Nuclear Scission and Quantum Localization

TL;DR

This paper presents a quantum-mechanical approach to nuclear fission, emphasizing the importance of wave function localization for defining fragments and calculating their properties.

Contribution

It introduces a novel quantum framework for nuclear scission that accounts for non-local effects and fragment disentanglement, advancing the understanding of fission dynamics.

Findings

Localization of orbital wave functions is crucial for defining fragments.

Disentanglement of wave functions enables accurate calculation of observables.

Non-adiabatic evolution models the post-scission fragment dynamics.

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.