Quasielastic transfer reactions in 238U + 197Au and 197Au + 197Au collisions near the Coulomb barrier

Differential cross sections as a function of cm angle were measured for 1n- and 2n-transfer reactions in ²³⁸U + ¹⁹⁷ Au and¹⁹⁷ Au + ¹⁹⁷ Au collisions in the energy range from 0.881 V_c to 1.093 V_c and 0.825 V_c to 0.964 V_c, respectively. For ¹⁹⁸Au and ¹⁹⁹Au from the ²³⁸U + ¹⁹⁷Au collisions, for reduced distances of closest approach d _o 1.55 fm, the angular distributions at all bombarding energies are well described by the semiclassical theory. Equivalently, the transfer probabilities show the expected exponential decrease with increasing d _o over many orders of magnitude. For all other transfer products from ²³⁸U + ¹⁹⁷Au collisions, and for all transfer products from ¹⁹⁷Au + ¹⁹⁷Au collisions, markedly reduced cross sections relative to the semiclassical theory are observed for central collisions at all bombarding energies, even for values of d _o that are well outside the region where absorption is known to set in. Only for the more peripheral collisions, one observes agreement of the angular distributions (transfer probabilities) with the semiclassical expectations. The deviations for central collisions are absent for reactions with positive Q _gg values and scale roughly with increasingly negative values of Q _gg, i.e. with increasing Q-value mismatch. Channel coupling is proposed as the relevant mechanism.     

Fusion and deep inelastic collisions studied on the Ar + Au system

We investigated the Ar + Au system at two different bombarding energies 201 and 248 MeV. The mass and the energy of the products have been measured at different angles. Mass distributions exhibits two components separated at the low bombarding energy and partly merging into each other at the high bombarding energy. One of them can be attributed to fission following complete fusion, the other one is centered around mass 40 and corresponds to deep inelastic products. These two different mechanisms correspond to different time scales. Angular distributionsd ² σ/dθdM are peaked a little bit forward the grazing angle for products close to the projectile and, when the mass transfer increases, becomes constant. For deep inelastic collisions the mass transfer occurs in the way predicted using potential energy considerations, but the small FWHM and the slight shift of the position of the maximum of these distributions indicates a short contact time. Due to the increase of the temperature, the FWHM of the mass distribution of deep inelastic products increases with the bombarding energy. The mean total kinetic energy studied as a function of the detection angle shows the influence of statistical fluctuations at backward angles. One also observes for this system that the relaxation time connected with the mass asymmetry degree of freedom is larger than the one associated to the energy damping. Complete fusion cross sections measurements were also done at 183, 189 and 195 MeV which allowed to draw the excitation function for this process. Calculations of the fusion cross section using the concept of critical distance are in agreement with the data.     

Quasimolecular KX-ray excitation by bombarding As,Zr, Nb,Mo and Rh target with Nb ions

By bombarding various targets with 65 MeV and 40 MeV Nb ions continuous X-ray distributions have been obtained, which range up to the KX-ray energies of quasiatoms woth Z=Z₁+Z₂. The hogh-energy parts of these continua are interpreted as KX-radiation of quasimolecules transiently formed during the adiabatic heavy-ion atomic collisions.     

Out-of-plane emission of nuclear matter in Au+Au collisions between 100 and 800 AMeV

We present new experimental results concerning the azimuthal distributions of proton-likes, light and intermediate mass fragments at midrapidity for Au(100–800 A MeV) +Au collisions measured with the FOPI phase-I detector at GSI in Darmstadt. The azimuthal distributions are investigated as a function of the collision centrality, the incident energy, the fragment charge and transverse momentum. The azimuthal anisotropy is maximum for impact parameters around 7 fm. Intermediate mass fragments present a stronger out-of-plane emission signal than light fragments and a saturation is reached for Z ⩾ 4. The azimuthal anisotropy increases with the fragment transverse momentum and decreases as the incident energy increases. The azimuthal anisotropy of Z = 2 particles investigated as a function of the scaled fragment transverse momentum follows an universal curve for bombarding energies between 250–800 A MeV. A signature for a transition from in-plane to out-of-plane emission is evidenced at the lowest beam energies.     

Directed and elliptic flow in 197Au+197Au at intermediate energies

Directed and elliptic flow for the ¹⁹⁷Au+¹⁹⁷Au system at incident energies between 40 and 150 MeV per nucleon has been measured using the INDRA 4π multi-detector. For semi-central collisions, the excitation function of elliptic flow shows a transition from in-plane to out-of-plane emission at around 100 MeV per nucleon. The directed flow changes sign at a bombarding energy between 50 and 60 MeV per nucleon and remains negative at lower energies. Molecular dynamics calculations (CHIMERA) indicate sensitivity of the global squeeze-out transition on the σ _NN and demonstrate the importance of angular momentum conservation in transport codes at low energies.     

K + production in proton-nucleus collision

We present a dynamical study ofK ⁺ production in proton-nucleus collisions from 1.2 to 2.5 GeV bombarding energy. The evolution of the proton-nucleus collision is described by a transport equation of the Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck type. We incorporate all known sources forK ⁺ production and study their momentum and angular distributions, and the excitation function. We show that at lower energies (E _b<1.5 GeV) theNΔ andNN* channels dominate the kaon yield for light systems. At higher bombarding energies the directNN channel accounts for almost the whole cross section.     

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.     

K + production inp-nucleus collisions

We present a non-perturbative dynamical study ofK ⁺ meson production in proton-nucleus collisions from 1.2 to 2.5 GeV bombarding energy. The dynamical evolution of the proton-nucleus collision is described by a transport equation of the Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck type evolving phase-space distribution functions for nucleons, δ’s,N(1440)’s,N(1535)’s, poins and η’s with their isospin degrees of freedom. We incorporate all known sources forK ⁺ production and study their momentum and angular distributions, and the excitation function. We show that at lower energies (E _b<1.5 GeV)NΔ andNN* channels dominate the kaon yield for light systems, and the πN channel for heavy systems. At higher bombarding energies the directNN channel accounts for almost the whole cross-section.     

Incomplete deep-inelastic heavy-ion collisions

A phenomenological two-step reaction model is proposed, in which a direct projectile fragmentation in the initial stage is succeeded by a binary dissipative interaction between the heavy projectile fragment and the target in the final state. Multi-differential cross sections are estimated by folding the fragmentation cross section given in the local plane-wave Born approximation with the cross section for deep-inelastic collisions calculated within the classical friction model, including statistical fluctuations and mass transfer. For forward angles satisfactory results are obtained in comparison with the experimental data on inclusive spectra, angular distributions, angular correlations, γ-multipliciites, and element distributions in ²⁰Ne-induced reactions for bombarding energies of 10–20 MeV/nucleon.     

Fragment angular distributions from fission of238U,209Bi and197Au by 140-MeV4He Ions

The fission fragment angular distributions from reactions of 140-MeV⁴He ions with²³⁸U,²⁰⁹Bi and¹⁹⁷Au have been studied. From the anisotropies in the angular distributions, values for? _eff, the effective moment of inertia at the fission saddle point, have been estimated and compared with results obtained at lower bombarding energies. The derivation of? _eff values has included corrections for the effects of incomplete fusion mechanisms on the orbital angular momentum distribution of the fissioning nuclei and for neutron evaporation prior to fission. The results are also compared with heavy-ion-induced fission data for systems of similar fissility. Also, examination of the forward-backward symmetry of the²³⁸U angular distribution substantiates other results which show that the fraction of fission reactions which follow complete fusion of the target and projectile is less than 0.5 for 140-MeV⁴He-ion bombardment of²³⁸U.     

Orientation windows in the cold synthesis and decay of heavy elements

Due to the multipolar ground state nuclear deformations (β ₂, β ₃, β ₄,...) the cold synthesis of heavy and superheavy elements is dependent on the mutual orientation of target and projectile. When going from lower bombarding energies to higher bombarding energies, windows for orientations are occurring and others are disappearing. The cold fission is also strongly dependent on the deformation but is more selective in respect to orientation of fragments at scission. The measured cold fission yields of ²⁵²Cf show that only one orientation window is active. I propose a qualitative receipt based on the orientation windows of the driving potential which serves as a guidance in understanding the fission and quasifission mass distributions in the synthesis of heavy and superheavy elements.     

Analysis of autoionization resonances in the Hg 6s 2-photoionization by measurements of photoelectron polarization

It is shown that nuclear target fragmentation in proton and heavy ion induced reactions, in particular the following experimental facts concerning the mass-yield distribution can be understood in terms of a semiclassical model:(i) its independence on the mass of the projectile at approximately the same incident energies,(ii) its trend of approaching a limit at higher bombarding energies,(iii) its “U-formed” shape at sufficiently high bombarding energies. Standard methods in statistical theory of chemical equilibrium are used to calculate the mass-yield distribution for medium and heavy target nuclei in high-energy nuclear reactions where the Coulomb interaction between the fragments is taken into account selfconsistently. The result shows: The fact that the decaying rest target nucleus and its fragments are bounded objects of finite size and finite charge have significant influences, especially on the form of the mass-yield distributions.     

A study of charge,energy and angular momentum transfer in the 56Fe + 197Au and 56Fe + 107, 109Ag reactions at 7.2 and 8.3 MeV/nucleon

Kinetic energy spectra, charge and angular distributions have been measured for thirty elements produced in the reactions of 401 and 460 MeV ⁵⁶Fe + ¹⁹⁷Au and in the reaction of 470 MeV ⁵⁶Fe + ^{107, 109}Ag. In addition, γ-ray multiplicities were measured at the 470 MeV bombarding energy for both targets at a limited number of angles. The charge distributions for the deep-inelastic component of these systems increase monotonically with atomic number in the measured angular range, whereas, those for the quasielastic component are skewed toward Z-values below the projectile. The angular distributions for the Fe-induced reactions show a smooth evolution from a side-peaked to forward-peaked distributions with increasing mass transfer. This side peak is more intense and more persistent for mass transfers from the projectile to the target. In the quasielastic region the γ-ray multiplicity is observed to increase almost linearly with decreasing Q-value whereas for large negative β-values it is essentially constant and independent of the exit channel mass asymmetry. Finally, angular distributions, angle-integrated charge distributions and γ-ray multiplicities have been compared with a diffusion model in which the dynamics of shape evolution, N/Z equilibration, angular momentum and energy exchange occur via one-body forces.     

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.     

Winkelverteilung der Polarisation der Neutronen aus der Reaktion14C(d,n 0)15N bei Deuteronenenergien zwischen 1,3 und 1,9 MeV

Polarization distributions of ground state neutrons emitted from the¹⁴C(d,n ₀)¹⁵N reaction were investigated over the angular range from 15 ° (lab) to 150 ° (lab) at bombarding energies of 1.28, 1.55 and 1.88 MeV. Scattering of neutrons from helium served as polarization analyzer. The experimental results show a large variation with energy of the polarization ranging betweenP(Θ_lab=130 °)=?21% andP(Θ_lab=130 °)=+50% at 1.28 and 1.88 MeV respectively.     

Local thermalization in d+Au collisions

The extent of a locally equilibrated parton plasma in d+Au collisions at √s _NN =200 GeV is investigated as a function of centrality in a nonequilibrium-statistical framework. Based on a three-sources model, analytical solutions of a relativistic diffusion equation are in precise agreement with recent data for charged-particle pseudorapidity distributions. The moving midrapidity source indicates the size of the local thermal equilibrium region after hadronization. In central d+Au collisions it contains 19% of the produced particles.     

Medium energy collisions of heavy nuclei in the three-dimensional nuclear fluid dynamical-(NFD) and Time-Dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) models

We study heavy ion collisions at bombarding energiesE _LAB/n～ 20–200 MeV within the three-dimensional NFD- and TDHF-models. A surprisingly good agreement between the results of the different models is found: The comparison phenomena occuring at these bombarding energies are quantitatively similar as a function of the bombarding energy as well as for various impact parameters. The formation of abnormal superdense nuclear matter (“density isomers”) is investigated in a schematic model for the nuclear equation of state. Again we find very similar results in the two models. Density isomers can be formed in high energy heavy ion collisions above a critical bombarding energy and below a critical impact parameter, which both depend on the details of the nuclear equation of state. Cross sections for the formation of density isomers are presented. An experiment for the detection of abnormal nuclear matter in fast, central heavy ion collisions is proposed.     

Projectile breakup dynamics for 6Li + 59Co : Kinematical analysis of \alpha - d coincidences

A study of the kinematics of the $ \alpha$ -d coincidences in the ⁶Li + ⁵⁹Co system at a bombarding energy of E _lab = 29.6 MeV is presented. With exclusive measurements performed over different angular intervals it is possible to identify the respective contributions of the sequential and direct projectile breakup components. The angular distributions of both breakup components are fairly well described by the Continuum-Discretized Coupled-Channels framework (CDCC). Furthermore, a careful analysis of these processes using a semiclassical approach provides information on both their lifetime and their distance of occurrence with respect to the target. Breakup to the low-lying (near-threshold) continuum is delayed, and happens at large internuclear distances. This suggests that the influence of the projectile breakup on the complete fusion process can be related essentially to the direct breakup to the ⁶Li high-lying continuum spectrum.