Thomas-Fermi fission barriers - art. no. 014606

Using the self-consistent Thomas-Fermi model from our earlier work, backed by the liquid-drop-model scaling rule for fission barriers, we have constru cted a simple algebraic equation for Thomas-Fermi fission barriers. The equ ation is accurate for proton numbers greater than about 70 and for neutron numbers up to at least 20 units on either side of beta stability. This has made it possible to make a comprehensive comparison of the Thomas-Fermi the ory with 120 measured fission barriers. [S0556-2813(99)05507-7].