Modified BCS treatment of pairing correlations in 240Pu at high spin and finite temperature

Strutinsky calculations are used to investigate the shape and fission stability of rotating nuclei at finite temperature. Pairing correlations are described within a modified BCS approach which allows for the inclusion of both thermal and rotational degrees of freedom. Numerical results are discussed for the case of the deformed nucleus ²⁴⁰Pu up to angular momentum $\text{I = 40}\text{h}\text{?}$. The critical temperature T which characterizes the collapse of the pairing correlations is found to be of the order of T_c ≈ 0.40 MeV, for I = 0.