Fragmentation of Sn clusters by a dynamical, semi-empirical Hartree–Fock method

A time-dependent Hartree–Fock (HF) method, with a semi-empirical (SE) Hamiltonian, has been applied to study fragmentation of tin clusters of size N⩽40. Calculations of the cluster ground state have also been carried out. These calculations serve as a benchmark for the SE Hamiltonian and are analyzed in the light of theoretical and experimental results available in the literature. Fragmentation is obtained by increasing the kinetic energy Ek of the nuclear system. From the simulation of fragmentation transient we obtain the minimum Ek needed for fragmentation and the size of the fragments in dependence of the size N of the parent cluster. These data are compared with the emission energies evaluated for the stationary state.