Analysis of fission-fragment mass distribution within the quantum-mechanical fragmentation theory

The fission-fragment mass distribution is analysed for the 208Pb(18O, f) reaction within the quantum-mechanical fragmentation theory (QMFT). The reaction potential has been calculated by taking the binding energies, Coulomb potential and proximity potential of all possible decay channels and a stationary Schrödinger equation has been solved numerically to calculate the fission-fragment yield. The overall results for mass distribution are compared with those obtained in experiment. Fine structure dips in yield, corresponding to fragment shell closures at Z = 50 and N=82, which are observed by Bogachev et al., are reproduced successfully in the present calculations. These calculations will help to estimate the formation probabilities of fission fragments and to understand many related phenomena occurring in the fission process.