Cross sections for nuclear reactions in collisions of238U+238U and238U +197Au near and below the coulomb barrier

Cross sections for nuclear reactions at beam energies near and below the spherical Coulomb barrier V _c were measured in the very heavy collision systems²³⁸U +²³⁸U and²³⁸U +¹⁹⁷Au. The most probable reaction channel with mass transfer is the one-neutron transfer. Its excitation function is understood in terms of Rutherford trajectories together with the quantal process of neutron tunnelling over large distances. In addition, the exchange of up to 15 nucleons is observed down to 0.90 V _c . The excitation functions for the multi-nucleon transfer products have much steeper slopes than that for one-neutron transfer, and are steeper for²³⁸U +¹⁹⁷Au than for²³⁸U +²³⁸U, suggesting that nuclear contact is established in the associated collisions. The angular distribution for one selected multi-nucleon transfer product,²²⁷Th, shows that its formation occurs in more central collisions within contact times shorter than about 10^?21 s. There is no evidence for very longlived di-nuclear systems in the these reactions.     

Fission in238U+238U collisions below the Coulomb barrier

Integral fission cross sections in the system²³⁸U+²³⁸U were measured at beam energies below the interaction barrierV _C. Scattering angle dependent probabilities and integral cross sections for Coulomb fission were calculated. It is concluded that earlier observed discrepancies between measured and calculated angular distributions for the one-neutron transfer product²³⁹U cannot be explained by sequential fission. Multi-nucleon transfer induced fission is observed down to energies (0.90±0.02)×V_C.     

Investigation of deep inelastic reactions in 238U + 238U at Coulomb barrier energies

We investigated deep inelastic reactions in ²³⁸U + ²³⁸U collisions at 6.09, 6.49, 6.91, 7.1 and 7.35×A MeV at the VAMOS spectrometer (GANIL). A large transfer of neutrons and protons was observed at all beam energies. For a transfer of more than 10 nucleons the total kinetic energy of the detected fragments becomes independent of the beam energy and reaches values far below the Coulomb barrier for spherical fragments. This points to the formation of a di-nuclear system in the entrance channel which develops an elongated shape and a strong neck. For such reactions we expect an enhanced lifetime of the di-nuclear system which is significantly longer than the time scale for elastic and quasi-elastic reactions. Different theoretical approaches predict delay times of more than 5×10^-21 s for a subset of our data.     

Excitation energy division in 51V + 197Au collisions at and near the barrier

Mass- and charge-yield distributions for 19 < Z < 84 were determined radiochemically for the binary collision products of ⁵¹V + ¹⁹⁷Au collisions at a bombarding energy corresponding exactly to the Bass-model barrier, E _cm = B, and at E _cm = B + 25 MeV. The average excitation energies as a function of Z are determined by comparing the centroids of the experimental, secondary mass distributions for given values of Z with the calculated primary centroids from minimization of the potential energy of the di-nuclear system, i.e. from the missing masses. At the barrier, in striking contrast to a thermal equilibrium, we find an extreme donor-acceptor asymmetry in the excitation-energy division reminiscent of the “sawtooth” phenomenon in low-energy nuclear fission. Here, the excitation energy sharing is apparently dominated by shape fluctuations at scission. At the slightly higher bombarding energy, E _cm = B + 25 MeV, we observe a rapid change toward equipartition of the excitation energy indicating that, here, the excitation energy division due to shape fluctuations is already covered up by the dissipative exchange of nucleons. Also, the balance of integral cross sections for fusion fission, deep-inelastic scattering, and quasi fission is investigated and is shown to contain important information about the dynamical evolution of the ⁵¹V + ¹⁹⁷Au system after having passed the entrance channel barrier.     

Energy dependence of collective flow of neutrons and protons in197Au+197Au collisions

We investigate the beam energy dependence of neutron and proton squeeze-out in collisions of¹⁹⁷Au+¹⁹⁷Au atE/A=400—800 MeV. The azimuthal anisotropy that describes the enhanced emission of mid-rapidity neutrons perpendicular to the reaction plane rises strongly with the transverse momentum of the neutrons. This dependence of the azimuthal anisotropy follows a universal curve — independent of beam energy — if the neutron momenta are measured in fractions of the projectile momentum per mass unit. Analogously, the kinetic energy spectra of mid-rapidity neutrons exhibit a universal behaviour as a function of the kinetic energy of the projectile. The members of the FOPI-collaboration: J.P. Alard, Z. Basrak, N. Bastid, I.M. Belayev, M. Bini, R. Bock, A. Buta, R. aplar, C. Cerruti, N. Cindro, J.P. Coffin, M. Crouau, P. Dupieux, J. Erö, Z.G. Fan, P. Fintz, Z. Fodor, R. Freifelder, L. Fraysse, S. Frolov, A. Gobbi, Y. Grigorian, G. Guillaume, N. Herrmann, K.D. Hildenbrand, S. Hölbling, O. Houari, S.C. Jeong, M. Jorio, F. Jundt, J. Kecskemeti, P. Koncz, Y. Korchagin, R. Kotte, M. Krämer, C. Kuhn, I. Legrand, A. Lebedev, C. Maguire, V. Manko, T. Matulewicz, G. Mgebrishvili, J. Mösner, D. Moisa, G. Montarou, P. Morel, W. Neubert, A. Olmi, G. Pasquali, D. Pelte, M. Petrovici, G. Poggi, F. Rami, W. Reisdorf, A. Sadchikov, D. Schüll, Z. Seres, B. Sikora, V. Simion, S. Smolyankin, U. Sodan, N. Taccetti, K. Teh, R. Tezkratt, M. Trzaska, M.A. Vasiliev, P. Wagner, J.P. Wessels, T. Wienold, Z. Wilhelmi, D. Wohlfarth, A.V. Zhilin.     

Fusion reactions around the barrier for Be+~(238)U

Fusion-evaporation cross sections of ~(238)U (~9Be,5n)~(242)Cm are measured over a wide energy range around the Coulomb barrier.These measured cross sections are compared with model calculations using two codes,namely HIVAP2 and KEWPIE2.HIVAP2 calculations overestimate the measured fusion-evaporation cross sections by a factor of approximately 3.In KEWPIE2 calculations,two approaches,namely the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin(WKB) approximation and the empirical barrier-distribution (EBD) method,are used for the capture probability;both of them properly describe the measured cross sections.Additionally,fusion cross sections of ~(7,9)Be+~(238)U measured in two experiments are applied to constrain model calculations further through three codes,i.e.,HIVAP2,KEWPIE2,and CCFULL.Parameters in these codes are also examined by comparison with measured fusion cross sections.All the comparisons indicate that the KEWPIE2 calculations using the WKB approximation agree well with the measured cross sections of both fusion reactions ~(7,9)Be+~(238)U and the fusion-evaporation reaction ~(238)U (~9Be,5n)~(242)Cm.Calculations using the fusion code CCFULL are also in good agreement with the measured fusion cross sections of ~(7,9)Be+~(238)U.     

Investigation of the 40Ar + 197Au, 238U systems at 44 MeV/u

We have measured the angular correlation between two fragments emitted in the reactions Ar + Au and Ar + U at 44 MeV/u at GANIL. The aim was to investigate the amount of initial linear momentum transferred from the projectile to a fissioning nucleus. It turned out that this amount is much smaller than can be extrapolated from previous experiments. Furthermore, the probability of forming a fissioning nucleus is very small.     

Systematic studies of positron production in heavy-ion collisions near the Coulomb barrier

We present the results obtained from systematic studies of positron creation for a series of heavy-collision systems, with united chargeZ _u =Z ₁ +Z ₂ ranging fromZ _u =164 (Pb + Pb) toZ _u =184 (U+U) at bombarding energies close to the Coulomb barrier, using the Orangeβ-spectrometer at GSI. For each collision system studied, the dominating continuous distributions due to quasiatomic and nuclear positron emission are determined accurately. This is essential in obtaining the characteristics of the still unexplained monoenergetic positron lines which appear in the energy range between 200 keV and 400 keV. Our results are compared with coupled-channels calculations for quasi-atomic positron creation. The latter describe quite well the global features of the measured spectra, but overestimate systematically their absolute values. From the comparison, a common normalization factor of about 0.75 can be established for the calculated spectra. In particular, the dependence onZ _u of the measured emission probabilities was found to follow a power law (∝Z _u ^195±1), in fair agreement with the theoretical prediction.     

Light charged particle emission and fission in238U+238U collisions at 1,740 MeV

Inclusive⁴He and⁴H energy spectra and heavy fragment coincidence correlations have been measured for reactions of 7.31 MeV/u²³⁸U with²³⁸U and^?197Au targets. The H/He production cross sections are in the range 15–26 mb, and their emission spectra are very similar for the two systems. The observed strong kinematic shifts with angle are reproduced in shape and magnitude by Monte Carlo simulations of particle evaporation from projectile-like and target-like fragments, indicating competition between charged particle emission and sequential fission. No evidence is found for high energy charged particle emission associated with ultra-highZ composite systems. Heavy fragment measurements indicate an abundance of quasielastic and deeply inelastic reaction fragments, as well as sequential fission of target and projectile nuclei. For²³⁸U nuclei, the fission occurs predominantly in an asymmetric mode, reminiscent of fission at low excitation energy. For²³⁸+²³⁸U reactions in the vicinity of the grazing angle, the frequency of single sequential fission (with survival of the partner fragment) is twice as large as double sequential fission in which both the target and projectile undergo fission. In²³⁸U+¹⁹⁷Au reactions, the survival probability of the heavy fragments is even greater. The surprisingly high survival probabilities of high-Z fragments imply a preponderance of very soft collisions in these very-heavy-ion reactions, at least at energies not very far over the Coulomb barrier.     

Dynamical intermediate-mass fragment production in197Au+197Au collisions at energies ≤15 MeV/u

We present radiochemical data on the production of intermediate-mass fragments (IMF, 11≤Z<≈25) in collisions of¹⁹⁷Au+¹⁹⁷Au at 9, 11, 13 and 15 MeV/u. We demonstrate that the IMFs are produced in two-step reactions: Highly excited heavy nuclei are formed in a binary deep-inelastic reaction, and the IMFs originate from fast mass-asymmetric sequential fission of these primary reaction products.     

Semiclassical description of reactions at energies near the Coulomb barrier

The modified semiclassical approximation of Coulomb matrix elements is extended to include effects of distorting nuclear potentials in the scattering wave functions. The applicability and efficiency of the proposed semiclassical method are discussed. The advantages of this approximation are shown for a typical heavy-ion transfer reaction.     

Quasielastic reactions around the coulomb barrier in 16O+118Sn

Measurement of elastic and quasielastic reaction cross sections were done in ¹⁶O + ¹¹⁸Sn system at two different energies above the barrier. Attempts are being made to understand the results in the framework of coupled reaction channel model.     

Competition between binary reactions and fusion in heavy-ion collisions at the Coulomb barrier

Mass and charge distributions for binary reaction channels have been measured for the reactions⁸⁶Kr with⁷⁶Ge,¹⁰⁴Ru and¹³⁰Te at the Coulomb barrier using chemical separations and-ray spectroscopy. These systems span the region where dynamical hindrance to complete fusion sets in. The binary reactions can be subdivided into two components associated withi) reflection from the outer potential barrier (quasielastic), andii) reseparation after passing the barrier (complex reactions). The sum of complex-reaction channels and evaporation residues from complete fusion can be reproduced by a barrier passing calculation. The fraction of the barrier passing flux leading to reseparation increases from 26±10% for the lightest system to more than 90% for the heaviest system. The data indicate that fusion hindrance is primarily caused by reseparation shortly after passage of the barrier before Swiatecki's conditional saddlepoint is overcome, resulting in partitions close to the entrance channel configuration. In addition, for the heaviest system, a quasifission component representing somewhat less than 20% of the barrier-passing flux was observed. From the missing masses of fragment pairs we can deduce that the reseparating complex-reaction products have kinetic energies well below the fusion barrier and share the excitation energy in a way similar to the sawtooth-like curve known from low-energy fission. The quasielastic, predominantly one- and two-nucleon transfer channels, have strongly varying cross sections for the three systems despite similar effectiveQ-values. A systematics of one-neutron transfer cross sections at the Coulomb barrier is established and shown to differ considerably from the smooth behaviour observed at energies 20–30% above the barrier. The connection to nuclear polarization phenomena and orbit matching is pointed out.Nuclear reactions:⁷⁶Ge,¹⁰⁴Ru,¹³⁰Te(⁸⁶Kr, X).E=3.22 MeV/u, (3.64) 3.84 MeV/u, 3.96 MeV/u; enriched targets; catcher foil technique, chemical separations,-ray spectroscopy; deduced mass and charge distributions for binary reactions; competition with complete fusion     

Intrinsic fragment spins generated in the reactions of 20Ne with 197Au and 238U at 12.6 MeV/nucleon

The average magnitude and alignment of the intrinsic spin of the heavy partner from the reaction of 252 MeV ²⁰Ne with ¹⁹⁷Au and ²³⁸U were determined as a function of Q-value. These spin values were extracted from sequential fission angular distributions obtained in coincidence with projectile-like products. For all Q-values a large out-of-plane anisotropy was observed, while for large negative Q-values an in-plane anisotropy was observed. A very large entrance-channel mass-asymmetry was chosen to provide a stringent test of equilibrium statistical model predictions for the spin alignment. The importance of determining the direction of the line-of-centers of the dinuclear system at scission is discussed. Large values of P_ZZ were deduced for all Q- values. P_XY was observed to be positive in the quasielastic region and negative in the deep-inelastic region. The extracted alignment data are compared to equilibrium statistical model calculations.     

Inelastic scattering and nucleon transfer in the system232Th+206Pb near the Coulomb barrier

Nucleon transfer accompanied by Coulomb excitation was studied in the system²⁰⁶Pb+²³²Th atE _Lab=6.4 MeV/u. Particle-particle-gamma coincidence techniques were used to identify excited states of reaction products populated through inelastic scattering and nucleon transfer reactions. The mean excitation energy was measured by means of aγ-ray energy and multiplicity filter consisting of 6 NaI detectors. Large cross sections for one-neutron and two-neutron pick-up from²³²Th are observed. The impact-parameter dependence of the neutron transfer is analyzed in terms of semiclassical barrier penetration models. Using realistic neutron potentials with a diffuse surface, the experimental data are in accordance with the assumption of a “cold” transfer to states near the yrast line.     

Breakup temperature of target spectators in 197Au + 197Au collisions at E/A = 1000 MeV

Breakup temperatures were deduced from double ratios of isotope yields for target spectators produced in the reaction ¹⁹⁷Au + ¹⁹⁷Au at 1000 MeV per nucleon. Pairs of ^3,4He and ^6,7Li isotopes and pairs of ^3,4He and H isotopes (p, d and d, t) yield consistent temperatures after feeding corrections, based on the quantum statistical model, are applied. The temperatures rise with decreasing impact parameter from 4 MeV for peripheral to about 10 MeV for the most central collisions. The good agreement with the breakup temperatures measured previously for projectile spectators at an incident energy of 600 MeV per nucleon confirms the universality established for the spectator decayat relativistic bombarding energies. The measured temperatures also agree with the breakup temperatures predicted by the statistical multifragmentation model. For these calculations a relation between the initial excitation energy and mass was derived which gives good simultaneous agreement for the fragment charge correlations. The energy spectra of light charged particles, measured at τ_lab = 150°, exhibit Maxwellian shapes with inverse slope parameters much higher than the breakup temperatures. The statistical multifragmentation model, because Coulomb repulsion and sequential decay processes are included, yields light-particle spectra with inverse slope parameters higher than the breakup temperatures but considerably below the measured values. The systematic behavior of the differences suggests that they are caused by light-charged-particle emission prior to the final breakup stage.