Non-axial shapes in spontaneous fission of superheavy nuclei

We test the importance of non-axial nuclear shapes in spontaneous fission o f heavy and superheavy even-even nuclei from the region around a hypothetic al doubly magic nucleus (298)114. Fission half-lives are calculated by find ing dynamical fission paths as dictated by the least WKB action principle w ith the macroscopic-microscopic energy and the cranking inertial parameters . Results show that the effects of non-axial shapes on the fission process are weakened by the inertia tensor and become important only for the heavie st elements with Z greater than or equal to 120. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.