Inertia and Fission Paths in a Wide Range of Mass Asymmetry

Effective inertias for cold fission, heavy ion radioactivities and alpha decay are calculated within the Werner-Wheeler approximation by using two parametrizations of intersecting spheres, with either constant radius (cluster-like shapes) or constant volume (more compact shapes) of the light fragment. A correction for the center of mass motion of a system with axial symmetry is introduced. General analytical relationships are obtained which are easily particularized for various cases of practical interest. If the mass number of the light particle is lower than 31, the action integral calculated using the Yukawa-plus-exponential potential takes lower values for cluster-like shapes than for more compact ones.