What drives fission across the nuclear chart and what can we learn from it?

Nuclear fission produces two excited fragments which fast fly apart and cool down by emitting neutrons and γ-
rays. It owes its name by its resemblance with the division of living cells. Though, hidden behind is the complex
re-arrangement of a many-body quantum system involving two types of nucleons, the protons and the neutrons. As
such, it is an ideal playground for studying fundamental properties of nuclear matter and dynamical aspects of nuclear
reactions.
While the importance of structural effects in deciding the fission split has been established through numerous studies
over the years, the respective role of the protons and neutrons remains vividly debated. Recent improvement in
detection technology revealed that the protons - which importance was overlooked in the past, are key drivers of
fission. This conclucsion allowed a first step in the direction of a “universal” understanding of the fission split across
the nuclear chart. In parallel, to elucidate the intricacies of the dynamics of the process, more and more elaborate set-
ups are being constructed, making possible so-called ”complete measurements”, where all products of the reaction are
detected in coincidence. The example of the new generation PARIS@VAMOS set-up is presented. It recently provided
the first evidence of a connection between the dynamical evolution of the fragments and the Pygmy Dipole Resonance,
a possibly collective vibration of a neutron skin against the nuclear core. The work shows that PARIS@VAMOS paves
the way towards studies of singular phenomena at the crossroad between nuclear structure and dynamics.