Implementing and testing theoretical fission fragment yields in a Hauser-Feshbach statistical decay framework

¹ Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos NM, 87545, USA
² Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds, CEA/DSM-CNRS/IN2P3, Caen, France
³ Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, 23 rue du Loess, BP. 28, 67037 Strasbourg Cedex 2, France

^* e-mail: pjaffke@lanl.gov

Published online: 6 March 2018

Abstract

We implement fission fragment yields, calculated using Brownian shape-motion on a macroscopic-microscopic potential energy surface in six dimensions, into the Hauser-Feshbach statistical decay code CGMF. This combination allows us to test the impact of utilizing theoretically-calculated fission fragment yields on the subsequent prompt neutron and γ-ray emission. We draw connections between the fragment yields and the total kinetic energy TKE of the fission fragments and demonstrate that the use of calculated yields can introduce a difference in the 〈TKE〉 and, thus, the prompt neutron multiplicity v, as compared with experimental fragment yields. We deduce the uncertainty on the 〈TKE〉 and v from this procedure and identify possible applications.