Extrapolations of nuclear binding energies from new linear mass relations

Abstract

We present a method to extrapolate nuclear binding energies from known values for neighbouring nuclei. We select four specific mass relations constructed to eliminate smooth variation of the binding energy as function nucleon numbers. The fast odd-even variations are avoided by comparing nuclei with same parity. The mass relations are first tested and shown to either be rather accurately obeyed or revealing signatures of quickly varying structures. Extrapolations are initially made for a nucleus by applying each of these relations. Very reliable estimates are then produced either by an average or by choosing the extrapolation where the smoothest structures enter. Corresponding mass relations for $Q_{\alpha}$ values are used to study the general structure of super-heavy elements. A minor neutron shell at $N = 152$ is seen, but no sign of other shell structures are apparent in the super-heavy region. Accuracies are typically substantially better than $0.5$~MeV.