Microscopic Calculation of Fission Fragment Energies for the 239Pu(nth,f) Reaction

Abstract

We calculate the total kinetic and excitation energies of fragments produced in the thermal-induced fission of {sup 239}Pu. This result is a proof-of-principle demonstration for a microscopic approach to the calculation of fission-fragment observables for applied data needs. In addition, the calculations highlight the application of a fully quantum mechanical description of scission, and the importance of exploring scission configurations as a function of the moments of the fragments, rather than through global constraints on the moments of the fissioning nucleus. Using a static microscopic calculation of configurations at and near scission, we have identified fission fragments for the {sup 239}Pu (n{sub th}, f) reaction and extracted their total kinetic and excitation energies. Comparison with data shows very good overall agreement between theory and experiment. Beyond their success as a proof of principle, these calculations also highlight the importance of local constraints on the fragments themselves in microscopic calculations.