The Second International Conference on Fission and Properties of Neutron-Rich Nuclei continued the emphasis on fission models, fission processes, properties of neutron-rich nuclei and new directions. The responses to the conference were so extensive that 44 talks were presented in individual sessions and 35 more in two afternoons of parallel sessions. New insights and developments were discussed, including experimental and theoretical studies of ternary fission with correlated pairs with emission of a third nucleus such as helium-3, alpha particle, and beryllium-10; the structure of neutron-rich nuclei from spontaneous fission, heavy-ion-induced fission and knock-out reactions; comparisons of deep inelastic reactions and fission for production of neutron-rich nuclei; production of superheavy elements, including the discovery of element 114; experiments with radioactive beams; and proposals for new radioactive ion beam facilities.

The Second International Conference on Fission and Properties of Neutron-Rich Nuclei continued the emphasis on fission models, fission processes, properties of neutron-rich nuclei and new directions. The responses to the conference were so extensive that 44 talks were presented in individual sessions and 35 more in two afternoons of parallel sessions. New insights and developments were discussed, including experimental and theoretical studies of ternary fission with correlated pairs with emission of a third nucleus such as helium-3, alpha particle, and beryllium-10; the structure of neutron-rich nuclei from spontaneous fission, heavy-ion-induced fission and knock-out reactions; comparisons of deep inelastic reactions and fission for production of neutron-rich nuclei; production of superheavy elements, including the discovery of element 114; experiments with radioactive beams; and proposals for new radioactive ion beam facilities.

The aim and scope of the conference and book were to bring world leaders in the areas of fission, structure of neutron-rich nuclei, superheavy elements, astrophysics and new facilities for these research areas to present the latest developments in both theory and experiment to serve as benchmarks for future research. World leaders describe the latest research including development of new facilities under construction to point out the latest and future direction in research. These proceedings are published following the conferences every four to five years since 1997.

These proceedings are the fourth in the series of International Conferences covering fission and properties of neutron-rich nuclei, which are at the forefront of nuclear structure research. The time interval of 5 years between each conference allows for significant new results to be achieved. Recently, world leaders in theory and experiments in research and the development of new facilities for research presented their latest results in areas such as synthesis of superheavy elements, new facilities for and recent results with radioactive ion beams, structure of neutron-rich nuclei, nuclear fission process, fission yields and nuclear astrophysics. This book is a major source of the latest research in these areas and plans for the future. The conference brought together a unique group of over 100 speakers including the directors of the major nuclear laboratories in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia and the US along with leading research scientists from around the world.

This book presents more than 100 papers devoted to the understanding of fission processes and neutron-rich nuclei. All forms of fission, from spontaneous fission of 252Cf to high-energy fragmentation, are included. Together with studies on properties of neutron-rich nuclei and astrophysics, the book also features new experimental techniques, directions and the emerging new radioactive beam facilities.

In this volume, the main results of the last sixty years of research in nuclear fission are summarized, showing how ideas advanced from the beginning, for nuclei have also found useful applications in the new area of atomic clusters. The present status of the physics of fission is discussed in depth, and perspectives for further research are outlined.