Static aspects of the fission and fusion ofHe drops.

Using an effectiveHe-He interaction, we have investigated the fission and fusion ofHe drops from a static point of view. Our calculations show that a fission barrier develops for these neutral systems, and that their saddle configurations are rather elongate. The transition from oblate to prolate shapes as a function of the angular momentum L, as well as critical values for fission and fusion are discussed for some selected cases. We show that a kind of proximity potential can be extracted from the drop-drop interaction potentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]