Potential energy surfaces of Polonium isotopes

Abstract

The evolution of the potential energy landscape is analysed in detail for ten even–even polonium isotopes in the mass range as obtained within the macroscopic–microscopic approach, relying on the Lublin–Strasbourg drop model and the Yukawa-folded single-particle energies for calculating the microscopic shell and pairing corrections. A variant of the modified Funny–Hills nuclear shape parametrization is used to efficiently map possible fission paths. The approach explains the main features of the fragment partition as measured in low-energy fission along the polonium chain. The latter lies in a transitional region of the nuclear chart, and will be essential to consistently understand the evolution of fission properties from neutron-deficient mercury to heavy actinides. The ability of our method to predict fission observables over such an extended region looks promising.