Fusion cross section of superheavy elements using a Markov chain method

Sammanfattning

This thesis models fusion reactions for the production of superheavy elements using a fusion by diusion model. The work further develops the diusion model in Ref. [1], achieving signicant computational speedup. In the diffusion model, I demonstrate that the use of a Markov chain method in place of a Langevin random walk method decreases computational time signicantly, by at least two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, the Markov chain method is shown to be especially eective in converging computations with a very low probability of formation. Using the model, I compute fusion cross sections in the formation of three superheavy elements using four dierent reactions. The creation of No-256, Cn-286, and 120-300 are considered. For Cn-286 an alternative reaction using the neutron-rich projectile- and target nuclei Se-86 and Pt-200 is proposed in contrast to the standard Ca-48 + U-238 reaction. Additionally, I predict the beam time required for the synthesis of 120-300. Finally, the fusion model is extended for deformed nuclei, where reactions on both prolate- and oblate-shaped targets are investigated in addition to the spherical Pb-208 target.