Finding a Probe for Extracting Information on the Momentum Dependent-Interaction in Heavy Ion Collisions

The effect of momentum-dependent interaction on the kinetic energy spectrum of the neutron-proton ratio. <(n/p)(gas)>(b)(E-k) for Zn-64 + Zn-64 is studied. It is found that. <(n/p)(gas)>(b)(E-k) sensitively depends on the momentum-dependent interaction and weakly on the in- medium nucleon- nucleon cross section and symmetry potential. Therefore <(n/p)(gas)>(b)(E-k) is a possible probe for extracting information on the momentum-dependent interaction in heavy ion collisions.

PROBING THE SYMMETRY ENERGY AT SUPRA-SATURATION DENSITIES FROM PION EMISSION IN HEAVY-ION COLLISIONS

Within the framework of the improved isospin dependent quantum molecular dynamics (ImIQMD) model, the emission of pion in heavy-ion collisions in the region 1 A GeV as a probe of nuclear symmetry energy at supra-saturation densities is investigated systematically, in which the pion is considered to be mainly produced by the decay of resonances Delta(1232) and N*(1440). The pi(-)/pi(+) yields are calculated for selected Skyrme parameters SkP, SLy6, Ska and SIII, and also for the cases of different stiffness of symmetry energy with the parameter SLy6. Preliminary results compared with the measured data by the FOPI collaboration favor a hard symmetry energy of the potential term proportional to (rho/rho(0))(gamma s) with gamma(s) = 2.

DETERMINING THE DENSITY DEPENDENCE OF THE NUCLEAR SYMMETRY ENERGY USING HEAVY-ION REACTIONS

We review recent progress in the determination of the subsaturation density behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy from heavy-ion collisions as well as the theoretical progress in probing the high density behavior of the symmetry energy in heavy-ion reactions induced by high energy radioactive beams. We further discuss the implications of these results for the nuclear effective interactions and the neutron skin thickness of heavy nuclei.

Recent Progress in Constraining the Equation of State of Dense Neutron-Rich Nuclear Matter with Heavy-Ion Reactions

The nuclear symmetry energy E-sym(rho) is the most uncertain part of the Equation of State (EOS) of dense neutron-rich nuclear matter. In this talk, we discuss the underlying physics responsible for the uncertain E-sym(rho) especially at supra-saturation densities, the circumstantial evidence for a super-soft E-sym(rho) from analyzing pi(-)/pi(+) ratio in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and its impacts on astrophysics and cosmology.

Neutron-proton bremsstrahlung from intermediate energy heavy-ion reactions as a probe of the nuclear symmetry energy?

Hard photons from neutron-proton bremsstrahlung in intermediate energy heavy-ion reactions are examined as a potential probe of the nuclear symmetry energy within a transport model. Effects of the symmetry energy on the yields and spectra of hard photons are found to be generally smaller than those due to the currently existing uncertainties of both the in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross sections and the photon production probability in the elementary process pn -> pn gamma. Very interestingly, nevertheless, the ratio of hard photon spectra R-1/2(gamma) from two reactions using isotopes of the same element is not only approximately independent of these uncertainties but also quite sensitive to the symmetry energy. For the head-on reactions of Sn-132 + Sn-124 and Sn-112 + Sn-112 at E-beam/A = 50 MeV, for example, the R-1/2(gamma) displays a rise up to 15% when the symmetry energy is reduced by about 20% at rho = 1.3 rho(0) which is the maximum density reached in these reactions. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dynamical analysis on heavy-ion fusion reactions near Coulomb barrier

The shell correction is proposed in the improved isospin dependent quantum molecular dynamics (Im-IQMD) model, which plays an important role in heavy-ion fusion reactions near Coulomb barrier. By using the ImIQMD model, the static and dynamical fusion barriers, dynamical barrier distribution in the fusion reactions are analyzed systematically. The fusion and capture excitation functions for a series of reaction systems are calculated and compared with experimental data. It is found that the fusion cross sections for neutron-rich systems increase obviously, and the strong shell effects of two colliding nuclei result in a decrease of the fusion cross sections at the sub-barrier energies. The lowering of the dynamical fusion barriers favors the enhancement of the sub-barrier fusion cross sections, which is related to the nucleon transfer and the neck formation in the fusion reactions.

Angular dispersion and deflection function for heavy ion elastic scattering

The differential cross sections for elastic scattering products of F-17 on Pb-208 have been measured. The angular dispersion plots of ln(d sigma/d theta) versus theta(2) are obtained from the angular distribution of the elastic scattering differential cross sections. Systematical analysis on the angular dispersion for the available experimental data indicates that there is an angular dispersion turning angle at forward angular range within the grazing angle. This turning angle can be clarified as nuclear rainbow in classical deflection function. The exotic behaviour of the nuclear rainbow angle offers a new probe to investigate the halo and skin phenomena.

Single and double pi(-)/pi(+) ratios in heavy-ion reactions as probes of the high-density behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy

Based on the isospin- and momentum-dependent hadronic transport model IBUU04, effects of the nuclear symmetry energy on the single and double pi(-)/pi(+) ratios in central reactions of Sn-132+Sn-124 and Sn-112+Sn-112 at a beam energy of 400 MeV/nucleon are studied. It is found that around the Coulomb peak of the single pi(-)/pi(+) ratio the double pi(-)/pi(+) ratio taken from the two isotopic reactions retains about the same sensitivity to the density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy. Because the double pi(-)/pi(+) ratio can significantly reduce the systematic errors, it is thus a more effective probe for the high-density behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy.

Power law behavior of the isotope yield distributions in the multifragmentation regime of heavy ion reactions

Isotope yield distributions in the multifragmentation regime were studied with high-quality isotope identification, focusing on the intermediate mass fragments (IMFs) produced in semiviolent collisions. The yields were analyzed within the framework of a modified Fisher model. 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 were corrected for these effects. For a given I = N - Z value, the corrected yields of isotopes relative to the yield of C-12 show a power law distribution Y (N, Z)/Y(C-12) similar to A(-tau) in the mass range 1 <= A <= 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 deexcitation model, with which the power law distribution of the primary isotopes is determined to be tau(prim) = 2.4 +/- 0.2, suggesting that the disassembling system at the time of the fragment formation is indeed at, or very near, the critical point.

Isobaric yield ratios and the symmetry energy in heavy-ion reactions near the Fermi energy

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(sym)/T, as a function of fragment mass A. The extracted values increase from 5 to similar 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 values extracted from the ratios of the primary isobars from the AMD model calculation are similar to 4 to 5 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.

Generating monoenergetic heavy-ion bunches with laser-induced electrostatic shocks

A method for efficient laser acceleration of heavy ions by electrostatic shock is investigated using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation and analytical modeling. When a small number of heavy ions are mixed with light ions, the heavy ions can be accelerated to the same velocity as the light ions so that they gain much higher energy because of their large mass. Accordingly, a sandwich target design with a thin compound ion layer between two light-ion layers and a micro-structured target design are proposed for obtaining monoenergetic heavy-ion beams.

Applications of Heavy Ion Irradiation in Photonic Crystal Research

Photonic crystals (PC) have received extensive attention for the photonic band gap (PBG). The polystyrene (PS) particles bottom-up approach is a productive method for photonic crystal manufacture, this kind of photonic crystals having an unique PBG that depends on the particle's shape, sizes and defects. Heavy ion irradiation is a very useful method to induce defects in PC and change the shapes of the particles to tune the PBG. MeV heavy ion irradiation leads to an anisotropic deformation of the particles from spherical to ellipsoidal, the aspect ratio of which can be precisely controlled by using the ion energy and flux. Sub-micrometer PS particles were deposited on a Cu substrate and were irradiated at 230 K by using heavy ion energy and fluence in the range from 2 to 10 MeV and 1 x 10(14) cm(-2) to 1 x 10(15) cm(-2); respectively.

Applications of Heavy Ion Irradiation in Photonic Crystal Research

Photonic crystals (PC) have received extensive attention for the photonic band gap (PBG). The polystyrene (PS) particles bottom-up approach is a productive method for photonic crystal manufacture, this kind of photonic crystals having an unique PBG that depends on the particle's shape, sizes and defects. Heavy ion irradiation is a very useful method to induce defects in PC and change the shapes of the particles to tune the PBG. MeV heavy ion irradiation leads to an anisotropic deformation of the particles from spherical to ellipsoidal, the aspect ratio of which can be precisely controlled by using the ion energy and flux. Sub-micrometer PS particles were deposited on a Cu substrate and were irradiated at 230 K by using heavy ion energy and fluence in the range from 2 to 10 MeV and 1 x 10(14) cm(-2) to 1 x 10(15) cm(-2); respectively.

Dependence of the cross sections for Ir isotopes on the values of Qgg in the heavy ion collision

197Au were irradiated with 47 MeV/u 12C ions. Iridium was produced via the multinucleon transfer reactions in bombardments of 197Au with 12C. and was separated radiochemically from Au and the mixture of the reaction products. The γ radioactivities of Ir isotopes were measured by using a HPGe detector. The production cross sections of Ir isotopes were determined from activities of Ir isotopes at the end of bombardment and the other relative data. It has been found that the cross sections for neutron-rich iso...

An outlook of heavy ion driven plasma research at IMP-Lanzhou

Since the successful completion of the cooling storage ring (CSR) project in China at the end of 2007, high qualitative heavy ion beams with energy ranging from keV to GeV/u have been available at the Heavy Ion Research Facility at Lanzhou (HIRFL). More than 1091 GeV/u C6+particles or 108235 MeV/u Xe particles can be stored in the CSR main-ring and extracted within hundred nano-seconds during the test running,the beam parameters will be improved in the coming years so that high energy density (HED) conditions could be achieved and investigated there. Recent scientific results from the experiments relevant to plasma research on HIRFL are summarized. Dense plasma research with intense heavy ion beams of CSR is proposed here.