Calculations of Fission Properties Using Microscopic Models for Astrophysics Applications

Potential energy surfaces obtained with a Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov method in a multidimensional deformation space are analysed in order to obtain the fission properties of nuclei relevant to the r-process nucleosynthesis. Static fission paths consisting of single-, double-, and triple-humped barriers are determined using the method of steepest descent. The heights and widths of the individual barriers are estimated by fitting them with inverted parabolas. Spontaneous-fission half-lives, neutron-induced fission and β-delayed neutron emission and fission rates are subsequently calculated using the Hill-Wheeler fission transmission coefficients. The nuclear level densities at ground-state and saddle-point deformations are obtained from statistical calculations using the same microscopic Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov model. The β-delayed emission rates are based on the β-strength functions given by the gross theory. The results of these global default calculations are first compared with existing experimental data and discussed