A classical two-body Hamiltonian model and its mean field approximation

We extend a recent billiard model of the nuclear N-body Hamiltonian to consider a finite two-body interaction. This permits a treatment of the Hamiltonian by a mean field theory, and also allows the possibility to model reactions between nuclei. The density and the mean field potential can be accurately described by a scaling function which shows the qualitative features of the liquid drop picture of the nucleus.Comment: 9 pages, 2 PS-figures, uses psfig.st

Ambiguities in statistical calculations of nuclear fragmentation

The concept of freeze out volume used in many statistical approaches for disassembly of hot nuclei leads to ambiguities. The fragmentation pattern and the momentum distribution (temperature) of the emanated fragments are determined by the phase space at the freeze-out volume where the interaction among the fragments is supposedly frozen out. However, to get coherence with the experimental momentum distribution of the charged particles, one introduces Coulomb acceleration beyond this freeze-out. To be consistent, we investigate the effect of the attractive nuclear force beyond this volume and find that the possible recombination of the fragments alters the physical observables significantly casting doubt on the consistency of the statistical model.Comment: 11 pages+3 figure

Nuclear Ground-State Masses and Deformations

We tabulate the atomic mass excesses and nuclear ground-state deformations of 8979 nuclei ranging from $^{16}$O to $A=339$. The calculations are based on the finite-range droplet macroscopic model and the folded-Yukawa single-particle microscopic model. Relative to our 1981 mass table the current results are obtained with an improved macroscopic model, an improved pairing model with a new form for the effective-interaction pairing gap, and minimization of the ground-state energy with respect to additional shape degrees of freedom. The values of only 9 constants are determined directly from a least-squares adjustment to the ground-state masses of 1654 nuclei ranging from $^{16}$O to $^{263}$106 and to 28 fission-barrier heights. The error of the mass model is 0.669~MeV for the entire region of nuclei considered, but is only 0.448~MeV for the region above $N=65$.Comment: 50 pages plus 20 PostScript figures and 160-page table obtainable by anonymous ftp from t2.lanl.gov in directory masses, LA-UR-93-308

Fusion hindrance and roles of shell effects in superheavy mass region

We present the first attempt of systematically investigating the effects of shell correction energy for a dynamical process, which includes fusion, fusion-fission and quasi-fission processes. In the superheavy mass region, for the fusion process, shell correction energy plays a very important role and enhances the fusion probability when the colliding partner has a strong shell structure. By analyzing the trajectory in three-dimensional coordinate space with the Langevin equation, we reveal the mechanism of the enhancement of the fusion probability caused by `cold fusion valleys'. The temperature dependence of shell correction energy is considered.Comment: 31 pages, 23 figures, Accepted for publication in Nuclear Physics

True ternary fission of superheavy nuclei

We found that a true ternary fission with formation of a heavy third fragment (a new type of radioactivity) is quite possible for superheavy nuclei due to the strong shell effects leading to a three-body clusterization with the two doubly magic tin-like cores. The simplest way to discover this phenomenon in the decay of excited superheavy nuclei is a detection of two tin-like clusters with appropriate kinematics in low-energy collisions of medium mass nuclei with actinide targets. The three-body quasi-fission process could be even more pronounced for giant nuclear systems formed in collisions of heavy actinide nuclei. In this case a three-body clusterization might be proved experimentally by detection of two coincident lead-like fragments in low-energy U+U collisions.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

Is binary sequential decay compatible with the fragmentation of nuclei at high energy?

We use a binary sequential decay model in order to describe the fragmentation of a nucleus induced by the high energy collisions of protons with Au nuclei. Overall agreement between measured and calculated physical observables is obtained. We evaluate and analyse the decay times obtained with two different parametrisations of the decay rates and discuss the applicability of the model to high energy fragmentation.Comment: 6 pages, 4 eps figures. Small changes at the end of the text. More arguments are given in the discussion of the time scale of the proces

Theory of fusion hindrance and synthesis of the superheavy elements

The two-step model for fusion reactions of massive systems is briefly reviewed.By the use of fusion probabilities obtained by the model and of survival probabilities obtained by the new statistical code, we predict residue cross sections for 48Ca+actinide systems leading to superheavy elements with Z=114, 116 and 118.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Halong Bay meeting proceedin