  Fission transients describe the fission rate as it evolves towards the
quasistationary value given by Kramers' formula. The nature of fission
transients is dependent on the assumed initial distribution of the compound
nuclei along the fission coordinate. Although the standard initial assumption
of a near-spherical object leads to a transient suppression of the fission rate
(fission delay), a moderate initial fissionlike deformation can reduce the
magnitude of this suppression. For still larger initial deformations, transient
fission enhancements are possible. Examples of this behavior are illustrated
via a one-dimensional Langevin simulation. It is argued that the initial
conditions are determined by the fusion dynamics and thus are entrance-channel
dependent. Transient fission may be considered intermediate between statistical
fission and quasifission as the rapid time scale of transient fission may not
lead to an equilibrium of the angular and mass-asymmetry coordinates. The
relationship between the mean first passage time and the transients are
discussed. For temperatures much smaller than the fission barrier, the mean
first passage time is independent of the nature of the fission transients if
there is no strong competition from evaporation. Thus, fission transients are
most important when the evaporation time scale is smaller than, or of the order
of, the transient time.
