Effect of viscosity on the fission of metallic clusters

It is predicted that the viscosity of clusters should enlarge the fission times of metallic clusters considerably compared to those calculated with a purely statistical model. This is analogous to the case of heavy-ion induced fission of hot nuclei, but the effect is predicted to be about a factor of 10 stronger in metallic clusters. Fission of ${\mathrm{Na}}_{18}^{2+}{\to \mathrm{Na}}_9^{+}{+\mathrm{N}\mathrm{a}}_9^{+}$ is discussed as an example.