arXiv subjects

Guillaume Scamps

Publications and source records attributed to Guillaume Scamps.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Microscopic Spin-Parity Distributions of Fission Fragments

Recent microscopic studies have investigated various features of the spin distributions of fission fragments, but their parity distributions remain largely unexplored. In this Letter, we provide a complete characterization of the spin--parity content of fission fragments within a time-dependent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov framework, performing for the first time simultaneous projections on angular momentum, particle number, and parity. Calculations are carried out for the thermal neutron-induced fission of $^{239}$Pu using both the Gogny and Skyrme energy density functionals. We find that dynamical pair breaking during fission populates a significant fraction of unnatural-parity states and generates components with non-zero spin projections $K$. The parity content is found to depend on the number parity of the fragments, with odd-mass nuclei exhibiting pronounced parity staggering and odd-odd nuclei favoring negative parity. These results show that the parity distribution of fragments can depart significantly from the equiprobable partition commonly assumed in statistical de-excitation models, with potential implications for the modeling of fragment decay.

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arXiv2026

Pair Transfer and Reaction Dynamics in $^{40,48}$Ca + $^{96}$Zr Collisions Below the Coulomb Barrier

Sub-barrier fusion reactions are ideal for probing the effects of pairing correlations on simultaneous neutron transfer. Previous calculations using the BCS approximation showed an enhancement of pair transfer, relative to treatments with no pairing, but failed to reproduce the observed enhancement factor between one- and two-neutron transfer probabilities. This work aims to microscopically investigate the dynamics of $^{40,48}$Ca + $^{96}$Zr head-on collisions below the Coulomb barrier, focusing on the role of pairing correlations in neutron transfer. We employ time-dependent energy density functional theory extended to superfluid systems, TDSLDA. Transfer probabilities, including contributions to specific $K$-angular momentum projections, are extracted using projection operators and compared to results from calculations without pairing. Our calculations show that pairing is correlated to the dynamic deformability of the nucleus, which influences mean neutron transfer in sub-barrier reactions. We also show that TDSLDA reproduces the experimentally observed enhancement factor by significantly increasing the probability of transferring a neutron pair in the $K = 0$ spin channel. These results confirm the strong influence of pairing and structure on sub-barrier multi-nucleon transfer, and demonstrate that TDSLDA provides a reliable microscopic framework for describing the interplay between nuclear superfluidity and reaction dynamics.

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arXiv2024

Microscopic Study of Spin Transfer in Near-Barrier Nuclear Reactions

In quasi-fission, it is unclear what the interaction between the relative orbital angular momentum and the spin of the fragments is from a microscopic perspective. In macroscopic approaches, it is expected that the large value of the relative orbital angular momentum, of the order of 100~$\hbar$ is transferred through tangential dissipation to the fragments' intrinsic spin by sliding and rolling friction. The goal is to investigate the angular momentum transfer from the initial relative orbital angular momentum to the fragments' spin. How is the transferred spin shared between the fragments? What is the time scale associated with the different mechanisms? How does deformation play a role? A TDDFT simulation in the TDHF-Skyrme framework is used to describe several reactions at different impact parameters with increasing complexity. A method is proposed to study the evolution of the fragments' total spin as a function of time and angular velocity. The increasingly complex reaction allows for careful analysis of all the mechanisms responsible for the transfer of spin. In particular, it is shown that the transfer of nucleons, and neck formation can significantly affect the transfer of spin through tangential friction. Several mechanisms are in contradiction with previous macroscopic calculations. In particular, the spin of the fragments does not always increase during the collision which prevents it from being used to estimate the collision time of the reaction.

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arXiv2023

Spatial orientation of the fission fragment intrinsic spins and their correlations

New experimental and theoretical results obtained in 2021 made it acutely clear that more than 80 years after the discovery of nuclear fission we do not understand the generation and dynamics of fission fragment (FF) intrinsic spins well, in particular their magnitudes, their spatial orientation, and their correlations. The magnitude and orientation of the primary FFs have a crucial role in defining the angular distribution and correlation between the emitted prompt neutrons, and subsequent emission of statistical (predominantly E1) and stretched E2 γ-rays, and their correlations with the final fission fragments. Here we present detailed microscopic evaluations of the FF intrinsic spins, for both even- and odd-mass FFs, and of their spatial correlations. These point to a well-defined 3D FF intrinsic spin dynamics, characteristics absent in semi-phenomenological studies, due to the presence of the twisting spin modes, which artificially were suppressed in semi-phenomenological studies.

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arXiv2023

Generation, dynamics, and correlations of the fission fragments' angular momenta

The generation of angular momentum in fissioning nuclei is not well understood. The predictions of different models disagree, particularly concerning the correlation between the fragments' angular momenta. In this article, a time-dependent collective Hamiltonian model is proposed to treat the generation of the angular momentum in the fission fragments due to the quantum uncertainty principle as well as the dynamics of the collective wave function during and after scission. The model is constructed in the framework of the frozen Hartree-Fock approximation using a Skyrme energy functional to extract deformations of the fission fragments as well as the interactions in a derived collective Hamiltonian. The fission reactions studied are $^{240}$Pu $\rightarrow$ $^{132}$Sn+$^{108}$Ru and $^{240}$Pu $\rightarrow$ $^{144}$Ba+$^{96}$Sr. The model can account for a large part of the angular momentum found in experimental data. The orientation of the angular momentum of each fragment is found to be mainly in the plane perpendicular to the fission axis, in agreement with the experiment. The magnitudes of the angular momenta in the two fragments are nearly uncorrelated, in agreement with the recent experimental data of Wilson et al., Nature (London) 590, 566 (2021). Some of the conclusions of the traditional collective vibration model are supported by the present model but some are not. Surprisingly, it is found that the angular momenta of the fragments are slightly correlated positively as in a wriggling mode. It is also found that the presence of an octupole deformation in a fragment can significantly increase the generated angular momentum.

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arXiv2023

Quantal effect on the opening angle distribution between the fission fragment's spins

Background: Several approaches are currently trying to understand the generation of angular momentum in the fission fragments. The microscopic TDDFT and statistical FREYA lead to different predictions concerning the opening angle distribution formed between the two spins in particular at 0 and 180 degrees. Purpose: This letter aims to investigate how the geometry and the quantum nature of spins impact the distribution of opening angles to understand what leads to different model predictions. Method: Various assumptions of K distribution (K=0, isotropic, isotropic with total K=0, and from TDFFT) are investigated in a quantum approach. These distributions are then compared to the classical limit using the Clebsch-Gordan coefficients in the limit of $\hbar$ approaches zero. Results: It is shown that in all the schematic scenario the quantal distribution of opening angle lead to the expected behavior in the classical limit. The model shows that the quantal nature of the spins prevents the population of opening angles close to 0 and 180 degrees. The difference in opening angle in the 2D and isotropic 3D distribution is discussed and it is shown that the realistic TDFFT opening angle distribution presents an intermediate behavior between the two cases. Conclusions: The last comparison reveals two key differences between the two models' predictions: the quantal spins' nature in TDDFT and the assumption of zero K values in FREYA.

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arXiv2023

Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov mass models on a 3D mesh: III. From atomic nuclei to neutron stars

We present BSkG3, the latest entry in the Brussels-Skyrme-on-a-grid series of large-scale models of nuclear structure based on an energy density functional. Compared to its predecessors, the new model offers a more realistic description of nucleonic matter at the extreme densities relevant to neutron stars. This achievement is made possible by incorporating a constraint on the infinite nuclear matter properties at high densities in the parameter adjustment, ensuring in this way that the predictions of BSkG3 for the nuclear Equation of State are compatible with the observational evidence for heavy pulsars with $M > 2 M_{\odot}$. Instead of the usual phenomenological pairing terms, we also employ a more microscopically founded treatment of nucleon pairing, resulting in extrapolations to high densities that are in line with the predictions of advanced many-body methods and are hence more suited to the study of superfluidity in neutron stars. By adopting an extended form of the Skyrme functional, we are able to reconcile the description of matter at high densities and at saturation density: the new model further refines the description of atomic nuclei offered by its predecessors. A qualitative improvement is our inclusion of ground state reflection asymmetry, in addition to the spontaneous breaking of rotational, axial, and time-reversal symmetry. Quantitatively, the model offers lowered root-mean-square deviations on 2457 masses (0.631 MeV), 810 charge radii (0.0237 fm) and an unmatched accuracy with respect to 45 primary fission barriers of actinide nuclei (0.33 MeV). Reconciling the complexity of neutron stars with those of atomic nuclei establishes BSkG3 as a tool of choice for applications to nuclear structure, the nuclear equation of state and nuclear astrophysics in general.

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arXiv2023

Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov mass models on a 3D mesh. IIb. Fission properties of BSkG2

Large-scale models of nuclear structure are currently the only way to provide consistent datasets for the many properties of thousands of exotic nuclei that are required by nucleosynthesis simulations. In [W.Ryssens et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 58, 246 (2022)], we recently presented the new BSkG2 model based on an energy density functional of the Skyrme type. Relying on a flexible three-dimensional coordinate representation of the nucleus, the model takes into account both triaxial deformation and time-reversal symmetry breaking. BSkG2 achieves a state-of-the-art global description of nuclear ground state (g.s.) properties and reproduces in particular the known masses with a root-mean-square (rms) deviation of 678 keV. Moving beyond g.s. properties, the model also reproduces all empirical values for the primary and secondary barriers as well as isomer excitation energies of actinide nuclei with rms deviations below 500 keV, i.e. with unprecedented accuracy. Here we discuss in detail the extension of our framework to the calculation of the fission barriers of 45 actinide nuclei, including odd-mass and odd-odd systems. We focus in particular on the impact of symmetry breaking which is key to the accuracy of the model: we allow systematically for axial, reflection and time-reversal symmetry breaking. The effect of the latter on the fission properties of odd-mass and odd-odd nuclei is small, but we find that allowing for shapes with triaxial or octupole deformation, as well as shapes with both, is crucial to achieving this accuracy. The numerical accuracy of our coordinate space approach, the variety of nuclear configurations explored and the simultaneous successful description of fission properties and known masses makes BSkG2 the tool of choice for the large-scale study of nuclear structure.

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arXiv2022

Microscopic description of the torque acting on fission fragments

When two fragments are created in a fission decay, any torque due to nuclear and Coulomb interaction can change the fragment's angular momentum. This article explores the character and magnitude of the angular momentum as a function of the initial conditions around the scission point using the time-dependent Hartree-Fock theory. To understand the torque acting on the fragments, the Frozen Hartree-Fock method is also used to determine the collective potential at scission. Two $^{240}$Pu fission channel ( $^{132}$Sn+$^{108}$Ru and $^{144}$Ba+$^{96}$Sr ) are studied. These two channels cover different shapes (spherical, quadrupole, and octupole deformation) of the fragments. It is found that the angular momentum generated by the Coulomb interaction after fission is mainly collective, while this is not the case for the angular momentum generated at scission. The competition between rotational modes (bending, wriggling, and twisting) is discussed and shows that the angular momentum is generated mainly perpendicular to the fission axis.

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arXiv2022

Progress on Brussels-Skyrme atomic mass models on a grid: stiff neutron matter equation of state

We report here the current developments on the Brussels-Skyrme-on-a-Grid (BSkG) atomic mass models. In comparison with our previous models, BSkG3 improves the infinite nuclear matter (INM) properties which opens its applications to neutron stars. The results presented here show that BSkG3 preserve the excellent agreement with experimental nuclear masses and radii, together with fission barriers of actinides obtained by BSkG1 and BSkG2, while the nuclear matter properties are considerably improved.

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arXiv2022

Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov mass models on a 3D mesh: II. Time-reversal symmetry breaking

Models based on nuclear energy density functionals can provide access to a multitude of observables for thousands of nuclei in a single framework with microscopic foundations. Such models can rival the accuracy of more phenomenological approaches, but doing so requires adjusting parameters to thousands of nuclear masses. To keep such large-scale fits feasible, several symmetry restrictions are generally imposed on the nuclear configurations. One such example is time-reversal invariance, which is generally enforced via the Equal Filling Approximation (EFA). Here we lift this assumption, enabling us to access the spin and current densities in the ground states of odd-mass and odd-odd nuclei and which contribute to the total energy of such nuclei through so-called "time-odd" terms. We present here the Skyrme-based BSkG2 model whose parameters were adjusted to essentially all known nuclear masses without relying on the EFA, refining our earlier work [G. Scamps et al., EPJA 57, 333 (2021), arXiv:2011.07904]. Moving beyond ground state properties, we also incorporated information on the fission barriers of actinide nuclei in the parameter adjustment. The resulting model achieves a root-mean-square (rms) deviation of (i) 0.678 MeV on 2457 known masses, (ii) 0.027 fm on 884 measured charge radii, (iii) 0.44 MeV and 0.47 MeV, respectively, on 45 reference values for primary and secondary fission barriers of actinide nuclei, and (iv) 0.49 MeV on 28 fission isomer excitation energies. We limit ourselves here to a description of the model and the study the impact of lifting the EFA on ground state properties such as binding energies, deformation and pairing, deferring a detailed discussion of fission to a forthcoming paper.

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arXiv2021

Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov mass models on a 3D Mesh: Effect of triaxial shape

The modeling of nuclear reactions and radioactive decays in astrophysical or earth-based conditions requires detailed knowledge of the masses of essentially all nuclei. Microscopic mass models based on nuclear energy density functionals (EDFs) can be descriptive and used to provide this information. The concept of intrinsic symmetry breaking is central to the predictive power of EDF approaches, yet is generally not exploited to the utmost by mass models because of the computational demands of adjusting up to about two dozen parameters to thousands of nuclear masses. We report on a first step to bridge the gap between what is presently feasible for studies of individual nuclei and large-scale models: we present a new Skyrme-EDF-based model that was adjusted using a three-dimensional coordinate-space representation, for the first time allowing for both axial and triaxial deformations during the adjustment process. To compensate for the substantial increase in computational cost brought by the latter, we have employed a committee of multilayer neural networks to model the objective function in parameter space and guide us towards the overall best fit. The resulting mass model BSkG1 is computed with the EDF model independently of the neural network. It yields a root mean square (rms) deviation on the 2457 known masses of 741 keV and an rms deviation on the 884 measured charge radii of 0.024 fm.

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arXiv2020

Future of Nuclear Fission Theory

There has been much recent interest in nuclear fission, due in part to a new appreciation of its relevance to astrophysics, stability of superheavy elements, and fundamental theory of neutrino interactions. At the same time, there have been important developments on a conceptual and computational level for the theory. The promising new theoretical avenues were the subject of a workshop held at the University of York in October 2019; this report summarises its findings and recommendations.

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arXiv2019

On the origin of asymmetric fission of actinides

Nuclear fission of heavy (actinide) nuclei results predominantly in asymmetric mass-splits. Without quantum shells, which can give extra binding energy to these mass-asymmetric shapes, the nuclei would fission symmetrically. The strongest shell effects are in spherical nuclei, so naturally the spherical "doubly-magic" ${^{132}}$Sn nucleus (${Z=50}$ protons), was expected to play a major role. However, a systematic study of fission has shown that the heavy fragments are distributed around ${Z=52}$ to 56, indicating that ${^{132}}$Sn is not the only driver. Reconciling the strong spherical shell effects at ${Z=50}$ with the different ${Z}$ values of fission fragments observed in nature has been a longstanding puzzle. Here, we show that the final mass asymmetry of the fragments is also determined by the extra stability of octupole (pear-shaped) deformations which have been recently confirmed experimentally around $^{144}$Ba (${Z=56}$), one of very few nuclei with shell-stabilized octupole deformation. Using a modern quantum many-body model of superfluid fission dynamics, we found that heavy fission fragments are produced predominantly with ${52-56}$ protons, associated with significant octupole deformation acquired on the way to fission. These octupole shapes favouring asymmetric fission are induced by deformed shells at ${Z=52}$ and 56. In contrast, spherical "magic" nuclei are very resistant to octupole deformation, which hinders their production as fission fragments. These findings may explain surprising observations of asymmetric fission of lighter than lead nuclei.

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arXiv2019

Effect of shell structure on the fission of sub-lead nuclei

Fission of atomic nuclei often produces mass asymmetric fragments. However, the origin of this asymmetry was believed to be different in actinides and in the sub-lead region [A. Andreyev {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 105}, 252502 (2010)]. It has recently been argued that quantum shell effects stabilising pear shapes of the fission fragments could explain the observed asymmetries in fission of actinides[G. Scamps and C. Simenel, Nature {\bf 564}, 382 (2018)]. This interpretation is tested in the sub-lead region using microscopic mean-field calculations of fission based on the Hartree-Fock approach with BCS pairing correlations. The evolution of the number of protons and neutrons in asymmetric fragments of mercury isotope fissions is interpreted in terms of deformed shell gaps in the fragments. A new method is proposed to investigate the dominant shell effects in the pre-fragments at scission. We conclude that the mechanisms responsible for asymmetric fissions in the sub-lead region are the same as in the actinide region, which is a strong indication of their universality.

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arXiv2019

Effect of Octupole correlations on Fission of Light Nuclei

Fission of $^{180}$Hg produces mass asymmetric fragments which are expected to be influenced by deformed shell-effects at N=56 in the heavy fragment and Z=34 in the light fragment [G. Scamps and C. Simenel, arXiv:1904.01275 (2019)]. To investigate both shell-effects and to determine which one has the main influence on the asymmetry in the region of the $^{180}$Hg, we produce a systematic of Constraint-Hartree-Fock calculations in nuclei with similar N/Z ratio than the $^{178}$Pt. It is found that N=56 determines the asymmetry of systems in this region of the nuclear chart.

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arXiv2018

Microscopic description of pair transfer between two superfluid Fermi systems: combining phase-space averaging and combinatorial techniques

In a mean-field description of superfluidity, particle number and gauge angle are treated as quasi-classical conjugated variables. This level of description was recently used to describe nuclear reactions around the Coulomb barrier. Important effects of the relative gauge angle between two identical superfluid nuclei (symmetric collisions) on transfer probabilities and fusion barrier have been uncovered. A theory making contact with experiments should at least average over different initial relative gauge-angles. In the present work, we propose a new approach to obtain the multiple pair transfer probabilities between superfluid systems. This method, called Phase-Space combinatorial (PSC) technique, relies both on phase-space averaging and combinatorial arguments to infer the full pair transfer probability distribution at the cost of multiple mean-field calculations only. After benchmarking this approach in a schematic model, we apply it to the collision $^{20}$O+$^{20}$O at various energies below the Coulomb barrier. The predictions for one pair transfer are similar to results obtained with an approximated projection method whereas significant differences are found for two pairs transfer. Finally, we investigated the applicability of the PSC method to the contact between non-identical superfluid systems. [...] The applicability of the PSC method to asymmetric nuclear collisions is investigated for the $^{14}$O+$^{20}$O collision and it turns out that unrealistically small single- and multiple-pair transfer probabilities are obtained. [...] We conclude that the best ground for probing gauge-angle effects in nuclear reaction and/or for applying the proposed PSC approach on pair transfer is the collisions of identical open-shell spherical nuclei.

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arXiv2018

Examining empirical evidence of the effect of superfluidity on the fusion barrier

Background: Several Time-Dependent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (TDHFB) calculations predict that the super- fluidity enhances the fluctuations of the fusion barrier. This effect is not fully understood and not yet revealed experimentally. Purpose: The goal of this study is to investigate empirically the effect of the superfluidity on the fusion barrier width. Method: First, the local regression method is introduce and used to determine the barrier distribution more precisely. A second method that requires only the calculation of an integral of the cross section is developed to determine accurately the fluctuations of the barrier. A benchmark is done between this two methods and with the fitting method usually used. This integral method showing a better agreement in a test case, it is applied systematically in a selection of 115 fusion reactions. Results: The fluctuations of the barrier for superfluid systems are on average larger than for magic or semi-magic nuclei. This is due to the deformation effects and the effect of the superfluidity. To disentangle those two effects, we compare the experimental width to the width estimated from a model that takes into account the tunneling, the deformation and the vibration effect. The deviation of the experimental width from this theory for reaction between superfluid nuclei shows that the superfluidity enhance the fusion barrier width. Conclusions: This analysis shows that the predicted effect of the superfluidity on the width of the barrier is real and is of the order of 1 MeV.

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