Nuclear fission as a Markov process

Abstract

Starting from the assumption of a random transfer of nucleons between the two sides of a fissioning nucleus, during the time from saddle point to scission, a new theory of fission is developed to show that the mass distribution in low, intermediate and high energy fission can be explained on arguments based on the ground state properties of nuclei. The theory is extended to show that the shape of the deformation energy-mass curves follows as a direct consequence of the equilibrium conditions which determine the mass distributions and the gap in the "zig-zag" curves is essentially due to the proton transfers. The time of fission is shown to be of the order of 500 nucleonic times in spontaneous and low energy fission and results from the properties of the transition matrix. The theory is also able to explain the small range of the threshold energies of fission of heavy nuclei and the formation of a symmetry axis early in the process.