may give rise to stable superheavy elements. Large shell corrections for the superheavy elements arise from the gaps in the proton single-particle spectrum at Z = 114 and in the neutron single-particle spectrum at N = 184. The gap at Z = 114 is determined by the splitting of the f7/2 and f5/2 orbitals and the gap at N = 184 is determined by the locations of the h11/2, k17/2 and j13/2 spherical orbitals. Many of these states have been identified in very heavy actinide nuclei. Experiments identifying these states and the relation of the observed energies to the stability of superheavy elements are discussed