Performance of the Fourier shape parametrization for the fission process

International audienceThe availability of realistic potential energy landscapes in restricted deformation space is the prerequisite starting point for modeling several nuclear properties and reactions, namely large-amplitude phenomena. The achievement of a macroscopic-microscopic approach, employing an innovative four-dimensional (4D) nuclear shape parametrization based on a Fourier expansion, and a realistic potential-energy prescription, is presented. A systematic analysis of the 4D deformation energy landscapes over an extended region of the nuclear chart from Pt to Pu is performed, searching for fission valleys, as well as exotic ground and metastable states. The significance of the approach for predicting mass partitioning in low-energy fission is demonstrated. The ability of the model to address shape-driven effects, like stable octupole and very elongated isomeric configurations, is discussed, too. The proposed approach constitutes an efficient framework for an extended model of fission dynamics over a wide range of fissioning mass, excitation energy, and angular momentum