GEANT4 Spectroscopy of Heavy and Superheavy Atomic Nuclei: Element 115

A high-resolution alpha, electron, X-ray and gamma-ray coincidence experiment was conducted at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum fur Schwerionenforschung GmbH in Darmstadt, Germany. It aimed to identify and study alpha-decay chains of isotopes of element Z=115. Experimental data, including the 30 identified chains, were analyzed self-consistently with a virtually constructed spectroscopic set-up using GEANT4. A workaround which allows for the use of this simulation toolkit for elements Z>100 is presented. The interpretation of the real experimental data, i.e. the derived decay schemes of some of heaviest man-made atomic nuclei, crucially depends on the cross check with the virtual “GEANT4 spectroscopy” experiment.