Parity nonconservation and Brosa modes in nuclear fission

The parity nonconserving (PNC) asymmetry coefficient for the angular distribution of fragment emission from binary fission of²³³U irradiated by polarized thermal neutrons has been measured. Complementary fragments were detected by a double ionization chamber with high resolving power. The experiment was carried out at the high flux reactor of the ILL, Grenoble. Integrated over all masses and energies of light fragments from asymmetric fission of²³⁴U^h, the PNC asymmetry coefficient is found to be =(3.29±0.31) × 10^–4.The positive sign of indicates a preferential emission of light fragments parallel to the spin of neutrons inducing fission. Theory claims that PNC effects are sensitive to the properties of the fission barrier. On the other hand, one may wonder whether characteristics of eventual fragments are already specified at the barrier. The measurement of PNC asymmetries for distinct mass-energy ranges of fragments has been utilized to answer this question. Mass-energy distributions of fragments were analyzed along the lines of the Brosa model of fission as a superposition of individual modes. Within experimental uncertainty no mode dependence of asymmetric fission could be disclosed. The result is in keeping with the Brosa model where asymmetric modes bifurcate only once the standard fission barrier has been passed.