Probabilistic scission of a fissile nucleus into fragments

A probabilistic criterion is proposed for the scission of a fissile nucleus into fragments. The probability of the rupture of the neck between would-be fragments is estimated by considering scission as a fluctuation. The energy of the prescission configuration and the energy of the separated-fragment configuration are computed on the basis of a macroscopic model that takes into account a finite range of nuclear forces and the diffuseness of the nuclear surface. The effect of the probabilistic criterion of nuclear scission on fission-process observables, such as the moments of the mass-energy distribution of fission fragments, the mean multiplicity of prescission neutrons, and mean fission times, is demonstrated. It is shown that the Strutinsky criterion, according to which nuclear scission occurs at a finite neck radius of 0.3R₀, is a rather good approximation to the probabilistic scission criterion in Langevin dynamical calculations employing the one-body nuclear-viscosity mechanism modified in such a way that the wall-formula contribution is reduced, the reduction factor satisfying the condition k _s <05.