Sensitivity of cross sections for elastic nucleus-nucleus scattering to halo nucleus density distributions

In order to clear up the sensitivity of the nucleus-nucleus scattering to the nuclear matter distributions in exotic halo nuclei, we have calculated differential cross sections for elastic scattering of the ⁶He and ¹¹Li nuclei on several nuclear targets at the energy of 0.8 GeV/nucleon with different assumed nuclear density distributions in ⁶He and ¹¹Li.     

Target fragmentation in proton-nucleus and16O-nucleus reactions at 60 and 200 GeV/nucleon

Target remnants withZ<3 from proton-nucleus and¹⁶O-nucleus reactions at 60 and 200 GeV/nucleon were measured in the angular range from 30° to 160° (?1.7<η<1.3) employing the Plastic Ball detector. The excitation energy of the target spectator matter in central oxygen-induced collisions is found to be high enough to allow for complete disintegration of the target nucleus into fragments withZ<3. The average longitudinal momentum transfer per proton to the target in central collisions is considerably higher in the case of¹⁶O-induced reactions (≈300 MeV/c) than in proton-induced reactions (≈130 MeV/c). The baryon rapidity distributions are roughly in agreement with one-fluid hydrodynamical calculations at 60 GeV/nucleon¹⁶O+Au but are in disagreement at 200 GeV/nucleon, indicating the higher degree of transparency at the higher bombarding energy. Both, the transverse momenta of target spectators and the entropy produced in the target fragmentation region are compared to those attained in head-on collisions of two heavy nuclei at Bevalac energies. They are found to be comparable or do even exceed the values for the participant matter at beam energies of about 1–2 GeV/nucleon.     

Production of baryon resonances in collisions of 4He nuclei with carbon nuclei at a momentum of 4.2 GeV/c per nucleon

Under conditions of 4π geometry, Δ⁰-and Δ⁺⁺-resonance production in collisions of ⁴He nuclei with carbon nuclei at a momentum of 4.2 GeV/c per nucleon was investigated for the first time. The resonance masses and widths are estimated by analyzing the experimental and background invariant-mass distributions of (pπ ^±) pairs. Contributions to pion production from Δ-resonance decays, as well as from direct pion production, are determined. The results are compared with corresponding data obtained for CC collisions at the same primary momentum of 4.2 GeV/c per nucleon. By and large, the results obtained here comply with the existence of a collective mechanism of delta-isobar excitation in nuclei.     

Coherent dissociation of relativistic 12N nuclei

The dissociation of relativistic ¹²N nuclei having a momentum of 2 GeV/c per nucleon and undergoing the most peripheral interactions in a track emulsion is studied. The picture of charged topology of product ensembles of relativistic fragments and special features of their angular distributions are presented.     

Structures and angular distributions of slow and relativistic charged particles produced in 7Li-emulsion interactions at 3 GeV/c per projectile nucleon

Experimental results on the multiplicity distributions of various particles produced in the interactions of ⁷Li with emulsion nuclei at a momentum of 3 GeV/c per projectile nucleon are reported. A comparison with data on collisions induced by other nuclei at a nearly identical momentum per nucleon is presented in order to reveal the dependence on the projectile mass. The internal structure of ⁷Li is explored by studying the projectile fragment. The mean multiplicity of shower particles, 〈n _s〉, induced by ⁷Li is found to be less than that in the case of ⁶Li projectiles. The angular distributions of target fragments and relativistic charged secondaries are investigated. No shock-wave phenomena are observed. Forward-to-backward ratios are calculated for each case. The probability distributions for relativistic secondaries produced per unit rapidity are studied in detail, along with the rapidity densities and their dependence on the projectile and the target mass. A comparison of the angular spectra of shower particles produced in central and peripheral collisions supports the limiting-fragmentation hypothesis. The collisions in question seem to become more central with increasing shower-particle multiplicity.     

Sensitivity of reaction cross sections to halo nucleus density distributions

In order to clear up the sensitivity of the nucleus-nucleus reaction cross sections σ _R to the nuclear matter distributions in exotic halo nuclei, we have calculated the values of σ _R for scattering of ⁶He, ¹¹Li, and ¹⁹C nuclei on several nuclear targets at the energy of 0.8 GeV/nucleon. The calculations were performed in the “rigid target” approximation to the Glauber theory, different shapes of the nuclear density distributions in ⁶He, ¹¹Li, and ¹⁹C being assumed.     

Momentum distributions of <Superscript>4</Superscript>He nuclei from the <Superscript>6</Superscript>He and <Superscript>6</Superscript>Li breakup

Experimental data on the momentum distributions of ⁴He nuclei originating from ⁶He and ⁶Li breakup on various targets are presented over a wide beam energy range. The experiment with ⁶He was performed at the DRIBs accelerator complex for radioactive beams at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR, Dubna). The intensity of the ⁶He beam used was 5 × 10⁶ particles per second and its energy was 10 MeV per nucleon. The momentum distributions of breakup products were measured by means of the MSP-144 magnetic spectrometer. The distribution width was shown to be virtually independent of the target mass. A small value of this width, σ ～ 28 MeV/c, confirms the presence of a halo in ⁶He. The measurements performed with ⁶Li beams of energy 18 and 46 MeV per nucleon at the U-400M accelerator yielded a width value of σ ～ 50 MeV/c for the momentum distributions of ⁴He nuclei, which is intermediate between that for ⁶He and those for stable nuclei. A compilation of the widths of the momentum distributions of fragments originating from the breakup of various nuclei is presented versus the binding energy of one or two neutrons in these nuclei, the target mass and the projectile energy.     

Correlation effects in the production of <Superscript>3</Superscript>He nuclei in <Superscript>16</Superscript>O<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> collisions at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/<Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis> per nucleon

New experimental data on the dependence of the mean multiplicities and kinematical features of ³He nuclei produced in ¹⁶Op collisions at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon on the degree of excitation of the fragmenting nucleus are presented. Strong correlations between the multiplicities of negatively charged pions and ³He nuclei are found.     

Effective nucleon-nucleon forces and interaction of light exotic nuclei with stable nuclei at low energies

The effect of the density dependence of effective nucleon-nucleon forces on the folded potential of the interactions of the light exotic nuclei ⁶He, ¹¹Li, ¹¹Be, and ⁸B with the stable nucleus ¹²C is studied, and the corresponding experimental data on the total reaction cross sections and on elastic scattering are analyzed. A semimicroscopic double-folding model featuring various density-dependent forces based on the M3Y interaction is used together with the nucleon densities as calculated within the density-functional method by using a unified set of parameters for all the above nuclei. It is shown that the angular distributions recently measured for elastic ⁶He scattering on ¹²C at an energy of 41.6 MeV per projectile nucleon and for elastic ¹¹Be scattering on ¹²C at an energy of 49.3 MeV per projectile nucleon can be described satisfactorily if the real part of the optical folded potential is supplemented with a surface term mimicking the contribution of the dynamical polarization potential.     

Momentum transfer in light-ion-induced fission reactions

Angular correlations and angular distributions of the fission fragments produced in the bombardment of a ²³²Th target with protons, deuterons and α-particles in the energy range between 35 and 1000 MeV/nucleon have been measured. From these measurements, the distributions of linear momentum imparted to fissioning nuclei have been deduced in the various energy regimes; dominating reaction mechanisms are classified according to the fraction of the available incident momentum transferred to the target. The experimental results are compared to the predictions of intra-nuclear cascade calculations. An optimum excitation energy supported by the fissioning nuclei could be the dominant limitation to momentum transfer at high incident energies. The angular distributions of the fission fragments were used to extract fission cross sections and upper limits of the angular momentum imparted to the fissioning nuclei.     

Multifractal critical thermodynamics in nucleus-nucleus collisions

Critical points approach in the frames of multifractal thermodynamics is suggested to interpret the experimental data on nuclear multifragmentation which come from interactions in nuclear emulsion (in which ¹⁹⁷ ₇₉Au₁₁₈ nuclei of energy ∼1 GeV/nucleon break up into fragments) and from the charge distributions of projectile fragments in sulphur (³²S) fragmentation at 200 GeV/nucleon. It is also shown that multifragmentation after macro-solids collisions exhibits properties analogous to those observed in the nuclear multifragmentation experiments. Received: 19 October 1999     

Production cross sections of multiply charged fragments in heavy ion interactions at 150–200 MeV/nucleon

A total of 1720 ¹⁶O-emulsion nucleus interactions at 150–200 MeV/nucleon have been investigated. Production cross sections of multiply charged projectile fragments are given. It is found that the cross section for the production of N, C, B and Be projectile fragments in ¹⁶O-nucleus interactions is similar at 0.2 and 2 GeV/nucleon. The fragmentation cross sections for Li and He are larger at 0.2 than at 2 GeV/nucleon.     

π−-meson and nucleon yields from light targets irradiated by deuterium and tritium nuclei beams at energies of 1 GeV/nucleon

In this paper, we present a model of calculation with respect to the interactions of high-energy nuclei with matter. Based on this model, we obtain results on energy and angular spectra of the n- and π⁻-particles produced in collisions of deuterium and tritium nuclei at energiesT _d=1 GeV/nucleon with light targets such as Li, Be. We have also estimated the production yields of neutrons and π⁻-mesons in targets of various radii, as well as mean energies of these these particles. Summarizing, we find that the lithium target of radiusR=10−12 cm for which the energy cost ε_π to produce one π⁻-meson is estimated as 6.7 GeV/π for a d-beam and 5.3 GeV/π for a t-beam is the most preferred pion-production target.     

Fragmentation of12C nuclei in emulsion at 50 GeV/c

A total of 852¹²C-emulsion nucleus interactions at 4.2 GeV/c per incident nucleon was investigated. At least one charged projectile fragment was observed in 733 events, in which the multiplicity and angular distributions ofZ=1,2, and ≧3 projectile fragments were studied. Five events were observed in which¹²C projectile nuclei were fragmented into twoZ=3 fragments. Thus the cross section of this process is about 6×10^?3 of the inelastic cross section. The angular distribution of projectile fragments becomes narrower as the fragment charge increases. At all values of fragment charges, a pronounced peak in the angular distribution can be observed at zero emission angle. In this paper, only the projectile-fragmentation events possessing no heavily ionizing particle (n _h =0 events) have been investigated. Our sample contains 84 of these events, i.e., about 10% of the total inelastic events. The number of events withZ _max, the charge of the emitted principal fragment, equal to 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are 11, 52, 13, 4, and 4, respectively. Of these 84 events, 36 interactions have a total charge of emitted projectile fragmentsZ ^* equal to 6, i.e., as much as the beam chargeZ _p . Of the 36 events, 17 produce no charged pions and of the 17 events, 10 only represent the dissociation of¹²C→3α, i.e., 1.2% of the total inelastic interactions. The number of events withZ ^*=5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 are 27, 14, 4, 2, and 1, respectively. The average number of produced charged pions per one interacting projectile nucleon was estimated to be 1.2±0.1. This value agrees with the corresponding one in elementary interaction at the same energy per nucleon, a result pertaining to the incoherent production model in collision of two nuclei. In this class of events,n _h =0, the number of stars in which H, He, Li, Be, and B isotopes were detected are 59, 58, 13, 4, and 4, respectively. The projected angular distributions ofZ=1 and 2 projectile fragments are Gaussian shaped, narrow, consistent with isotropy, and depend on the fragment. These distributions are consistent with quantum mechanical calculations using the sudden approximation and shell-model functions. From the angular measurements ofα-particle tracks in the dissociation¹²C→3α events, the distribution ofα-particle transverse momentum inside the carbon projectile nucleus was deduced. It seems that the dissociation of¹²C→3α happens via an intermediate⁸Be state.     

Projectile stopping in nucleus-nucleus and hadron-nucleus collisions at 4.2 and 10 GeV/c per nucleon

The collisions ofp,²H,⁴He and C with carbon and tantalum nuclei at 4.2 GeV/c per nucleon as well as the collisionsp-C andp-Ta at 10 GeV/c from 2-m propane bubble chamber have been studied. New results on nuclear stopping have been obtained from the examination of proton rapidity distributions and average rapidity of leading protons for collisions of various degree of centrality: our study points out that a proton projectile is fully stopped in the centralp-Ta collisions at 4.2 GeV/c but only partly stopped at 10 Gev/c. The proton multiplicity in the centralp-Ta collisions at 10 GeV/c can be described by the binomial distribution,P(n), which expresses the probability that the projectile meetsn protons among the nucleons being along the diameter of a target nucleus.     

Taking into Account the Centre-of-Mass Correlations in the Cross Sections for Elastic Scattering of Intermediate Energy Protons on the Exotic Nuclei <Superscript>6</Superscript>He and <Superscript>8</Superscript>He

We calculate the differential cross sections for proton elastic scattering on the exotic halo nuclei ⁶He and ⁸He at energies around ~0.7 GeV at the momentum transfers squared up to 0.30 (GeV/c)² and investigate the influence of the nucleon centre-of-mass correlations on the calculated cross sections. In particular, we show that the approximate account of the centre-of-mass correlations used previously considerably overestimates the cross sections at high values of the momentum transfer.     

Yields of hydrogen and helium isotopes in fragmentation of carbon ions with the energy of 0.3 GeV/nucleon

Data on the yields of hydrogen isotopes (p, d, t) and helium isotopes (from ³He to ⁸He) at the angle of 3.5° in fragmentation of the carbon ions with the energy of 0.3 GeV/nucleon on the beryllium target are reported. The momentum spectra of the fragments in the rest frame of the fragmenting nucleus are measured in a considerably larger momentum range than in the previous experiments.     

A study of the (α, t) reaction on 19F, 27Al, 51V and 59Co

The angular distributions of tritons from the (α, t) reaction on ¹⁹F, ²⁷Al, ⁵¹V and ⁵⁹Co nuclei corresponding to the (0⁺) ground states and (2⁺) excited states in the final nuclei have been measured in the angular range between 15° and 170° at α-particle energies of 25 MeV. For reactions on ²⁷Al and ⁵¹V nuclei, the differential excitation functions have also been obtained at different angles of outgoing tritons at E_α from 20 to 25 MeV. The experimental angular distributions are analysed by the DWBA approximation on the assumption of a nucleon stripping mechanism. The analyses of the present results and the data obtained earlier for the (α, t) reaction on the 1 p shell nuclei, A ? 30, reveal that the distinguishing feature of the reaction under study is the presence of backward angle peaks in the reaction cross section, which appear to be associated with exchange processes. For the (α, t) reaction on the heavier nuclei (A > 30), the dominant mechanism is nucleon stripping.