Nuclear Scission and Quantum Localization

Abstract

We examine nuclear scission within a fully quantum-mechanical microscopic framework, focusing on the non-local aspects of the theory. Using $^{240}\textrm{Pu}$ hot fission as an example, we discuss the identification of the fragments and the calculation of their kinetic, excitation, and interaction energies, through the localization of the orbital wave functions. We show that the "disentanglement" of the fragment wave functions is essential to the quantum-mechanical definition of scission and the calculation of physical observables. Finally, we discuss the fragments' pre-scission excitation mechanisms and give a non-adiabatic description of their evolution beyond scission.