Super-heavy elements, current status of experiments and theory

Super-heavy elements (SHEs) imply Z > 82 (Pb). Observations up to Z=118 have been claimed. Exciting results from Dubna for Z>118 are being touted. I will discuss experimental techniques to produce SHEs as well as theoretical models used to describe their properties. SHEs provide excellent tests of nuclear models. Nuclei with Z=118 and A near 290 lie about 40 nucleons away from nuclei where models have been tested. Properties such as fission half-lives and alpha-decay Q values near A=290 involvDes a large jump. This is similar to the excursion from the line of beta-stability to the r-process line. I will attempt to demonstrate that it is possible to make predictions that have useful reliability far from known nuclei.r