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Prompt fission neutron spectra (PFNS) are crucial to any neutronic simulation of critical nuclear systems. An experimental setup dedicated to the measurements of PFNS of very high accuracy was developed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) some ten years ago. It allows for the measurement of PFNS for neutron induced fission at the Weapon Neutron Research (WNR) neutron source of the LANSCE. A measurement of the PFNS from the 235U(n,f) reaction was realized recently and is currently analyzed. Preliminary results are presented here and are compared to present nuclear data evaluations.

Measuring prompt fission neutrons to high precision is an experimental challenge, especially for radioactive fissioning nuclides. However, accurate average multiplicities, ν¯p, and kinetic energy distributions of prompt fission neutrons are essential for fundamental and applied nuclear physics. We present here a recent measurement of the 239Pu (n,f) ν¯p as a function of the incident-neutron energy, over the range 1-700 MeV. The measurement was performed with a cutting-edge setup and an innovative technique, which allowed to minimize and account for the main sources of bias. An unprecedented precision was therefore achieved. Our data are compared to GEF predictions as well as to evaluated libraries. For the first time, at low energies, the ENDF/B-VIII.0 nuclear data evaluation is validated with an independent measurement and the evaluated uncertainty reduced by up to 60%. This work paves the way to precisely measure prompt fission neutron multiplicities on highly radioactive nuclei.

During the last decade, the use of inverse kinematics in the experimental study of fission is bringing a wealth of new observables obtained in single measurements, allowing their analysis and their correlations. An ongoing application of this technique is the basis of a series of experiments performed with the variable-mode, large-acceptance VAMOS++ spectrometer at GANIL. A recent experiment has been focused on the survival of the nuclear structure effects at high excitation energy in fission and quasi-fission. The full isotopic identification of fragments, the fission dynamics and the ratio between the production of fragments with even and odd atomic numbers, the so-called proton even-odd effect, are shown. The latter shows a different mechanism for fission and quasi-fission that could be used to separate fission from quasi-fission.

Accurate multiplicities of prompt fission neutrons emitted in neutron-induced fission on a large energy range are essential for fundamental and applied nuclear physics. Measuring them to high precision for radioactive fissioning nuclides is, however, an experimental challenge. In this work, we extract the average prompt-neutron multiplicity emitted in the 239 Pu (n, f) reaction as a function of the incident-neutron energy, over the range 0.7-700 MeV. We used a novel technique, which allowed us to minimize and correct for the main sources of bias and thus achieve unprecedented precision. At low energies, our data validate, for the first time, the ENDF/B-VIII.0 nuclear data evaluation with an independent measurement and reduce the evaluated uncertainty by up to 60%. This work opens up the possibility of measuring, with high precision, prompt fission neutron multiplicities on highly radioactive nuclei relevant for energy production.

Over the past decade, inverse kinematics has been increasingly employed in experimental studies of fission. This approach has yielded a wealth of new observables that can be obtained in single measurements, enabling their analysis and correlations. One ongoing application of this technique involves a series of experiments performed at GANIL using the variable-mode, large-acceptance VAMOS++ spectrometer. A recent experiment focused on examining the survival of nuclear structure effects at high excitation energy in both fission and quasi-fission. The results of the study involved a full isotopic identification of fragments, as well as an analysis of the elemental yields their relation to fission dynamics. The results indicate that fission and quasi-fission involve different mechanisms, which could be exploited to distinguish between the two phenomena.

Nuclear fission is still one of the most complex physical processes due to the interplay between macroscopic and microscopic nuclear properties that decide the output. An example of this coupling is the presence of nuclear dissipation as an important ingredient that contributes to drive the dynamics and has a clear impact on the time of the process. However, different theoretical interpretations and scarce experimental data make it poorly understood. At low excitation energy, the relative yields of fragments even and odd atomic numbers show a clear difference, which can be quantified with the so-called even-odd effect. This seemingly mundane property can be used to obtain information about the energy dissipated during the process and the role of structure in its dynamics. In this paper, the study of the even-odd effect for elasticand transfer-induced fission data is discussed. A clear connection with particular fragment shells and the dissipation energy is found, as detailed in Ref. [1]. In addition, preliminary results from quasi-fission data show the formation of a relatively large even-odd effect, which suggests a process with low dissipation mainly consisting in the exchange of nucleon pairs.

In the last decades, measurements of spallation, fragmentation and Coulex induced fission reactions in inverse kinematics have provided valuable data to accurately investigate the fission dynamics and nuclear structure at large deformations of a large variety of stable and non-stable heavy nuclei. To go a step further, we propose now to induce fission by the use of quasi-free (p,2p) scattering reactions in inverse kinematics, which allows us to reconstruct the excitation energy of the compound fissioning system by using the four-momenta of the two outgoing protons. Therefore, this new approach might permit to correlate the excitation energy with the charge and mass distributions of the fission fragments and with the fission probabilities, given for the first time direct access to the simultaneous measurement of the fission yield dependence on temperature and fission barrier heights of exotic heavy nuclei, respectively. The first experiment based on this methodology was realized recently at the GSI/FAIR facility and a detailed description of the experimental setup is given here.

A new experimental fission approach is presented in the context of the R 3 B (Reactions with Relativistic Radioactive Beams) collaboration, at the GSI/FAIR facility, in which knockout reactions in inverse kinematics are used to induce fission of 238 U that will allow to characterise the excitation energy of the fission process and all the fission products. The CALIFA (CALorimeter for In-Flight detection of γ-rays and high energy charged pArticles) calorimeter, a key part of the R 3 B set-up, is used to reconstruct the momenta of the two protons from the (p, 2p) reactions. Preliminary results show that kinematic variables and first estimates for nucleon-removal cross sections are well reconstructed and in good agreement with other experimental measurements.

The experimental data collected during the S515 experiment performed by the R 3 B collaboration at GSI/FAIR represent a great opportunity to investigate nucleon knockout reactions of exotic nuclei in the region of Sn using complete kinematics measurements. These cross sections can be used in the future to investigate the quenching in the knockout of the minority species (neutrons or protons) in nuclei far from stability. Some of the arguments put forward are the underestimation of the knockout of deeply bound nucleons, final state interactions or the role of short-range correlations (SRC). Recently, several works based on inclusive measurements have shown that these SRCs could reduce the single nucleon knockout cross sections by around 50%, depending on the neutron excess (N/Z) of the initial projectile. The S515 data can help us to go further in this investigation because it allows to correlate the knockout cross sections of one, two or more nucleons with the number of protons and neutrons emitted from the target and which can be detected by the CALIFA and NeuLAND detectors, respectively, and perform complete kinematical studies on the nature of the event (SRC, evaporation, emission of clusters, final-state interactions...). Here the results obtained for the charge distribution of reaction residues are presented, which is one of the first steps of the still on-going analysis.

Fission at low excitation energy, is a process in which both macroscopic and microscopic aspects are involved. Some features in the total kinetic energy and in the N/Z distributions of the fragments, commonly associated with shell effects, came out in a series of recent experiments with high excitation energy fusionfission reactions in inverse kinematics. In the latest experiment of this campaign, a study of high-energy fission and quasi-fission between a 238 U beam and a series of light targets was carried out by using the aforementioned technique, in order to probe the role of the shell structure in these processes.