Fission of Weakly Prolate 119Sn and Weakly Oblate 209Bi Nuclei Induced by 500 and 672 MeV Negative Pions

Fission cross-sections of 119Sn and 209Bi induced by negative pions of two energies 500 and 672 MeV were measured using a CR-39 nuclear track detector. Target-detector stacks were exposed to pion beams at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (USA). Measurement results are compared with the corresponding calculations using the computer code CEM95. Agreement between measurements and calculations is fairly good for the 209Bi target nuclei whereas it is poor for 119Sn at both investigated energies of 500 and 672 MeV. Fission cross-section results of 119Sn and 209Bi are explained using the equilibrium properties of these nuclides including nuclear electric quadrupole moments which determine the shapes of nuclei. A logarithmic dependence of fission cross-section on Z2/A is observed for the above-mentioned reactions and a critical limit of Z2/A is identified with the value of 30 which divides the curve of σf versus Z2/A into two regimes, one with weak dependence and the other with strong dependence.