The Fission Barrier of Heaviest Nuclei From a Macroscopic-Microscopic Perspective

The concept of fission barrier - a parameter which enters in quantitative estimates of various observables related to nuclear fission - is presented from the point of view of theory based on the picture of nuclear deformation and energy dependent on it. We describe the macroscopic-microscopic method of calculating energy landscapes which is simpler than the selfconsistent mean field approach, and, due to its two-component nature, seems to be easier to adjust to experimental data. We present some models and methods used to find the fission saddles. For the purpose of illustration, we present results on fission barriers in actinides and superheavy nuclei, obtained within one macroscopic-microscopic model. We discuss comparisons with results of other models, including some of the mean-field type.