Editing Island of stability (section)

===Deformed nuclei===
[[File:Even Z alpha decay chains.svg|thumb|right|upright=2|alt=A diagram of observed decay chains of even Z superheavy nuclides, consisting of several alpha decays and terminating in spontaneous fission.|A summary of observed decay chains in even-''Z'' superheavy elements, including tentative assignments in chains 3, 5, and 8.<ref name="Hofmann2016" /> According to another analysis, chain 3 (starting at element 120) is not a real decay chain, but is rather a random sequence of events.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heßberger |first1=F. P. |last2=Ackermann |first2=D. |date=2017 |title=Some critical remarks on a sequence of events interpreted to possibly originate from a decay chain of an element 120 isotope |journal=The European Physical Journal A |volume=53 |issue=123 |page=123 |doi=10.1140/epja/i2017-12307-5|bibcode=2017EPJA...53..123H |s2cid=125886824 }}</ref> There is a general trend of increasing stability for isotopes with a greater neutron excess (''N''&nbsp;−&nbsp;''Z'', the difference in the number of protons and neutrons), especially in elements 110, 112, and 114, which strongly suggests that the center of the island of stability lies among even heavier isotopes.]]Though nuclei within the island of stability around ''N''&nbsp;=&nbsp;184 are predicted to be [[spherical]], studies from the early 1990s—beginning with Polish physicists Zygmunt Patyk and Adam Sobiczewski in 1991<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Patyk|first1=Z.|last2=Sobiczewski|first2=A.|date=1991|title=Ground-state properties of the heaviest nuclei analyzed in a multidimensional deformation space|journal=Nuclear Physics A|language=en|volume=533|issue=1|page=150|bibcode=1991NuPhA.533..132P|doi=10.1016/0375-9474(91)90823-O}}</ref>—suggest that some superheavy elements do not have perfectly spherical nuclei.<ref name=structure>{{cite journal |title=Structure of Odd-''N'' Superheavy Elements |journal=Physical Review Letters |volume=83 |issue=6 |pages=1108–1111 |year=1999 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.1108 |last1=Ćwiok |first1=S. |last2=Nazarewicz |first2=W. |last3=Heenen |first3=P. H. |bibcode=1999PhRvL..83.1108C }}</ref><ref name=zaioo>{{cite journal |last1=Zagrebaev |first1=V. I. |last2=Aritomo |first2=Y. |last3=Itkis |first3=M. G. |last4=Oganessian |first4=Yu. Ts. |last5=Ohta |first5=N. |display-authors=3 |title=Synthesis of superheavy nuclei: How accurately can we describe it and calculate the cross sections? |date=2001 |journal=Physical Review C |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=014607-1–014607-14 <!-- Deny Citation Bot-->|doi=10.1103/PhysRevC.65.014607 |bibcode=2001PhRvC..65a4607Z |url=http://nrv.jinr.ru/pdf_file/zaioo.pdf}}</ref> A change in the shape of the nucleus changes the position of neutrons and protons in the shell. Research indicates that large nuclei farther from spherical magic numbers are [[Superdeformation|deformed]],<ref name=zaioo/> causing magic numbers to shift or new magic numbers to appear. Current theoretical investigation indicates that in the region ''Z''&nbsp;=&nbsp;106–108 and ''N''&nbsp;≈&nbsp;160–164, nuclei may be more resistant to fission as a consequence of shell effects for deformed nuclei; thus, such superheavy nuclei would only undergo alpha decay.<ref name="predictions" /><ref name="longlived" /><ref name="nuclear" /> Hassium-270 is now believed to be a doubly magic deformed nucleus, with deformed magic numbers ''Z''&nbsp;=&nbsp;108 and ''N''&nbsp;=&nbsp;162.<ref name=270Hs01>{{Cite journal |first1=J. |last1=Dvořák |first2 =W. |last2= Brüchle |first3= M. |last3= Chelnokov |first4= R. |last4= Dressler |first5= Ch. E. |last5= Düllmann |first6= K. |last6= Eberhardt |first7= V. |last7= Gorshkov |first8= E. |last8= Jäger |first9= R. |last9= Krücken |first10= A. |last10= Kuznetsov |first11= Y. |last11= Nagame |first12= F. |last12= Nebel |first13= Z. |last13= Novackova |first14= Z. |last14= Qin |first15= M. |last15= Schädel |first16= B. |last16= Schausten |first17= E. |last17= Schimpf |first18= A. |last18= Semchenkov |first19= P. |last19= Thörle |first20= A. |last20= Türler |first21= M. |last21= Wegrzecki |first22= B. |last22= Wierczinski |first23= A. |last23= Yakushev |first24= A. |last24= Yeremin
|display-authors=3 |year=2006 |title=Doubly Magic Nucleus {{su|p=270|b=108}}Hs{{su|b=162}} |journal=[[Physical Review Letters]] |volume=97 |issue=24 |pages=242501-1–242501-4 <!-- Deny Citation Bot-->|bibcode=2006PhRvL..97x2501D |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.242501 |pmid=17280272|url=https://www.dora.lib4ri.ch/psi/islandora/object/psi%3A16351 }}</ref> It has a half-life of 9 seconds.{{NUBASE2020 |ref |page=030001-174–030001-180}} This is consistent with models that take into account the deformed nature of nuclei intermediate between the actinides and island of stability near ''N''&nbsp;=&nbsp;184, in which a stability "peninsula" emerges at deformed magic numbers ''Z''&nbsp;=&nbsp;108 and ''N''&nbsp;=&nbsp;162.<ref name=Moller97>{{cite journal |last1=Möller |first1=P. |last2=Nix |first2=J. R. |title=Stability and Production of Superheavy Nuclei |date=1998 |journal=AIP Conference Proceedings |volume=425 |issue=1 |pages=75 |doi=10.1063/1.55136 |arxiv=nucl-th/9709016|bibcode=1998AIPC..425...75M |s2cid=119087649 }}</ref><ref name=270Hs2020>{{cite journal |last1=Meng |first1=X. |last2=Lu |first2=B.-N. |last3=Zhou |first3=S.-G. |title=Ground state properties and potential energy surfaces of <sup>270</sup>Hs from multidimensionally constrained relativistic mean field model |date=2020 |journal=Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=212011-1–212011-9 <!-- Deny Citation Bot-->|doi=10.1007/s11433-019-9422-1 |arxiv=1910.10552|bibcode=2020SCPMA..6312011M |s2cid=204838163 }}</ref> Determination of the decay properties of neighboring hassium and seaborgium isotopes near ''N''&nbsp;=&nbsp;162 provides further strong evidence for this region of relative stability in deformed nuclei.<ref name="Cwiok" /> This also strongly suggests that the island of stability (for spherical nuclei) is not completely isolated from the region of stable nuclei, but rather that both regions are instead linked through an isthmus of relatively stable deformed nuclei.<ref name=Moller97 /><ref name=kjmoody>{{cite book |editor-last=Schädel |editor-first=M. |editor-last2=Shaughnessy |editor-first2=D. |title=The Chemistry of Superheavy Elements |year=2014 |edition=2nd |publisher=Springer |page=3 |chapter=Synthesis of Superheavy Elements |last=Moody |first=K. J. |isbn=978-3-642-37466-1}}</ref>