Complete characterization of the fission fragments produced in reactions induced by 208Pb projectiles on proton at 500AMeV.

The two fragments produced in fission reactions induced by 208Pb projectiles impinging on a liquid hydrogen target at 500AMeV have been fully identified in coincidence. The experiment was performed at GSI Darmstadt, where the combined use of the inverse kinematics technique with an efficient detection setup permitted one to detect and to fully identify the fission fragments in a range from Z = 27 to Z = 52. The corresponding isotopic cross sections and velocities of the fission fragments were measured with high accuracy. The results are compared to state-of-the-art model calculations that reproduce the measured observables. Correlations between the two fragments were used to assess the role of charge polarization and the excitation energy gained by the nascent fragments using the neutron excess of the final fragments. The analysis of the average velocities of the fission fragments allowed us to parametrize the distance between the two fission fragments at scission as a function of the size of the fissioning system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]