Microscopic self-consistent description of induced fission dynamics: finite temperature effects

TL;DR

This paper presents a finite-temperature theoretical framework for modeling induced fission dynamics of $^{226}$Th, successfully reproducing experimental fragment distributions by incorporating temperature effects into the collective potential and inertia tensor.

Contribution

It introduces a self-consistent finite-temperature TDGCM+GOA approach for fission dynamics, accounting for temperature-dependent collective potentials and inertia tensors.

Findings

Qualitative reproduction of triple-humped charge and mass distributions at T=0.

Accurate peak positions and yields achieved at T=0.75-1 MeV.

Finite temperature effects are crucial for precise fission fragment predictions.

Abstract

The dynamics of induced fission of $^{226}$Th is investigated in a theoretical framework based on the finite-temperature time-dependent generator coordinate method (TDGCM) in the Gaussian overlap approximation (GOA). The thermodynamical collective potential and inertia tensor at temperatures in the interval $T=0 - 1.25$ MeV are calculated using the self-consistent multidimensionally constrained relativistic mean field (MDC-RMF) model, based on the energy density functional DD-PC1. Pairing correlations are treated in the BCS approximation with a separable pairing force of finite range. Constrained RMF+BCS calculations are carried out in the collective space of axially symmetric quadrupole and octupole deformations for the asymmetric fissioning nucleus $^{226}$Th. The collective Hamiltonian is determined by the temperature-dependent free energy surface and perturbative cranking inertia tensor, and the TDGCM+GOA is used to propagate the initial collective state in time. The resulting charge and mass fragment distributions are analyzed as functions of the internal excitation energy. The model can qualitatively reproduce the empirical triple-humped structure of the fission charge and mass distributions already at $T=0$, but the precise experimental position of the asymmetric peaks and the symmetric-fission yield can only be accurately reproduced when the potential and inertia tensor of the collective Hamiltonian are determined at finite temperature, in this particular case between $T=0.75$ MeV and $T=1$ MeV.