The breakup of 16O into He: An event-by-event study of nucleus-nucleus collisions at 75, 175 and 2000 MeV/A

We present an event-by-event study of the breakup of the ¹⁶O in ¹⁶O + emulsion nucleus interactions at 75, 175 and 2000 MeV/A. The events are categorized according to their multiplicity of projectile He nuclei. The multiplicity depends on the degree of target destruction. Although the fragmentation model describes the gross features of inclusive He spectra, an event-by-event study reveals deviations from the model. The momenta of the He nuclei, emitted from the projectile, depend on helium multiplicity and the breakup properties of the target nucleus. The probability that the ¹⁶O projectile breaks up into multiple He fragments is larger at 75 MeV/A than at 2000 MeV/A. At 75 MeV/A the mean velocity of projectile He is on the average 0.06c below the projectile velocity. This recoil velocity depends on the target nucleus destruction also for the most peripheral collisions.