Speaker
Description
Nuclear fission produces fragments whose spins are correlated both mutually
and with the fission direction. The character and degree of the correlations
depend on the time scales of the various rotational modes in the evolving
dinuclear complex prior to scission. The expected rotational dynamics is
discussed based on the nucleon-exchange mechanism.
Photon angular correlations can reveal information about the orientations
of the fission fragment angular momenta. Identified stretched E2 collective
transitions in even-even fission product nuclei are particularly suitable
because they do not change the orientation of the nuclear spin and the
associated angular distribution relative to the direction of a fission fragment
reflects the orientation of the fragment spins relative to the fission axis.
Furthermore, if the photon helicities can be determined, the distribution of
the opening angle between E2 photons from even-even partner fragments reveals
the mutual correlation of the fragment spins, demonstrating the potential power
of helicity measurements in fission.
