Fission of metallic clusters in the liquid drop model

Abstract

Using the liquid drop model and the jellium model, we calculate fission barrier heights as a function of charge and mass asymmetry for a family of shapes consisting of two spheres connected by a quadratic surface. We find the fissibility for which a mass asymmetric splitting gives place to the symmetric one (Bussinaro-Gallone point) and evaluate the size of charged clusters of alkali metals for which the fission barrier height is equal to the evaporation energy (critical sizes). The results for the critical sizes agree very well with experiment