Role of spin-orbit strength in the prediction of closed shells in superheavy nuclei

Using the microscopic-macroscopic approach based on the modified two-center shell model, the ground-state shell corrections are analyzed as a function of spin-orbit strength for even-Z superheavy nuclei in the alpha-decay chains containing (295-300,302,304)120 nuclei. The influence of the spin-orbit strength on the positions of shell closures and the description of the low-lying one-quasiparticle spectra for Cf-251 , Cm-243, Bk-243, and Es-251 nuclei are studied in detail. The importance of studying the nuclear structure of actinides for predicting the next double magic nucleus beyond Pb-208 is demonstrated.