Nucleon localization and fragment formation in nuclear fission

C. L. Zhang (张春莉), B. Schuetrumpf, and W. Nazarewicz
Phys. Rev. C 94, 064323 – Published 27 December 2016

Abstract

Background: 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 α-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.

Purpose: Using the spatial nucleon localization measure, we investigate the emergence of fragments in fissioning heavy nuclei.

Methods: 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.

Results: We study the particle densities and spatial nucleon localization distributions along the fission pathways of Fm264, Th232, and Pu240. 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 Th232 can be understood in terms of a quasimolecular state made of Sn132 and Zr100 fragments.

Conclusions: 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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  • Received 1 July 2016
  • Revised 28 November 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.94.064323

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

  1. Research Areas
  1. Properties
Nuclear Physics

Authors & Affiliations

C. L. Zhang (张春莉)1, B. Schuetrumpf1, and W. Nazarewicz2,3

  • 1NSCL/FRIB Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
  • 2Department of Physics and Astronomy and FRIB Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
  • 3Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland

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Issue

Vol. 94, Iss. 6 — December 2016

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