Collective aspects deduced from time-dependent microscopic mean-field with pairing: Application to the fission process

Given a set of collective variables, a method is proposed to obtain the associated conjugated collective momenta and masses starting from a microscopic time-dependent mean-field theory. The construction of pairs of conjugated variables is the first step to bridge microscopic and macroscopic approaches. The method is versatile and can be applied to study a large class of nuclear processes. An illustration is given here with the fission of Fm258. Using the quadrupole moment and eventually higher-order multipole moments, the associated collective masses are estimated along the microscopic mean-field evolution. When more than one collective variable is considered, it is shown that the off-diagonal matrix elements of the inertia play a crucial role. Using the information on the quadrupole moment and associated momentum, the collective evolution is studied. It is shown that dynamical effects beyond the adiabatic limit are important. Nuclei formed after fission tend to stick together for a longer time leading to a dynamical scission point at a larger distance between nuclei compared to the one anticipated from the adiabatic energy landscape. The effective nucleus-nucleus potential felt by the emitted nuclei is finally extracted.