1. Super Heavy Nuclei Physics H190 A Brief History Of Transuranium Elements Nuclear Structure and Stable Atoms The Search for The Island of Stability "Superheavies" : A modern approach Image Gallery

3. A Brief History of Transuranium Elements Unstable Natural Nuclei → Polonium, Radium, Uranium, Astatine The First : Neptunium (1940) One Runner Race: 10 Elements discovered at Cal (1940-1960) Diminishing Returns: 10 Elements from 1960 - 2010

5. Nuclear Structure and Stable Atoms “Magic Number” configurations appear to be more stable Shell Model, Nuclear Structure is analogous to Electron Shells In General even combinations of nucleons are more stable

7. Search For the Island Of Stability Shell Model predicts a new magic number: 184 Search Focus : Z = 110-120 Difficulty lies in finding sufficiently heavy nuclei to fuse

9. “Superheavies” : A modern approach Single atom detectors allow us to push further than before “Spray&Pray”, ~1pB cross section Produced by fixed target accelerators Targets: Lead, Curium, Americium

11. Summary "We search for the island of stability because, like Mount Everest, it is there. But, as with Everest, there is profound emotion, too, infusing the scientific search to test a hypothesis. The quest for the magic island shows us that science is far from being coldness and calculation, as many people imagine, but is shot through with passion, longing and romance." — Oliver Sacks