Mostly for the purpose of applications for the energy and the environment and
for the design of sources of neutrons or exotic nuclides, intense research has
been dedicated to spallation, induced by protons or light projectiles at
incident energies of around 1 GeV. In this energy range, while
multifragmentation has still a minor share in the total reaction cross section,
it was observed to have, together with fission, a prominent role in the
production and the kinematics of intermediate-mass fragments, so as to
condition the whole production of light and heavy nuclides. The experimental
observables we dispose of attribute rather elusive properties to the
intermediate-mass fragments and do not allow to classify them within one
exclusive picture which is either multifragmentation or fission. Indeed, these
two decay mechanisms, driven by different kinds of instabilities, exhibit
behaviours which are closely comparable. High-resolution measurements of the
reaction kinematics trace the way for probing finer features of the reaction
kinematics.Comment: Conference proceedings: International Meeting "Selected topics on
nuclear methods for non-nuclear applications", September 27-30, 2006, Varna
(Bulgaria). Invited tal
