Some Aspects on Identification, Decay Properties and Nuclear Structure of the Heaviest Nuclei

Synthesis of new elements at the upper border of the charts of nuclei and investigation of their decay properties and nuclear structure has been one of the main research topics in low energy nuclear physics since more than five decades. Main items are the quest for the heaviest nuclei that can exist and the verification of the theoretical predicted spherical proton and neutron shells at Z = 114, 120 or 126 and N = 172 or 184. The scope of the present paper is to illustrate some technical and physical aspects in investigation of the heaviest nuclei ('superheavy nuclei') and to critical discuss some selected results, which from a strict scientific point of view are not completely clear so far, making partly also suggestions for alternatively interpretations. A complete review of the whole field of superheavy element research, however, is out of the scope of this paper.