Decay widths at the scission point in nuclear fission

Abstract

An outstanding problem in the theory of nuclear fission is understanding the Hamiltonian dynamics at the scission point. Here we apply the Generator Coordinate Method to calculate decay widths for pre-scission configurations into the two-fragment continuum. Transitions that are allowed under diabatic dynamics can have widths up to several MeV. For non-diabatic decays through the pairing interaction, typical widths to a specific final state channel are 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller. The nucleus U-236 is taken as a representative example in the calculations.