Calculated fission-fragment mass yields and average total kinetic energies of heavy and superheavy nuclei

TL;DR

This paper uses the Brownian shape-motion method to calculate fission fragment mass yields and TKE distributions for a wide range of heavy and superheavy nuclei, highlighting an island of asymmetric fission.

Contribution

It extends previous calculations to include superheavy nuclei, revealing an asymmetric fission region with specific fragment characteristics and TKE values.

Findings

Identifies an island of asymmetric fission in superheavy nuclei.

Predicts low TKE values consistent with experimental measurements.

Most superheavy alpha-decay chains terminate in asymmetric fission.

Abstract

Fission-fragment mass and total-kinetic-energy (TKE) distributions following fission of even-even nuclides in the region $74 \leq Z \leq 126$ and $92 \leq N \leq 230$, comprising 896 nuclides have been calculated using the Brownian shape-motion method. The emphasis is the region of superheavy nuclei. To show compatibility with earlier results the calculations are extended to include earlier studied regions. An island of asymmetric fission is obtained in the superheavy region, $106\leq Z\leq114$ and $162\leq N\leq 176$, where the heavy fragment is found to be close to $^{208}$Pb and the light fragment adjusts accordingly. Most experimentally observed $\alpha$-decay chains of superheavy nuclei with $Z > 113 $ terminate by spontaneous fission in our predicted region of asymmetric fission. In these cases, the pronounced large asymmetry is accompanied by a low TKE value compatible with measurements.