A new mechanism for synthesis of superheavy elements

A dynamical theory is proposed for nuclear reactions leading to residues of superheavy elements. Fusion and fission processes are treated consistently by a diffusion equation which describes a time-dependent probability distribution in the collective coordinate or deformation space. The potential energy in the equation is time-dependent, because cooling due to particle evaporation gradually restores the shell correction energy which gives rise to a potential pocket essential for the stabilization of the superheavy elements around Z = 114 and N = 184. It is shown that there is an optimum initial excitation energy or incident energy of reactions as the result of a compromise between two conflicting requirements; higher energies which favour larger fusion probabilities and lower energies which favour larger residue probabilities or a quicker restoration of the shell-correction energy. A promising experimental direction is suggested.