A four-channel unitary model for the description of heavy-ion collisions at relativistic energies

We expand a previously formulated model for nuclear abrasion in ion-ion collisions where now nucleons in both projectile and target can be excited. Describing the state of excitation by an effective channel we rigorously impose unitarity and compare the results with those of a heuristic treatment of unitarity by Hüfner, Schäfer and Schürmann. We find corrections to the latter theory which grow up to a factor of two with the number of abraded nucleons.     

Unexpected behavior of heavy-ion fusion cross sections at extreme sub-barrier energies

The excitation function for fusion evaporation in the (60)Ni+ (89)Y system was measured over a range in cross section covering 6 orders of magnitude. The cross section exhibits an abrupt decrease at extreme sub-barrier energies. This behavior, which is also present in a few other systems found in the literature, cannot be reproduced with present models, including those based on a coupled-channels approach. Possible causes are discussed, including a dependence on the intrinsic structure of the participants.     

Lower bounds on cross sections without unknown constants and valid at all energies

We obtain lower bounds for cross sections (total and differential) which are of the form of integral constraints, and which contain no unknown constants and that are valid at finite energies (and not only asymptotically). The information that we use to obtain the bounds may be of three different types (giving three different kinds of bounds): a few low energy parameters; a few low energy parameters plus experimental information on a given wave (the D wave); or one unphysical parameter that may be obtained from other sources (field theoretical calculations with soft pion techniques). The comparison of the bounds with experiment is also discussed.     

Stochastic time-dependent hartree-fock for heavy-ion collisions at fermi energies

We present the first application of Stochastic Time-Dependent Hartree-Fock for describing realistic heavy-ion collisions in the Fermi energy domain. We discuss the robustness of the collision scheme and show some examples of application. Presented by E. Suraud at the International Conference on “Atomic Nuclei and Metallic Clusters”, Prague, September 1–5, 1997.     

Pion-production in heavy-ion collisions at SIS energies

We investigate the production of pions in heavyion collisions in the energy range of 1–2 GeV/A. The dynamics of the nucleus-nucleus collisions is described by a set of coupled transport equations of the Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck type for baryons and mesons. Besides theN(938) and theΔ(1232) we also take into account nucleon resonances up to masses of 1.95 GeV/c² as well asπ-,η- andρ-mesons. We study in detail the influence of the higher baryonic resonances and the 2π-production channels (NN→NNππ) on the pion spectra in comparison toπ ^? data fromAr+KCl collisions at 1.8 GeV/A andπ ⁰-data forAu+Au at 1.0GeV/A. We, furthermore, present a detailed comparison of differential pion angular distributions with the BEVALAC data forAr+KCl at 1.8 GeV/A. The general agreement obtained indicates that the overall reaction dynamics is well described by our novel transport approach.     

Study of fusion cross-section in heavy-ion fusion-fission reactions at around fusion barrier energies using the Langevin dynamical approach

The neutron detector with ³He -filled counters placed in the focal plane of the VASSILISSA separator is used for measuring the average number and determining the multiplicity distribution of prompt neutrons from the spontaneous fission of heavy short-lived isotopes. The test reaction $\ensuremath \mathrm{{}^{48}Ca}+\mathrm{{}^{206}Pb}=2{\rm n}+\mathrm{{}^{252}No}$ is used for tuning the separator settings and calibrating the detector system with the spontaneous fission of the ²⁵²No . The average neutron number per ²⁵²No spontaneous fission event is as large as $\ensuremath \bar{\nu}=4.06 \pm 0.12$ . The short-lived heavy isotope ²⁴⁴Fm , produced in the complete fusion reaction ⁴⁰Ar + ²⁰⁶Pb , is investigated. The average number of neutrons per spontaneous fission of ²⁴⁴Fm from the experimental data ( $\ensuremath \bar{\nu}=3.3 \pm 0.3$ is determined for the first time.     

Multi-step compound model of heavy-ion fusion

Heavy-ion fusion reactions have been analyzed within a multi-step compound model composed of a dinucleus configuration, coupled to particle and breakup channels as well as to an equilibrated compound nucleus configuration. The resulting fusion cross sections, defined as the summed particle emission cross sections from the equilibrated compound nucleus, are in reasonable agreement with the data for several systems. The resulting angular distributions as well as the time evolution of the system are also discussed.     

Puzzling features of heavy-ion fission at sub-barrier energies

The heavy-ion induced fission fragment angular distributions measured for systems with Th, U and Np as targets have revealed “anomalous” values of anisotropies at energiesE≤V _B (fusion barrier) and this feature is observed to be independent of the entrance channel mass-asymmetry. While this puzzling feature is exhibited by the deformed targets like Th, U and Np, most of the fission data measured for the spherical targets like Pb and Bi can be satisfactorily explained using the standard saddle point statistical model with moderate correction for pre-fission neutron emission. Plausible reasons for this anomalous behaviour are explored.     

Nuclear shadowing and heavy-ion collisions at high energies

Nuclear shadowing effects for quarks and gluons are calculated using information on diffractive deep inelastic scattering on a nucleon. Role of these effects in interactions of hadrons and nuclei with nuclei at high energies is investigated. A decrease in particle densities for heavy-ion collisions in comparison with the Glauber model is predicted and nuclear modification factors are calculated. Distributions of gluons in nuclei are used to predict suppression of heavy quarkonia. The parameter-free calculation of J/ψ in DAu and AuAu collisions is in a good agreement with recent RHIC data. Predictions for heavy quarkonia suppression in heavy-ion collisions at LHC are formulated.     

Non-equilibrium processes in heavy-ion collisions at relativistic energies

We use transport theory to describe the inclusive cross sections for protons and pions produced in collisions between two identical heavy ions at an energy of 800 MeV per particle. In addition to the nucleonic we take the Δ-degree of freedom into account. Thus we consider a two-component system whose distributions in transverse momentum and rapidity we describe by two coupled Fokker-Planck equations. These transport equations contain the one-nucleon knock-out process as initial condition. In the limit of large interaction times they lead to thermal equilibrium (fireball) distributions. For light nuclei the interaction time is not large enough for equilibrium to be reached. A recent experiment for two colliding carbon nuclei at 800 MeV per nucleon shows evidence of nonequilibrium effects. We compare our calculations with experimental data for ¹²C on ¹²C and Ne on NaF at 800 MeV/N.     

Puzzling features of heavy-ion fission at sub-barrier energies

Elastic and inelastic scatterings cross-sections of¹²C+¹²C in the energy range 11–24 MeV/n have been analyzed within the coupled channels framework including appropriate symmetrization. The set obtained withr ₀=1.01 fm,r _I =0.86 fm for seven incident energies gave the best agreement with the data and could be, therefore, considered as really significant when compared with other sets. Coupled channels calculations have been made to fit the data and it has been found that they require a reduction of the imaginary potential. The total reaction cross-sectionσ _R (E) determined from this analysis is in good agreement with a direct and recent measurement of σ _R . Quadrupole deformation parameterβ ₂ has been extracted and compared with those obtained for proton and alpha scatterings. Some small energy dependence of β₂ over this energy range has been found, ¦β ₂¦ ～0.39–0.47. Finally, these calculations further confirm that β₂ depends on the probe used in the various scattering experiments. For composite projectile such asα or¹²C,β ₂ is clearly smaller than that one for nucleon as projectile.     

Photon production in heavy-ion collisions at SPS energies

Single photon spectra in heavy-ion collisions at SPS energies are studied in the relativistic transport model that incorporates self-consistently the change of hadron masses in dense matter. We separate the total photon spectrum into “background” arising from the radiative decays of π⁰ and η mesons, and the “thermal” one from other sources. For the latter we include contributions from radiative decays of ρ, ω, η′, and a₁, radiative decays of baryon resonances, as well as two-body processes such as ππ → ργ and πρ → πγ. It is found that more than 95% of all photons come from the decays of π⁰ and η mesons, while the thermal photons account for less than 5% of the total photon yield. The thermal photon spectra in our calculations with either free or in-medium meson masses do not exceed the upper bound set by the experimental measurement of the WA80 Collaboration.     

Relativistic effects in heavy-ion collisions at SIS energies

The covariant and non-covariant Quantum Molecular Dynamics models are applied to investigate possible relativistic effects in heavy ion collisions at SIS energies. These relativistic effects which arise due to the full covariant treatment of the dynamics are studied at bombarding energiesE _lab=50, 250, 500, 750, 1000, 1250, 1500, 1750 and 2000 MeV/nucl. A wide range of the impact parameter fromb=0 fm tob=10 fm is also considsered. In the present study, five systems¹²C-¹²C,¹⁶O-¹⁶O,²⁰Ne-²⁰Ne,²⁸Si-²⁸Si and⁴⁰Ca-⁴⁰Ca are investigated. The full covariant treatment at low energies shows quite good agreement with the corresponding non-covariant whereas at higher energies it shows less stopping and hence less thermal equilibrium as compared to the non-covariant approach. The collisions dynamics is less affected. The density using RQMD rises and drops faster than with QMD. The relativistic effects show some influence on the resonance matter production. Overall, the relativistic effects at SIS energies (≦2000 MeV/nucl.) are less significant.     

Antiproton production in heavy-ion collisions at subthreshold energies

Within the framework of the Lanzhou quantum molecular dynamics model,the deep subthreshold antiproton production in heavy-ion collisions has been investigated thoroughly.The elastic scattering,annihilation and charge exchange reactions associated with antiproton channels are implemented in the model.The attractive antiproton potential extracted from the G-parity transformation of nucleon selfenergies reduces the threshold energies in meson-baryon and baryon-baryon collisions,and consequently enhances the antiproton yields to some extent.The calculated invariant spectra are consistent with the available experimental data.The primordial antiproton yields increase with the mass number of the colliding system.However,annihilation reactions reduce the antiproton production which becomes independent of the colliding partners.Anti-flow phenomena of antiprotons correlated with the mean field potential and annihilation mechanism is found by comparing them with the proton flows.Possible experiments at the high-intensity heavy-ion accelerator facility(HIAF) in China are discussed.     

A nonequilibrium equation of state in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies

A modified hydrodynamic approach using a nonequilibrium equation of state is used to describe heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies. The calculated energy spectra of protons produced in heavyion collisions are compared to experimental data and the results from calculations based on solving the Vlasov–Uehling–Uhlenbeck (VUU) kinetic equation.     

Liquid-drop model description of heavy ion fusion at sub-barrier energies

The enhancement of the heavy ion fusion cross section at sub-barrier energies is studied in the liquid-drop model approach. The shape of the system is described by two spheres smoothly connected by a neck, and the kinetic and potential energies are calculated within this parametrization. Underbarrier fusion cross sections for symmetric projectile-target combinations are calculated in the WKB approximation and a comparison with the available data is made. The agreement is quite satisfactory, except for those systems in which the reaction is strongly affected by the details of the nuclear structure of the collision partners.