Efficient method for estimation of fission fragment yields of r-process nuclei

Background: More than half of all the elements heavier than iron are made by the rapid neutron capture process (or $r$ process). For very-neutron-rich astrophysical conditions, such at those found in the tidal ejecta of neutron stars, nuclear fission determines the $r$-process endpoint, and the fission-fragment yields shape the final abundances of $110\ensuremath{\le}A\ensuremath{\le}170$ nuclei. The knowledge of fission-fragment yields of hundreds of nuclei inhabiting very-neutron-rich regions of the nuclear landscape is thus crucial for the modeling of heavy-element nucleosynthesis.