Predictions of α-decay half-lives based on potentials from self-consistent mean-field models Original Research Article

We present a microscopic model for the calculation of α-decay half lives employing potentials obtained from relativistic and non-relativistic self-consistent mean-field models. The nuclear and Coulomb potentials are used to obtain the tunneling probability and, in one model variant, also the knocking frequency. The model contains only one parameter. We compare this approach employing several modern mean-field parametrizations to experimental data and to the semi-empirical Viola–Seaborg systematics. We extrapolate our model to superheavy nuclei where assumptions entering semi-empirical approaches might lose validity.