Fission of heavy nuclei induced by stopped antiprotons. I. Inclusive characteristics of fission fragments

Antiproton-induced fission has been investigated with a novel double-arm fission fragment spectrometer. Inclusive distributions of total mass, individual mass, and total kinetic energy of the fragments, and of the momentum of the fissioning nucleus, were measured. A dynamical model which takes into account all stages of p̄-induced fission (atomic cascade, intranuclear cascade, evaporation cascade, fission of compound nucleus, evaporation from fission fragments) was formulated for the first time. In particular, the dynamics of the descent of fissioning nuclei from saddle point to scission point are described by the diffusion model. The data on p̄-induced fission were analyzed in the framework of this model and good agreement between experiment and theory was obtained.