Research Projects

The superheavy elements (SHEs) are currently hot topics in the interdisciplinary research area of chemical, physical and computational sciences. Though the definition of SHEs varies among scientists, one reasonable way can be to consider the elements having atomic numbers of more than 100 as SHEs. The major problem in conducting experimental research with these elements is their rare availability in the earth’s crust and the atmosphere. This is quite obvious as the nuclei of these elements contain a large number of protons and neutrons and, therefore, they are highly radioactive with small half lifetimes (of the order of few seconds and less than that usually). So the experimentalists prepare these elements in the laboratories, and any kind of measurements on these elements have to be performed very quickly. This is very challenging, especially to perform physical and chemical analysis of these elements. However, the experimental explorations of the SHEs can be easier and more reliable with the availability of theoretically calculated values. Therefore, the primary aim of this project is to calculate the spectroscopic properties, such as ionization potentials, excitation energies, wavelengths, oscillator strengths, and hyperfine-structure splitting, and the structural property, such as electric dipole polarizabilities, of the SHEs accurately. We will use a fully relativistic version of the coupled-cluster theory to calculate these quantities. The experimental explorations of the SHEs include their correct identifications and correct analysis of their physical and chemical properties. The correct picture of the chemical properties of the SHEs is extremely important to place these elements in the appropriate positions on the periodic table. Keeping the SHEs according to their increasing atomic numbers and at the same time according to their chemical properties in the periodic table is currently a hot and debatable topic to many chemists. The correct picture of the physical properties of the SHEs may give a judgement on the dispute over the exact position of the “island of stability” centering magic numbers of protons and neutrons for the SHEs. The nuclei belonging to this island are believed to be highly stable and have large binding energies. Therefore, the experimental realization of this exact position may open up the possibility to use the SHEs belonging to this island as fourth generation nuclear weapons and powerful nuclear fuel for space missions. Moreover, spectroscopic data on the SHEs can be recommended in investigating the existence of these elements in cosmic rays and stellar and interstellar objects. Our computed data on the spectroscopic and structural properties of the SHEs will be based on these needs towards ending the quests of many scientists around the world including the scientists working in different nuclear physics laboratories in India, such as VECC, Kolkata; IGCAR, Kalpakkam; BARC, Mumbai; IUAC, New Delhi; etc.