Probabilities for the emission of light particles and their energy and angular distributions for true quaternary nuclear fission

On the basis of quantum-mechanical fission theory, the features of true quaternary nuclear fission are studied by treating this fission process as a sequence of three processes following one another in the course of time. The first two processes are the escape of the first and then the second of the two light particles emitted from the neck of a fissioning nucleus because of a nonadiabatic character of the collective deformation motion of this nucleus. Finally, the third process is the separation of the fissioning nucleus into two rather heavy fission fragments. The differences that arise in the emission probabilities and in the angular and energy distributions upon going over from the first emitted to the second emitted prescission third and fourth particles are analyzed by invoking experimental data on the spontaneous and thermalneutron-induced fission of nuclei, and it is shown that these differences are caused by the changes both in the geometric configuration of the fissioning nucleus and in the shell structure of its neck after the first prescission particle is emitted from it.     

Mean first passage time for a class of non-Markovian processes

We determine the probability distribution of the first passage time for a class of non-Markovian processes. This class contains, amongst others, the well-known continuous time random walk (CTRW), which is able to account for many properties of anomalous diffusion processes. In particular, we obtain the mean first passage time for CTRW processes with truncated power-law transition time distribution. Our treatment is based on the fact that the solutions of the non-Markovian master equation can be obtained via an integral transform from a Markovian Langevin process.     

Mean first passage time and the lifetime of a metastable state

The escape rate from quite general metastable states is calculated by means of the mean first passage time. Our result generalizes the known expression for transition rates in equilibrium systems in a very natural way. Possible limitations of its validity are discussed.Dedicated to Professor Harry Thomas on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Mean first passage time of active Brownian particle in one dimension

We investigate the mean first passage time of an active Brownian particle in one dimension using numerical simulations. The activity in one dimension is modelled as a two state model; the particle moves with a constant propulsion strength but its orientation switches from one state to other as in a random telegraphic process. We study the influence of a finite resetting rate r on the mean first passage time to a fixed target of a single free active Brownian particle and map this result using an effective diffusion process. As in the case of a passive Brownian particle, we can find an optimal resetting rate r* for an active Brownian particle for which the target is found with the minimum average time. In the case of the presence of an external potential, we find good agreement between the theory and numerical simulations using an effective potential approach.     

Stratonovich model driven by dichotomous noise: Mean first passage time

The mean first passage time to reach a noise-induced state starting from a local minimum of the stationary probability density is calculated analytically exploiting a novel type of boundary conditions. The result is checked by digital simulation for typical values of the parameters.     

Colored multiplicative and additive non-Gaussian noise-driven dynamical system: Mean first passage time

We have studied the barrier crossing dynamics in presence of non-Gaussian noises. It has been observed that multiplicative colored non-Gaussian noise can induce resonant activation (RA). The conspicuous dependence of mean first passage time (MFPT) on correlation time (_τ2${\tau }_2$) of additive colored noise having fixed variance have been analyzed. Beyond a critical value of _τ2${\tau }_2$ the MFPT increases for a given rate of increase of noise strength with _τ2${\tau }_2$ if the additive colored noise is non-Gaussian. The MFPT first decreases with increase of the non-Gaussian parameter (measures deviation from Gaussian character) of multiplicative colored noise followed by an increase exhibiting a minimum. The appearance of the minimum critically depends on the additive noise.     

Description of true and delayed ternary nuclear fission accompanied by the emission of various third particles

The mechanisms and the features of the main types of nuclear ternary fission (that is, true ternary fission, in which a third particle is emitted before the rupture of the fissioning nucleus into fragments, and delayed ternary fission, in which a third particle is emitted from fission fragments going apart) are investigated within quantum-mechanical fission theory. The features of T-odd asymmetry in true ternary nuclear fission induced by cold polarized neutrons are investigated for the cases where alpha particles, prescission neutrons, and photons appear as third particles emitted by fissioning nuclei, the Coriolis interaction of the spin of the polarized fissioning nucleus with the spin of the third particle and the interference between the fission amplitudes for neutron resonances excited in the fissioning nucleus in the case of projectile-neutron capture being taken into account. For the cases where third particles emitted by fission fragments are evaporated neutrons or photons, T-odd asymmetries in delayed ternary nuclear fission induced by cold polarized neutrons are analyzed with allowance for the mechanism of pumping of large fission-fragment spins oriented orthogonally to the fragment-emission direction and with allowance for the interference between the fission amplitudes for neutron resonances.     

Scission neutrons in the general systematics of the yields of light particles from ternary nuclear fission

An interpolation formula that was previously obtained on the basis of a statistical approach is applied to experimental data quoted in the literature over the past few years for light-particle yields from the ternary fission of nuclei. Arguments are adduced in favor of this approach, and an analysis of errors inherent in it is given. Tables are presented in which experimental light-particle yields for eight cases of fission are given along with those that were obtained from the interpolation formula. The applicability of this formula to estimating the yields of so-called scission neutrons is analyzed.     

Critical behavior of the two-dimensional first passage time

We study the two-dimensional first passage problem in which bonds have zero and unit passage times with probabilityp and 1–p, respectively. We prove that as the zero-time bonds approach the percolation thresholdp _c, the first passage time exhibits the same critical behavior as the correlation function of the underlying percolation problem. In particular, if the correlation length obeys(p) ¦p–p _c¦^–v, then the first passage time constant satisfies(p)¦p–p _c¦^v. At p_c, where it has been asserted that the first passage time from 0 tox scales as ¦x¦ to a power with 0<<1, we show that the passage times grow like log ¦x¦, i.e., the fluid spreads exponentially rapidly.     

Polar light charged particles accompanying spontaneous fission

Simple model of emission of light charged polar particles accompanying fission of heavy nuclei is presented. We assume the emission from the whole surface of fragments after scission, taking into account the influence of the accompanying fragment. The initial energy and time of emission are treated phenomenologically. The motion of light particles and fission fragments are subsequently calculated in the framework of classical dynamics. We get a good agreement with experimental data if we assume a prompt emission. The possibility of the connection with giant resonances is discussed.     

Induced nuclear fission accompanied by pion emission

Basic features of the nuclear-fission process induced by protons of incident energy in the range 150<E _p<600 MeV and accompanied by pion emission are predicted on the basis of the cascade-evaporation-fission model. Specific calculations are performed for the total cross section; and the angular and double-differential distributions of pions; excitation-energy,mass number, and charge-number distributions of compound nuclei; and the mass-energy distributions of fission fragments. Various lines of possible experimental investigations into this fission channel are discussed, including searches for the pionic channel of nuclear decay induced by protons of energy close to the meson-production threshold, advancements to the energy region E _p<100 MeV in order to study of new mechanisms of pion production in nuclear fission, and an extension of investigations to the case of nuclear fission accompanied by kaon emission.     

A first passage time problem for random walk occupancy

Two recent studies of diffusion and flow properties of polymers in a melt have suggested the problem of finding the average time form Brownian particles to leave a sphere for the first time, given that exited particles can also reenter the sphere. We prove that the asymptotic density (asm) for the time to first emptiness of the sphere for zero-mean Brownian motion is a delta function, characterized by the exit timea(m/lnm)^2/D ,a being a constant andD being the dimension. The presence of a field leaves the delta-function form for the density, but changes the time dependence toa lnm, with only the constanta depending on the dimension. Simulations of the process suggest that the value ofm needed for the validity of the asymptotic result is orders of magnitude greater than 1000.     

Some first passage time problems for shot noise processes

It has recently been shown that the first passage time problem for a certain class of one-dimensional processes that includes shot noise can be formulated in terms of a set of integral equations. These are found by exact enumeration of all possible trajectories. We show that the equations can be found by more direct means for processes described by the evolution equation , wheren(t) is time-localized shot noise.     

Fractional nonlinear diffusion equation and first passage time

We investigate the solutions and the first passage time for anomalous diffusion processes governed by the fractional nonlinear diffusion equation with a space- and time-dependent diffusion coefficient subject to absorbing boundaries and the initial condition. We obtain explicit analytical expression for the probability distribution, the first passage time distribution, the mean first passage time, and the mean squared displacement corresponding to different time-dependent diffusion coefficient. In addition, we compare our results for the first passage time distribution and the mean first passage time with the one obtained by usual linear diffusion equation with time-dependent diffusion coefficient.     

Discrete dynamics and metastability: Mean first passage times and escape rates

The problem of escape from a domain of attraction is applied to the case of discrete dynamical systems possessing stable and unstable fixed points. In the presence of noise, the otherwise stable fixed point of a nonlinear map becomes metastable, due to noise-induced hopping events, which eventually pass the unstable fixed point. Exact integral equations for the moments of the first passage time variable are derived, as well as an upper bound for the first moment. In the limit of weak noise, the integral equation for the first moment, i.e., the mean first passage time (MFPT), is treated, both numerically and analytically. The exponential leading part of the MFPT is given by the ratio of the noise-induced invariant probability at the stable fixed point and unstable fixed point, respectively. The evaluation of the prefactor is more subtle: It is characterized by a jump at the exit boundaries, which is the result of a discontinuous boundary layer function obeying an inhomogeneous integral equation. The jump at the boundary is shown to be always less than one-half of the maximum value of the MFPT. On the basis of a clear-cut separation of time scales, the MFPT is related to the escape rate to leave the domain of attraction and other transport coefficients, such as the diffusion coefficient. Alternatively, the rate can also be obtained if one evaluates the current-carrying flux that results if particles are continuously injected into the domain of attraction and captured beyond the exit boundaries. The two methods are shown to yield identical results for the escape rate of the weak noise result for the MFPT, respectively. As a byproduct of this study, we obtain general analytic expressions for the invariant probability of noisy maps with a small amount of nonlinearity.     

Prospects for further studies of effects of T-odd asymmetry in the emission of light particles in the polarized-neutron-induced ternary fission of heavy nuclei

Prospects for further studies of TRI and ROT effects of T-odd asymmetry in the emission of light particles in the ternary and binary fission of heavy nuclei that is induced by slow polarized neutrons are considered with a view to studying the mechanism for the formation of these effects and using them to get new information about fission dynamics. It is planned to investigate the dependence of the corresponding T-odd-asymmetry coefficients on the main characteristics of the fission reaction.     

Non-Markov processes: The problem of the mean first passage time

The theory of the mean first passage time is developed for a general discrete non-Markov process whose time evolution is governed by a generalized master equation. The mean first passage time is determined by an adjoint matrix ⁺ in a form analogous to the Fokker Planck case. The theory is illustrated by two examples: A one-dimensional unit step non-Markov process and a non-Markov process with two-step transitions. Explicit expressions for the mean first passage time are derived.     

Emission order of light particles and light fragments from hot nuclei followed by binary fission

Emission orders of light charged particles and Li fragments from highly excited fissioning nuclei in the reaction of ⁴⁰Ar+¹⁹⁷Au at E _beam /A=25 MeV have been studied by measuring difference velocity distributions of two correlated particles at small relative angles in coincidence with two fission fragments. By comparing the data with three-body trajectory calculations, we found that high velocity deuterons are emitted prior to high velocity Li fragments but low velocity deuterons are emitted after low velocity Li fragments. On the other hand, no preferential emission was observed among light particles, such as protons and deuterons. Furthermore, the emission orders are found to depend only weakly on the mass asymmetry of fission fragments. Received: 3 June 1997 / Revised version: 23 July 1997     

Even and odd amplitudes of distributions of third particles in nuclear fission

The principal values for the even and odd components of the amplitudes of the angular distributions of α particles emitted as the third particles in true low-energy ternary fission of nuclei are calculated within the quantum theory of fission using natural approximations for the dependence of the potential scattering phases of the α particle on its orbital momenta and experimental angular distributions, unperturbed by the fissioning nucleus rotation, of these third α particles. Knowing the angular dependences of these components, we can estimate the angular dependences of the T-odd ROT and TRI asymmetry coefficients for the ternary fission of actinide nuclei induced by cold polarized neutrons.