Comparative study of metal cluster fission in Hartree-Fock and LDA

Abstract

Fission of doubly charged metal clusters is studied using the open-shell two-center deformed jellium Hartree-Fock model and Local Density Approximation. Results of calculations of the electronic structure and fission barriers for the symmetric and asymmetric channels associated with the following processes Na_{10}^{2+} --> Na_{7}^{+} + Na_{3}^{+}, Na_{18}^{2+} --> Na_{15}^{+} + Na_{3}^{+} and Na_{18}^{2+} --> 2 Na_{9}^{+} are presented. The role of the exact exchange and many-body correlation effects in metal clusters fission is analysed. It is demonstrated that the influence of many-electron correlation effects on the height of the fission barrier is more profound if the barrier arises nearby or beyond the scission point. The importance of cluster deformation effects in the fission process is elucidated with the use of the overlapping-spheroids shape parametrization allowing one an independent variation of deformations in the parent and daughter clusters.