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arXiv · 0812.0054

Multi-pronged events from Coulomb fission of nuclei at very low energies

Abstract

Multi-pronged tracks have been recorded in the polyethylene terephthalate (C$_{10}$H$_8$O$_4$)$_n$ solid state nuclear track detector by exposure to a $^{252}$Cf fission source. After chemical etching, two-prong to six-pronged tracks along with single tracks have been observed under the optical microscope. We carried out a systematic study to understand the origin of the prongs. The track detectors were coated with metals (Cu, Ag and Pb) and were exposed to $^{252}$Cf source. After chemical etching two-prong to four pronged tracks were observed in each plate. We believe that at this very low energy of the order of 1 MeV/A, Coulomb fission is the only plausible explanation for the origin of such multi-pronged tracks.

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B. Basu, S. Dey, D. Gupta, A. Maulik, S. Raha, Swapan K. Saha, D. Syam. 2008-11-29. Multi-pronged events from Coulomb fission of nuclei at very low energies. https://arxiv.org/abs/0812.0054

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