V. E. Bunakov

Angular distribution of products of ternary nuclear fission induced by cold polarized neutrons

Within quantum fission theory, angular distributions of products originating from the ternary fission of nuclei that is induced by polarized cold and thermal neutrons are investigated on the basis of a nonevaporative mechanism of third-particle emission and a consistent description of fission-channel coupling. It is shown that the inclusion of Coriolis interaction both in the region of the discrete and in the region of the continuous spectrum of states of the system undergoing fission leads to T-odd correlations in the aforementioned angular distributions. The properties of the TRI and ROT effects discovered recently, which are due to the interference between the fission amplitudes of neutron resonances, are explored. The results obtained here are compared with their counterparts from classic calculations based on the trajectory method.

P-odd and P-even correlations for third particles in ternary fission

Within quantum-mechanical fission theory, P-odd and P-even correlations in angular distributions of products of the ternary fission of nuclei that is induced by polarized cold and thermal neutrons are investigated on the basis of a nonevaporative mechanism of third-particle emission and under the assumption that a two-humped fission barrier exists. It is shown that these correlations for third particles are induced by the analogous correlations for ternary-fission fragments, the latter being transferred to the third particle because of the kinematical conditions of third-particle emission that are associated with the charge and mass asymmetry of fragments. Optimum methods for observing the above correlations for third particles are discussed. The possibility of discovering the emission of prescission neutrons in the fission process against the background of evaporated neutrons by means of studying P-odd and P-even correlations is explored.

Semiclassical description of TRI asymmetry in ternary fission induced by cold polarized neutrons

The possibility of semiclassically describing T-even TRI-type asymmetry in ternary fission induced by polarized neutrons is considered on the basis of employing Coriolis interaction that takes into account the coupling of a light charged particle to the collective rotation of a polarized fissile nucleus. It is shown that allowance for this interaction makes it possible to explain qualitatively the magnitudes of two asymmetry effects observed in light-charge-particle emission both within the semiclassical and within the quantum-mechanical approach. The difference in the relative magnitudes and signs of the effects between different target nuclei is associated with the interference contributions to the cross section from neighboring neutron resonances and therefore cannot be explained within the semiclassical approach.

Quantum Nature of ROT and TRI Asymmetries in the Ternary Fission of Nuclei

Effects of T-odd asymmetry in ternary-nuclear-fission reactions induced by polarized cold neutrons are considered within quantum theory. It is shown that the asymmetry coefficient can be expressed in terms of experimental angular distributions of third particles in reactions induced by unpolarized neutrons. The explicit form of this coefficient makes it possible to explain the difference in the magnitudes and signs of the TRI and ROT effects observed experimentally for different targets.

Ternary-Fission Dynamics and Asymmetries in Reactions with Polarized Neutrons

We consider the results of experimental measurements of P-odd and P-even (left-right) and T-odd asymmetries of charged-particle emission in binary and ternary fission induced by polarized neutrons. We show what information on the ternary-fission mechanism can be obtained from a theoretical analysis of these data.

P-odd and P-even asymmetries for reactions of double and triple fission of polarized target nuclei by cold neutrons

The problem of describing of P-odd and P-even asymmetries in reactions of the double and triple fission of oriented nuclei by unpolarized cold neutrons is solved on the basis of the quantum theory of fission. P-odd and P-even asymmetries in differential cross sections of the studied reactions having a character of angular dependence other than the fission reaction of unoriented nuclei by polarized neutrons are obtained, using a spin matrix constructed for the density of a compound nucleus and allowing for interference from the fission amplitudes of various pairs of neutron resonances excited in a nucleus upon the capture of cold unpolarized neutrons by an oriented target nucleus. It is demonstrated that observation of the investigated P-odd asymmetries is possible only upon polarization of the target nucleus, while P-even asymmetries can be observed for both the polarization and alignment of the target nucleus.

Development of the quantum theory of T-odd asymmetries for prescission and evaporated third particles in ternary nuclear fission induced by cold polarized neutrons

A comparative analysis of the results obtained by experimentally and theoretically studying T-odd asymmetries for various third particles in the true and delayed ternary nuclear fission induced by cold polarized neutrons was performed. It was confirmed that the appearance of these asymmetries was associated with the effect of rotation of a polarized system undergoing fission on the angular distributions of prescission and evaporated third particles with respect to the direction along which the emerging fission fragments flew apart, this effect being determined by the Coriolis interaction of the rotational and the internalmotion of the fissioning system. A quantum-mechanical description of particle motion in a rotating coordinate system was generalized to the case where gamma-ray emission was present. It was shown that the separation of the motions of an axially symmetric fissile system into a rotational and an internal motion was valid in the external region as well, where ternary-fission products had already been formed, if it was considered that the motion of fission fragments was tightly connected with the system symmetry axis, which rotated in the laboratory frame. It was found that the dependence of the fissile-system moment of inertia appearing in the Coriolis interaction Hamiltonian on the distance between the fission fragments flying apart generated an additional phase in the amplitude of the radial distribution of fission fragments. It was shown that this phase might change sizably the contribution of the interference between fission amplitudes of neutron resonances excited in a fissile compound nucleus to the absolute values of T -odd asymmetries, especially for third particles such as neutrons and photons, which interacted only slightly with fission fragments.

P -odd asymmetries for the binary fission of oriented target nuclei, induced by cold polarized neutrons

P-odd asymmetries in binary fission of oriented target nuclei induced by cold polarized neutrons are described for the first time using methods of the quantum theory of fission. A spin matrix of the compound nucleus density is constructed with allowance for the interference of the fission amplitudes of various pairs of neutron resonances excited in the given nucleus during the capture of a cold polarized neutron by the oriented target nucleus. In the differential cross sections for this reaction we obtain not only P-odd T-even correlations with the angular dependence different from that of the earlier investigated correlations in the fission of unoriented target nuclei by polarized neutrons but also P-odd T-odd correlations that do not occur in the fission of unoriented target nuclei by polarized neutrons and oriented target nuclei by unpolarized neutrons.

Quantum description of T-odd correlations in ternary fission

A quantum version of a unified description of two T-odd effects recently observed in the ternary fission of nuclei that is induced by polarized neutrons is considered. These effects are explained by the effect of the Coriolis interaction of the rotating fissile system on the angular distributions of light charged particles in the interior and exterior regions of the nucleus.

Mechanisms of excitation of T-odd correlations for prescission gamma rays and structure of these correlations

Conditions for the appearance and observation of prescission gamma rays emitted by a fissioning nucleus prior to its separation into fission fragments were investigated within quantum-mechanical fission theory. It is shown that these conditions are realizable in the gamma decay of isovector electric giant dipole resonances in a fissile nucleus that are excited because of nonadiabaticity of the collective deformation motion of the nucleus at the ultimate stages of its prefission evolution. Angular and energy distributions of prescission gamma rays emitted by unpolarized fissioning nuclei are analyzed. Features of T-odd correlations in angular distributions of gamma rays arising in the fission of unpolarized target nuclei that is induced by polarized cold neutrons are investigated, and it is shown that these correlations are similar in nature to T-odd ROT correlations discovered earlier for alpha particles emitted in the ternary fission of nuclei.