Systematic experimental survey on projectile fission induced in collisions of 238U at 1 A GeV with lead

Fission of 238U induced in collisions at 1 A GeV with lead has systematically been studied. A complete survey on the isotopic production cross sections of about 600 fission fragments of all elements between gallium (Z=31) and praseodymium (Z=59) is given. These fission fragments and about 600 fragmentation products have been identified in the GSI fragment separator FRS from magnetic rigidities, time-of-flight values, and the energy loss in an ionisation chamber. In addition, the momentum distributions of all these reaction products have been mapped, and the products are unambiguously attributed to the different reaction mechanisms due to their kinematical properties. The results are compared with less comprehensive previous data. The recoil velocity induced in the fission process by the Coulomb repulsion of the fragments allows to identify the average charge of the fissioning nucleus in hot fission.