SPY: a new scission-point model based on microscopic inputs to predict fission fragment properties

¹ CEA Centre de Saclay, Irfu, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
² CEA, DAM, DIF, 91297 Arpajon, France
³ Institut d’Astronomie et d’Astrophysique, CP-226, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

Published online: 1 April 2014

Abstract

Despite the difficulty in describing the whole fission dynamics, the main fragment characteristics can be determined in a static approach based on a so-called scission-point model. Within this framework, a new Scission-Point model for the calculations of fission fragment Yields (SPY) has been developed. This model, initially based on the approach developed by Wilkins in the late seventies, consists in performing a static energy balance at scission, where the two fragments are supposed to be completely separated so that their macroscopic properties (mass and charge) can be considered as fixed. Given the knowledge of the system state density, averaged quantities such as mass and charge yields, mean kinetic and excitation energy can then be extracted in the framework of a microcanonical statistical description. The main advantage of the SPY model is the introduction of one of the most up-to-date microscopic descriptions of the nucleus for the individual energy of each fragment and, in the future, for their state density. These quantities are obtained in the framework of HFB calculations using the Gogny nucleon-nucleon interaction, ensuring an overall coherence of the model. Starting from a description of the SPY model and its main features, a comparison between the SPY predictions and experimental data will be discussed for some specific cases, from light nuclei around mercury to major actinides. Moreover, extensive predictions over the whole chart of nuclides will be discussed, with particular attention to their implication in stellar nucleosynthesis. Finally, future developments, mainly concerning the introduction of microscopic state densities, will be briefly discussed.