Analysis of fusion-fission dynamics by pre-scission neutron emission in 58^{58}Ni+208^{208}Pb

We analyzed the experimental data of the pre-scission neutron multiplicity in connection with fission fragments in the reaction $^{58}$Ni+$^{208}$Pb at the incident energy corresponding to the excitation energy of compound nucleus $E^{*}$=185.9 MeV, which was performed by D\'{e}MoN group. The relation between the pre-scission neutron multiplicity and each reaction process having different reaction time is investigated. In order to study the fusion-fission process accompanied by neutron emission, the fluctuation-dissipation model combined with a statistical model is employed. It is found that the fusion-fission process and the quasi-fission process are clearly distinguished in correlation with the pre-scission neutron multiplicity.Comment: 11 figure

Isocaling and the Symmetry Energy in the Multifragmentation Regime of Heavy Ion Collisions

The ratio of the symmetry energy coefficient to temperature, $a_sym/T$, in Fermi energy heavy ion collisions, has been experimentally extracted as a function of the fragment atomic number using isoscaling parameters and the variance of the isotope distributions. The extracted values have been compared to the results of calculations made with an Antisymmetrized Molecular Dynamics (AMD) model employing a statistical decay code to account for deexcitation of excited primary fragments. The experimental values are in good agreement with the values calculated but are significantly different from those characterizing the yields of the primary AMD fragments.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Isobaric Yield Ratios and The Symmetry Energy In Fermi Energy Heavy Ion Reactions

The relative isobaric yields of fragments produced in a series of heavy ion induced multifragmentation reactions have been analyzed in the framework of a Modified Fisher Model, primarily to determine the ratio of the symmetry energy coefficient to the temperature, $a_a/T$, as a function of fragment mass A. The extracted values increase from 5 to ~16 as A increases from 9 to 37. These values have been compared to the results of calculations using the Antisymmetrized Molecular Dynamics (AMD) model together with the statistical decay code Gemini. The calculated ratios are in good agreement with those extracted from the experiment. In contrast, the ratios determined from fitting the primary fragment distributions from the AMD model calculation are ~ 4 and show little variation with A. This observation indicates that the value of the symmetry energy coefficient derived from final fragment observables may be significantly different than the actual value at the time of fragment formation. The experimentally observed pairing effect is also studied within the same simulations. The Coulomb coefficient is also discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figure

Critical behavior of the isotope yield distributions in the Multifragmentation Regime of Heavy Ion Reactions

Isotope yields have been analyzed within the framework of a Modified Fisher Model to study the power law yield distribution of isotopes in the multifragmentation regime. Using the ratio of the mass dependent symmetry energy coefficient relative to the temperature, $a_{sym}/T$, extracted in previous work and that of the pairing term, $a_{p}/T$, extracted from this work, and assuming that both reflect secondary decay processes, the experimentally observed isotope yields have been corrected for these effects. For a given I = N - Z value, the corrected yields of isotopes relative to the yield of $^{12}C$ show a power law distribution, $Y(N,Z)/Y(^{12}C) \sim A^{-\tau}$, in the mass range of $1 \le A \le 30$ and the distributions are almost identical for the different reactions studied. The observed power law distributions change systematically when I of the isotopes changes and the extracted $\tau$ value decreases from 3.9 to 1.0 as I increases from -1 to 3. These observations are well reproduced by a simple de-excitation model, which the power law distribution of the primary isotopes is determined to $\tau^{prim} = 2.4 \pm 0.2$, suggesting that the disassembling system at the time of the fragment formation is indeed at or very near the critical point.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

The Quantum Nature of a Nuclear Phase Transition

In their ground states, atomic nuclei are quantum Fermi liquids. At finite temperatures and low densities, these nuclei may undergo a phase change similar to, but substantially different from, a classical liquid gas phase transition. As in the classical case, temperature is the control parameter while density and pressure are the conjugate variables. At variance with the classical case, in the nucleus the difference between the proton and neutron concentrations acts as an additional order parameter, for which the symmetry potential is the conjugate variable. Different ratios of the neutron to proton concentrations lead to different critical points for the phase transition. This is analogous to the phase transitions occurring in $^{4}$He-$^{3}$He liquid mixtures. We present experimental results which reveal the N/Z dependence of the phase transition and discuss possible implications of these observations in terms of the Landau Free Energy description of critical phenomena.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

The Isospin Dependence Of The Nuclear Equation Of State Near The Critical Point

We discuss experimental evidence for a nuclear phase transition driven by the different concentration of neutrons to protons. Different ratios of the neutron to proton concentrations lead to different critical points for the phase transition. This is analogous to the phase transitions occurring in 4He-3He liquid mixtures. We present experimental results which reveal the N/A (or Z/A) dependence of the phase transition and discuss possible implications of these observations in terms of the Landau Free Energy description of critical phenomena.Comment: 14 pages, 18 figure