Parameter-Free Deformation Variables of the Proxy-SU(3) Symmetry in Even–Even Actinide, Superheavy, and Hyperheavy Nuclei with Z = 82–126, N = 82–258

Superheavy and hyperheavy nuclei are one of the frontiers of nuclear structure nowadays, while for many actinides rather limited experimental information exists. Therefore, theoretical methods providing parameter-independent predictions for these nuclei are of particular interest. Such a method is the proxy-SU(3) approximation to the shell model, which has been adequately tested against experimental data in medium-mass and heavy nuclei up to the rare-earth region, and it has been found to provide reliable, parameter-independent predictions for the collective deformation variables β and γ. Within the proxy-SU(3) approach, the SU(3) symmetry of the three-dimensional harmonic oscillator, which is destroyed beyond the sd shell by the strong spin–orbit interaction, is restored through a unitary transformation. For each nucleus, the most symmetric irreducible representation (irrep) allowed by the Pauli principle and the short-range nature of the nucleon–nucleon interaction, called the highest-weight (hw) irrep in mathematical language, is found to suffice, except in cases in which the hw irrep turns out to be completely symmetric, so that the next highest weight (nhw) irrep has also to be included. In this article we provide a full collection of the hw and nhw irreps, as well as of the corresponding parameter-free predictions for the deformation variables β and γ, for all atomic nuclei ranging from Z=82, N=82 to Z=126, N=258. Several cases exemplifying the use of the collected results for studying the prolate-to-oblate shape transition, mirror symmetries, and the evolution of the collective variables along the valley of stability are also considered.