Shape isomers in Pt, Hg and Pb isotopes with $${\hbox {N}}\le 126$$

Deformation-energy surfaces of 54 even-even isotopes of Pt, Hg and Pb nuclei with neutron numbers up to 126 are investigated within a macroscopic-microscopic model based on the Lublin-Strasbourg-Drop macroscopic energy and shell plus pairing-energy corrections obtained from a Yukawa-folded mean-field potential at the desired deformation. A new, rapidly converging Fourier shape parametrization is used to describe nuclear shapes. The stability of shape isomeric states with respect to non-axial and higher-order deformations is investigated.