Fission dynamics properties of the Barcelona-Catania-Paris-Madrid energy density functional are explored with mean-field techniques. Potential energy surfaces as well as collective inertias relevant in the fission process are computed for several nuclei where experimental data exist. Inner and outer barrier heights as well as fission isomer excitation energies are reproduced quite well in all the cases. The spontaneous fission half-lives $t_{\mathrm{sf}}$ are also computed using the standard semiclassical approach and the results are compared with the experimental data. The experimental trend with mass number is reasonably well reproduced over a range of 27 orders of magnitude. However, the theoretical predictions suffer from large uncertainties when the quantities that enter the spontaneous fission half-life formula are varied. Modifications of only a few per cent in the pairing correlation strengths strongly modify the collective inertias with a large impact on the spontaneous fission lifetimes in all the nuclei considered. Encouraged by the quite satisfactory description of the trend of fission properties with mass number, we explore the fission properties of the even-even uranium isotope chain from ${}^{226}$U to ${}^{282}$U. Very large lifetimes are found beyond $A=256$ with a peak at neutron number $N=184$.

• Received 26 August 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.88.054325