INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PURE AND APPLIED
CHEMISTRY
in conjunction with
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PURE AND APPLIED PHYSICS
Criteria that must be satisfied
for the
Discovery of a New Chemical Element to be Recognized
being the report on phase (i)
of operations of the
TRANSFERMIUM WORKING GROUP OF IUPAC AND IUPAP*
Prepared for publication by A. H. Wapstra
Nationaal Instituut voor Kernfysica en Hoge-Energiefysica, POB 41882,
1009 D13, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
World Wide Web version
Preface: The discovery (synthesis) of
a new element has become a very complicated matter because it now requires
the intricate equipment of nuclear physics and because the number of
atoms prepared is often extremely small. The very short half-life of
many of the isotopes poses still further problems of experimentation.
There has been considerable discussion and some disagreement concerning
the discovery of the transfermium elements. Moreover the discoverers
are often interested in proposing names for the new elements they have
synthesised. In some cases, it turned out that the first claim later
proves to be wrong. In other cases, the claim was well established and
carried conviction. There are also examples where the first claim, though
later shown to be correct was based on experiments which were themselves
not entirely conclusive so that further experiments were needed; clearly
in such cases the discovery has to be shared. To clarify the situation
a working group called Transfermium Working Group (TWG) was set up.
Its members were nominated both by the International Union of Pure and
Applied Physics and by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
since both physics and chemistry were involved in establishing the claims
to discovery.
The present document is the Report of Phase (i)
of the Transfermium Working Group. It refers to the establishment of
criteria that must be satisfied for the discovery of a new element to
be recognised. The document has been reviewed and discussed by three
three main laboratories involved in this difficult work, namely the
Berkeley group, the Darmstadt Group and the Dubna Group, and has been
accepted and cleared for publication by the two International Unions.
A second document named Report of Phase (ii) is under preparation [see
note]. It will apply these criteria to the discovery of the transfermium
elements and will report the considered conclusions of the Transfermium
Working Group concerning the discovery of each of these elements.
Y. P. Jeannin
President of IUPAC
Note:
Part ii. Introduction to Discovery Profiles, Part
iii. Discovery Profiles of the Transfermium Elements, Responses from
the concerned laboratories in Berkeley, Dubna and Damstadt, and Reply
to responses by Transfermium Working Group, Pure Appl. Chem.
1993, 65, 1757-1814.
* Membership of the Transfermium Working Group was
as follows:
Chairman: D.H. Wilkinson (IUPAP; UK); Secretaries: A.H. Wasptra (IUPAP;
Netherlands); I. Ulehla (IUPAP; Czechoslovakia); Members: R.C. Barber
(IUPAP; Canada); N.N. Greenwood (IUPAP; UK); A. Hrynkiewiez (IUPAP;
Poland); Y. Jeanin (IUPAC; France); M. Lefort (IUPAP; France); M. Sakai
(IUPAP; Japan).