# Bifurcation and fission in the liquid drop model: a phase-field approach

## TL;DR

This paper uses a phase-field numerical approach to analyze bifurcation and fission phenomena in the liquid drop model, providing insights into nuclear stability and the fission process.

## Contribution

It introduces a phase-field simulation method to study bifurcation and fission in the liquid drop model, including the minimum energy path and bifurcation branch analysis.

## Key findings

- Identification of the minimum energy path for fission
- Analysis of bifurcation branch behavior
- Comparison with two-dimensional analogue

## Abstract

The liquid drop model, originally used to model atomic nuclei, describes the competition between surface tension and Coulomb force. To help understand how a ball loses stability and becomes prone to fission, we calculate the minimum energy path of the fission process, and study the bifurcation branch conjectured by Bohr and Wheeler. We then present the two-dimensional analogue for comparison. Our study is conducted with the help of numerical simulations via a phase-field approach.