arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A. Van Lauwe.
We look for signals of criticality in multifragment production in heavy-ion collisions using model-independent universal fluctuations theory. The phenomenon is studied as a function of system size, bombarding energy, and impact parameter in a wide range of INDRA data. For very central collisions (b/b_max
A previous analysis of the charge (Z) correlations in the $ΔZ- $ plane for Xe+Sn central collisions at 32 MeV/u has shown an enhancement in the production of equally sized fragments (low $ΔZ$) which was interpreted as an evidence for spinodal decomposition. However the signal is weak and rises the question of the estimation of the uncorrelated yield. After a critical analysis of its robustness, we propose in this paper a new technique to build the uncorrelated yield in the charge correlation function. The application of this method to Xe+Sn central collision data at 32, 39, 45 and 50 MeV/u does not show any particular enhancement of the correlation function in any $ΔZ$ bin.
The fragmentation of the quasi-projectile is studied with the INDRA multidetector for different colliding systems and incident energies in the Fermi energy range. Different experimental observations show that a large part of the fragmentation is not compatible with the statistical fragmentation of a fully equilibrated nucleus. The study of internal correlations is a powerful tool, especially to evidence entrance channel effects. These effects have to be included in the theoretical descriptions of nuclear multifragmentation.
The kinematical characteristics of fragments and light particles observed in central highly fragmented nuclear collisions at intermediate energies are compared with the results of a model assuming that the initial momentum distribution of the nucleons inside the two partners of the reaction has no time to relax before the disassembly of the system. The rather good agreement between the results of the model and the experimental data suggests that multifragmentation is a fast process with a strong memory of the entrance channel.