Relaxation phenomena in nucleon-induced reactions and preequilibrium angular distributions

The intranuclear relaxation process in nucleon-induced reactions is investigated in a Fermi gas model utilizing a statistical operator for the non-equilibrium state, which contains energy, particle number, and linear momentum as relevant observables. In the hydrodynamic stage the phase space is subdivided into subspaces, assumed to be in a quasi-equilibrium, which is characterized by a Fermi distribution function with time-dependent thermodynamic parameters. A set of coupled non-linear equations for the time development of the thermodynamic parameters is derived. For the case of two sybsystems, a numerical solution of these generalized transport equations is provided, with kinetic coefficients calculated microscopically. The initial conditions are fixed in accordance with the energy and angle distribution of both particles occupying states above the Fermi surface after the first collision event. From the results, a fast and a slow stage are established in the relaxation process, with equal relaxation times for all physical quantities under consideration. The dependence of the relaxation time on particle number and excitation energy is estimated. The particle emission from the precompound stage of the reaction is taken into account by using the principle of detailed balance to find expressions for the mean fluxes from the compound system to the outer space, which are included in the equations for the relaxation. From the time evolution of the occupation number for states above the nucleon binding energy, the precompound double-differential cross section cumulating up to a certain time is calculated. The results for the angular distributions in nucleon-induced precompound reactions are compared with measured data as well as with previous predictions from generalized exciton models. Satisfactory agreement with experimental data is obtained. Following the time development of the compound nucleus the consistency of the present model with the evaporation theory is demonstrated by investigating the mean nucleon decay width.