32 research outputs found
Tracing the evolution of the symmetry energy of hot nuclear fragments from the compound nucleus towards multifragmentation
The evolution of the symmetry energy coefficient of the binding energy of hot
fragments with increasing excitation is explored in multifragmentation
processes following heavy-ion collisions below the Fermi energy. In this work,
high-resolution mass spectrometric data on isotopic distributions of
projectile-like fragments from collisions of 25 MeV/nucleon 86Kr and 64Ni beams
on heavy neutron-rich targets are systematically compared to calculations
involving the Statistical Multifragmentation Model. The study reveals a gradual
decrease of the symmetry energy coefficient from 25 MeV at the compound nucleus
regime (E*/A < 2 MeV) towards 15 MeV in the bulk multifragmentation regime
(E*/A > 4 MeV). The ensuing isotopic distributions of the hot fragments are
found to be very wide and extend towards the neutron drip-line. These findings
may have important implications to the composition and evolution of hot
astrophysical environments, such as core-collapse supernova.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Enhanced Production of Neutron-Rich Rare Isotopes in Peripheral Collisions at Fermi Energies
A large enhancement in the production of neutron-rich projectile residues is
observed in the reactions of a 25 MeV/nucleon 86Kr beam with the neutron rich
124Sn and 64Ni targets relative to the predictions of the EPAX parametrization
of high-energy fragmentation, as well as relative to the reaction with the less
neutron-rich 112Sn target. The data demonstrate the significant effect of the
target neutron-to-proton ratio (N/Z) in peripheral collisions at Fermi
energies. A hybrid model based on a deep-inelastic transfer code (DIT) followed
by a statistical de-excitation code appears to account for part of the observed
large cross sections. The DIT simulation indicates that the production of the
neutron-rich nuclides in these reactions is associated with peripheral nucleon
exchange. In such peripheral encounters, the neutron skins of the neutron-rich
124Sn and 64Ni target nuclei may play an important role. From a practical
viewpoint, such reactions between massive neutron-rich nuclei offer a novel and
attractive synthetic avenue to access extremely neutron-rich rare isotopes
towards the neutron-drip line.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Symmetry energy and the isoscaling properties of the fragments produced in Ar, Ca + Fe, Ni reactions at 25 53 MeV/nucleon
The symmetry energy and the isoscaling properties of the fragments produced
in the multifragmentation of Ar, Ca + Fe, Ni
reactions at 25 - 53 MeV/nucleon were investigated within the framework of
statistical multifragmentation model. The isoscaling parameters , from
the primary (hot) and secondary (cold) fragment yield distributions, were
studied as a function of excitation energy, isospin (neutron-to-proton
asymmetry) and fragment symmetry energy. It is observed that the isoscaling
parameter decreases with increasing excitation energy and decreasing
symmetry energy. The parameter is also observed to increase with
increasing difference in the isospin of the fragmenting system. The sequential
decay of the primary fragments into secondary fragments, when studied as a
function of excitation energy and isospin of the fragmenting system, show very
little influence on the isoscaling parameter. The symmetry energy however, has
a strong influence on the isospin properties of the hot fragments. The
experimentally observed scaling parameters can be explained by symmetry energy
that is significantly lower than that for the ground state nuclei near
saturation density. The results indicate that the properties of hot nuclei at
excitation energies, densities and isospin away from the normal ground state
nuclei could be significantly different.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure
Neutron to proton ratios of quasiprojectile and midrapidity emission in the Zn + Zn reaction at 45 MeV/nucleon
Simultaneous measurement of both neutrons and charged particles emitted in
the reaction Zn + Zn at 45 MeV/nucleon allows comparison of the
neutron to proton ratio at midrapidity with that at projectile rapidity. The
evolution of N/Z in both rapidity regimes with increasing centrality is
examined. For the completely re-constructed midrapidity material one finds that
the neutron-to-proton ratio is above that of the overall Zn + Zn
system. In contrast, the re-constructed ratio for the quasiprojectile is below
that of the overall system. This difference provides the most complete evidence
to date of neutron enrichment of midrapidity nuclear matter at the expense of
the quasiprojectile
Evidence of Critical Behavior in the Disassembly of Nuclei with A ~ 36
A wide variety of observables indicate that maximal fluctuations in the
disassembly of hot nuclei with A ~ 36 occur at an excitation energy of 5.6 +-
0.5 MeV/u and temperature of 8.3 +- 0.5 MeV. Associated with this point of
maximal fluctuations are a number of quantitative indicators of apparent
critical behavior. The associated caloric curve does not appear to show a
flattening such as that seen for heavier systems. This suggests that, in
contrast to similar signals seen for liquid-gas transitions in heavier nuclei,
the observed behavior in these very light nuclei is associated with a
transition much closer to the critical point.Comment: v2: Major changes, new model calculations, new figure
Critical Behavior in Light Nuclear Systems: Experimental Aspects
An extensive experimental survey of the features of the disassembly of a
small quasi-projectile system with 36, produced in the reactions of 47
MeV/nucleon Ar + Al, Ti and Ni, has been carried
out. Nuclei in the excitation energy range of 1-9 MeV/u have been investigated
employing a new method to reconstruct the quasi-projectile source. At an
excitation energy 5.6 MeV/nucleon many observables indicate the presence
of maximal fluctuations in the de-excitation processes. The fragment
topological structure shows that the rank sorted fragments obey Zipf's law at
the point of largest fluctuations providing another indication of a liquid gas
phase transition. The caloric curve for this system shows a monotonic increase
of temperature with excitation energy and no apparent plateau. The temperature
at the point of maximal fluctuations is MeV. Taking this
temperature as the critical temperature and employing the caloric curve
information we have extracted the critical exponents , and
from the data. Their values are also consistent with the values of the
universality class of the liquid gas phase transition. Taken together, this
body of evidence strongly suggests a phase change in an equilibrated mesoscopic
system at, or extremely close to, the critical point.Comment: Physical Review C, in press; some discussions about the validity of
excitation energy in peripheral collisions have been added; 24 pages and 32
figures; longer abstract in the preprin
Towards the critical behavior for the light nuclei by NIMROD detector
The critical behavior for the light nuclei with A has been
investigated experimentally by the NIMROD multi-detectors. The wide variety of
observables indicate the critical point has been reached in the disassembly of
hot nuclei at an excitation energy of 5.60.5 MeV/u.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; Proceeding of 18th Nuclear Physics Division
Conference of the Euro. Phys. Society (NPDC18) "Phase transitions in strongly
interacting matter", Prague, 23.8.-29.8. 2004. To be published in Nuclear
Physics
Tracing the Evolution of Temperature in Near Fermi Energy Heavy Ion Collisions
The kinetic energy variation of emitted light clusters has been employed as a
clock to explore the time evolution of the temperature for thermalizing
composite systems produced in the reactions of 26A, 35A and 47A MeV Zn
with Ni, Mo and Au. For each system investigated, the
double isotope ratio temperature curve exhibits a high maximum apparent
temperature, in the range of 10-25 MeV, at high ejectile velocity. These
maximum values increase with increasing projectile energy and decrease with
increasing target mass. The time at which the maximum in the temperature curve
is reached ranges from 80 to 130 fm/c after contact. For each different target,
the subsequent cooling curves for all three projectile energies are quite
similar. Temperatures comparable to those of limiting temperature systematics
are reached 30 to 40 fm/c after the times corresponding to the maxima, at a
time when AMD-V transport model calculations predict entry into the final
evaporative or fragmentation stage of de-excitation of the hot composite
systems. Evidence for the establishment of thermal and chemical equilibrium is
discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure