Journal article

Publication year: 1973

Pages: 1519-1532

Journal: Physical Review C

Volume number: 7

Issue number: 4

ISSN: 0556-2813

eISSN: 1089-490X

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.7.1518

Publisher: American Physical Society

Abstract: 

The two-center shell model for fission has been generalized to include asymmetric deformations. The calculation of the potential energy involves four independent shape variables, where only two were required in the symmetric calculations. Potential energy calculations have been carried out for 202Pb, 210Po, 236U, 248Cm, 252Fm, and 264Fm. Asymmetric fission is found to be energetically preferred in 236U, 248Cm, and 252Fm; and symmetric fission is preferred in 202Pb, 210Po, 258Fm, and 264Fm. Two of these nuclei, namely 236U and 210Po, have been studied in detail. It is seen that the asymmetry in 236U remains almost constant from the second saddle to scission, whereas in 210Po (and also in 202Pb), the preferred shape changes from asymmetry in the region of the second saddle to symmetry in the region of scission. The results for Fm isotopes indicate that there is a transition from asymmetric fission in the lighter Fm isotopes to symmetric fission in the heavier Fm isotopes. The preference for symmetric mass division in 264Fm is very strong, since two double-magic 13250Sn82 fragments are formed at symmetry. In general, the structures which appear in the potential energy surfaces are the results of an interplay between compound-nucleus shell structure, fragment shell structures, and liquid-drop-model energies. Comparisons of our results with experimental observations indicate that the observed mass distribution is correlated with the potential energy surface in the neighborhood of scission.

Harvard Citation style: Mustafa, M., Mosel, U. and Schmitt, H. (1973) Asymmetry in Nuclear Fission, Physical Review C, 7(4), pp. 1519-1532. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.7.1518

APA Citation style: Mustafa, M., Mosel, U., & Schmitt, H. (1973). Asymmetry in Nuclear Fission. Physical Review C. 7(4), 1519-1532. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.7.1518