The shell effects in the scission-point configuration of fissioning nuclei

Abstract

In the present work the formal definition of the scission point - the maximal elongation at which the nucleus splits into two fragments - is given. The shape and the deformation energy at the scission point are calculated within the macroscopic-microscopic model. Three minima in the scission point deformation energy are found corresponding to the "standard", "supershort" and "superlong" fission modes. The contribution of each fission mode to the mass distribution of the fission fragments and total kinetic energy is discussed and compared with the experimental results. On the example of the fission process of U-235 by thermal neutrons it is shown that the present approach reproduces correctly the position of the peaks of the mass distribution of the fission fragments, the value and the fine details of the total kinetic energy distribution and the magnitude of the total excitation energy of the fission fragments.