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An electron localization measure was originally introduced to characterize chemical bond structures in molecules. Recently, a nucleon localization based on Hartree-Fock densities has been introduced to investigate $alpha$-cluster structures in light nuclei. Compared to the local nucleonic densities, the nucleon localization function has been shown to be an excellent indicator of shell effects and cluster correlations. Using the spatial nucleon localization measure, we investigate the emergence of fragments in fissioning heavy nuclei. To illustrate basic concepts of nucleon localization, we employ the self-consistent energy density functional method with a quantified energy density functional optimized for fission studies. We study the particle densities and spatial nucleon localization distributions along the fission pathways of $^{264}$Fm, $^{232}$Th and $^{240}$Pu. We demonstrate that the fission fragments are formed fairly early in the evolution, well before scission. We illustrate the usefulness of the localization measure by showing how the hyperdeformed state of $^{232}$Th can be understood in terms of a quasimolecular state made of $^{132}$Sn and $^{100}$Zr fragments. Compared to nucleonic distributions, the nucleon localization function more effectively quantifies nucleonic clustering: its characteristic oscillating pattern, traced back to shell effects, is a clear fingerprint of cluster/fragment configurations. This is of particular interest for studies of fragment formation and fragment identification in fissioning nuclei.
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We present the first fully unrestricted microscopic calculations of the primary fission fragment intrinsic spins and of the fission fragments relative orbital angular momentum for $^{236}$U$^*$, $^{240}$Pu$^*$, and $^{252}$Cf using the time-dependent density functional theory framework. Within this microscopic approach, free of restrictions and unchecked assumptions and which incorporates the relevant physical observables relevant for describing fission, we evaluate the triple distribution of the fission fragment intrinsic spins and of their fission fragments relative orbital angular momentum and show that their dynamics is dominated by their bending collective modes, in contradistinction to the predictions of the existing phenomenological models and some interpretations of experimental data.
Several sources of angular anisotropy for fission fragments and prompt neutrons have been studied in neutron-induced fission reactions. These include kinematic recoils of the target from the incident neutron beam and the fragments from the emission of the prompt neutrons, preferential directions of the emission of the fission fragments with respect to the beam axis due to the population of particular transition states at the fission barrier, and forward-peaked angular distributions of pre-equilibrium neutrons which are emitted before the formation of a compound nucleus. In addition, there are several potential sources of angular anisotropies that are more difficult to disentangle: the angular distributions of prompt neutrons from fully accelerated fragments or from scission neutrons, and the emission of neutrons from fission fragments that are not fully accelerated. In this work, we study the effects of the first group of anisotropy sources, particularly exploring the correlations between the fission fragment anisotropy and the resulting neutron anisotropy. While kinematic effects were already accounted for in our Hauser-Feshbach Monte Carlo code, $mathtt{CGMF}$, anisotropic angular distributions for the fission fragments and pre-equilibrium neutrons resulting from neutron-induced fission on $^{233,234,235,238}$U, $^{239,241}$Pu, and $^{237}$Np have been introduced for the first time. The effects of these sources of anisotropy are examined over a range of incident neutron energies, from thermal to 20 MeV, and compared to experimental data from the Chi-Nu liquid scintillator array. The anisotropy of the fission fragments is reflected in the anisotropy of the prompt neutrons, especially as the outgoing energy of the prompt neutrons increases, allowing for an extraction of the fission fragment anisotropy to be made from a measurement of the neutrons.
In the present paper, we explore the idea of isospin conservation in new situations and contexts based on the directions provided by our earlier works. We present the results of our calculations for the relative yields of neutron-rich fission fragments emitted in fast neutron-induced fission, 238U (n, fission) reaction by using the concept of the conservation of isospin and compare with the experimental data. Our results successfully reproduced the gross features of partition wise fission fragments distribution of 238U (n, fission). This confirms that in all kinds of fission, isospin remains pure in neutron-rich systems even at high excitations. Thus, isospin can be proven as an important quantum number for the prediction of fission fragment distribution.
A recent analysis of experimental data [J. Wilson $et. al$, Nature $mathbf 590$, 566 (2021)] found that the angular momenta of nuclear fission fragments are uncorrelated. Based on this finding, the authors concluded that the spins are therefore determined only $after$ scission has occurred. We show here that the nucleon-exchange mechanism, as implemented in the well-established event-by-event fission model $mathtt{FREYA}$, while agitating collective rotational modes in which the two spins are highly correlated, nevertheless leads to fragment spins that are largely uncorrelated. This fact invalidates the reasoning of those authors. Furthermore, it was reported [J. Wilson $et. al$, Nature $mathbf 590$, 566 (2021)] that the mass dependence of the average fragment spin has a sawtooth structure. We demonstrate that such a behavior naturally emerges when shell and deformation effects are included in the moments of inertia of the fragments at scission.
Accurate knowledge of fission fragment yields is an essential ingredient of numerous applications ranging from the formation of elements in the r-process to fuel cycle optimization for nuclear energy. The need for a predictive theory applicable where no data is available is an incentive to develop a fully microscopic approach to fission dynamics. In this work, we calculate the pre-neutron emission charge and mass distributions of the fission fragments formed in the neutron-induced fission of 239Pu using a microscopic method based on nuclear energy density functional (EDF) method, where large amplitude collective motion is treated adiabatically using the time dependent generator coordinate method (TDGCM) under the Gaussian overlap approximation (GOA). Fission fragment distributions are extracted from the flux of the collective wave packet through the scission line. We find that the main characteristics of the fission charge and mass distributions can be well reproduced by existing energy functionals even in two-dimensional collective spaces. Theory and experiment agree typically within 2 mass units for the position of the asymmetric peak. As expected, calculations are sensitive to the structure of the initial state and the prescription for the collective inertia. We emphasize that results are also sensitive to the continuity of the collective landscape near scission. Our analysis confirms that the adiabatic approximation provides an effective scheme to compute fission fragment yields. It also suggests that, at least in the framework of nuclear DFT, three-dimensional collective spaces may be a prerequisite to reach 10% accuracy in predicting pre-neutron emission fission fragment yields.
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