Differential isospin-fractionation in dilute asymmetric nuclear matter

The differential isospin-fractionation (IsoF) during the liquid-gas phase transition in dilute asymmetric nuclear matter is studied as a function of nucleon momentum. Within a self-consistent thermal model it is shown that the neutron/proton ratio of the gas phase becomes smaller than that of the liquid phase for energetic nucleons, although the gas phase is overall more neutron-rich. Clear indications of the differential IsoF consistent with the thermal model predictions are demonstrated within a transport model for heavy-ion reactions. Future comparisons with experimental data will allow us to extract critical information about the momentum dependence of the isovector strong interaction.

Hyperon coupling dependence of hadron matter properties in relativistic mean field model

The properties of hadronic matter at beta equilibrium in a wide range of densities are described by appropriate equations of state in the framework of the relativistic mean field model. Strange meson fields, namely the scalar meson field sigma*(975) and the vector meson field sigma*(1020), are included in the present work. We discuss and compare the results of the equation of state, nucleon effective mass, and strangeness fraction obtained by adopting the TM1, TMA, and GL parameter sets for nuclear sector and three different choices for the hyperon couplings. We find that the parameter set TM1 favours the onset of hyperons most, while at high densities the GL parameter set leads to the most hyperon-rich matter. For a certain parameter set (e.g. TM1), the most hyperon-rich matter is obtained for the hyperon potential model. The influence of the hyperon couplings on the effective mass of nucleon, is much weaker than that on the nucleon parameter set. The nonstrange mesons dominate essentially the global properties of dense hyperon matter. The hyperon potential model predicts the lowest value of the neutron star maximum mass of about 1.45 M-sun to be 0.4-0.5 M-sun lower than the prediction by using the other choices for hyperon couplings.

Probing the medium effect and isospin dependence of the in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross section in heavy ion collisions

Probing in-medium nucleon-nucleon (NN) cross section sigma(1)(NN)(alpha) in heavy ion collisions has been investigated by means of the isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics (IQMD) with the isospin- and momentum- dependent interaction (IMDI(tau)). It is found that there are the very obvious medium effect and the sensitive isospin- dependence of nuclear stopping R on the in-medium NN cross section sigma(1)(NN)(alpha) in the nuclear reactions induced by halo-neutron projectile and the same-mass stable projectile. However, R induced by the neutron-halo projectile is obviously lower than that induced by the corresponding stable projectile. In particular, there is a very obvious dependence of R on the medium effect of sigma(1)(NN)(alpha) in the whole beam energy region for the above two kinds of projectiles. Therefore, the comparison between the results of R's in the reactions induced by the neutron-halo projectile and the corresponding same-mass stable projectile is a more favourable probe for extracting the information of sigma(1)(NN)(alpha) because of adding a new judgement.

Projectile fragmentation of Kr-86 at 64 MeV/nucleon

We measured fragmentation cross sections produced using the primary beam of Kr-86 at 64 MeV/nucleon on Be-9 and Ta-181 targets. The cross sections were obtained by integrating the momentum distributions of isotopes with 25 <= Z <= 36 measured using the RIPS fragment separator at RIKEN. The cross-section ratios obtained with the Ta-181 and Be-9 targets depend on the fragment masses, contrary to the simple geometrical models. We compared the extracted cross sections to EPAX; an empirical parametrization of fragmentation cross sections. Predictions from current EPAX parametrization severely overestimate the production cross sections of very neutron-rich isotopes. Attempts to obtain another set of EPAX parameters specific to the reaction studied here to extrapolate the neutron-rich nuclei more accurately have not been very successful, suggesting that accurate predictions of production cross sections of nuclei far from the valley of stability require information of nuclear properties that are not present in EPAX.

Hyperon-hyperon interaction in relativistic mean field model

By using the new experimental data of Lambda Lambda potential, this paper has performed a full calculation for strange hadronic matter with different strangeness contents as well as its consequences on the global properties of neutron star matter in relativistic mean field model. It finds that the new weak hyperon - hyperon interaction makes the equations of state much stiffer than the result of the previous strong hyperon-hyperon interaction, and even stiffer than the result without consideration of hyperon -hyperon interaction. This new hyperon -hyperon interaction results in a maximum mass of 1.75M(circle dot) ( where M-circle dot stands for the mass of the Sun), about 0.2-0.5M(circle dot) larger than the previous prediction with the presence of hyperons. After examining carefully the onset densities of kaon condensation it finds that this new weak version of hyperon -hyperon interaction favours the occurrence of kaons in comparison with the strong one.

The equation of state study in UU collisions at CSR, Lanzhou

The cooling storage ring, to be built at Lanzhou, will be able to deliver heavy ion beams up to uranium up to 0.52 GeV/u. It is expected to make considerable contribution to nuclear EOS study in the high net baryon-density region. With a relativistic transport model, we performed simulations for U+U collisions with different orientations. It is shown that by combining the forward neutron multiplicity and an event-wise elliptic flow selection, it is possible to identify the tip - tip and body - body head-on collisions. The effective identification of these two extreme configurations will allow us to study the EOS at the highest baryon density in the U+U collisions.

Band properties of the transitional nucleus Pt-187

High-spin states in Pt-187 have been studied experimentally using the Yb-173(O-18, 4n) reaction at beam energies of 78 and 85 MeV. The previously known bands based on the nu i(13/2),nu 7/2(-)[503], and nu i(13/2)(2)nu j configurations have been extended to high-spin states, and new rotational bands associated with the nu 3/2(-)[512] and nu 1/2(-)[521] Nilsson orbits have been identified. The total Routhian surface calculations indicate that the transitional nucleus Pt-187 is very soft with respect to beta and gamma deformations. The band properties, such as level spacings, band crossing frequencies, alignment gains, and signature splittings, have been compared with the systematics observed in neighboring nuclei and have been interpreted within the framework of the cranked shell model. The rotational bands show different band crossing frequencies, which can be explained by the alignment either of i(13/2) neutrons or of h(9/2) protons. Importantly, evidence is presented for a pi h(9/2) alignment at very low frequency in the nu 7/2(-)[503] band. The proton nature of the band crossing is strongly suggested by comparing the measured B(M1;I -> I-1)/B(E2;I -> I-2) ratios with the theoretical values from the semiclassical Donau and Frauendof approach.

Production cross section of Th-236 in the interaction of U-238 with 60 MeV/u O-18 ions

The neutron-rich target-like isotope Th-236 has been produced in the U-238-2p multinucleon transfer reaction between a 60 MeV/u O-18 beam and natural U-238 targets. The activities of thorium were determined after radiochemical separation of Th from the mixture of uranium and reaction products. The Th-236 isotope was identified by the characteristic gamma-rays of 642.2, 687.6 and 229.6 keV. The production cross section of Th-236 was determined to be 250 +/- 50 mu b.

Isotopic dependence of production cross sections of superheavy nuclei in hot fusion reactions

The dinuclear system model has been further developed by introducing the barrier distribution function method in the process of heavy-ion capture and fusion to synthesize superheavy nuclei. The capture of two colliding nuclei, formation and de-excitation process of compound nucleus are decribed by using empirical coupled channel model, solving master equation numerically and statistical evaporation model, respectively. Within the framework of the dinuclear system model, the fusion-evaporation excitation functions of the systems Ca-48(Am-243, 3n-5n) (288-286)115 and Ca-48(Cm-248, 3n-5n)(293-291)116 are calculated, which are used for synthesizing new superheavy nuclei at Dubna in recent years. Isotopic dependence of production cross sections with double magic nucleus Ca-48 bombarding actinide targets U, Np, Pu, Am, Cm to synthesize superheavy nuclei with charged numbers Z=112-116 is analyzed systematically. Based on these analysis, the optimal projectile-target combination and the optimal excitation energy are proposed. It is shown that shell correction energy and neutron separation energy will play an important role on the isotopic dependence of production cross sections of superheavy nuclei.

Antikaon condensation and in-medium kaon and antikaon production in protoneutron stars

Antikaon condensation and kaon and antikaon production in protoneutron stars are investigated in a chiral hadronic model (also referred to as the FST model in this paper). The effects of neutrino trapping on protoneutron stars are analyzed systematically. It is shown that neutrino trapping makes the critical density of K- condensation delay to higher density and (K) over bar (0) condensation not occur. The equation of state (EOS) of (proto)neutron star matter with neutrino trapping is stiffer than that without neutrino trapping, As a result, the maximum masses of (proto)neutron stars with neutrino trapping are larger than those without neutrino trapping. If hyperons are taken into account, antikaon does not form a condensate in (Proto)neutron stars. Meanwhile, the corresponding EOS becomes much softer, and the maximum masses of (proto)neutron stars are smaller than those without hyprons. Finally, our results illustrate that the Q values for K+ and K- production in (proto)neutron stars are not sensitive to neutrino trapping and inclusion of hyperons.

Production cross-section of Th-236 in the interaction of U-238 with 60MeV/u O-18 Ions

The neutron-rich target-like isotope Th-236 was produced in U-238-2p multinucleon transfer reaction between a 60MeV/u O-18 beam and nature U-238 targets. The thorium activities were radiochemically separated from the mixture of uranium and reaction products. The isotope Th-236 was identified by 642.2keV, 687.6keV and 229.6keV characteristic gamma-rays. The production cross section of Th-236 has been determined to be 250 +/- 50 mu b.

Isospin dependence of three-body force rearrangement contribution

Within the isospin-dependent Brueckner framework, we investigate the contribution of three-body force ( TBF) rearrangement to isospin symmetry potential as well as its momentum and density dependence. In particular, we investigate the TBF rearrangement effects on the isospin splitting of neutron and proton effective masses in neutron-rich nuclear matter. We show that the rearrangement contribution of TBF to neutron and proton single-particle potentials is repulsive and increases rapidly with increasing density and momentum. At low densities, the influence of the TBF rearrangement on symmetry potential is rather small, and the TBF rearrangement effect becomes more and more pronounced as the density rises. At high densities, the contribution of TBF rearrangement increases considerably the symmetry potential and modifies remarkably the momentum dependence of the symmetry potential. In both cases with and without including the TBF rearrangement contribution, the predicted neutron effective mass in neutron-rich matter is greater than the proton effective mass. The TBF rearrangement effect is to decrease remarkably both the proton and neutron effective masses, and reduce the magnitude of neutron-proton effective mass splitting in neutron-rich matter at high densities.

Effect of pentaquark Theta(+) on the equation of state of nuclear matter

Assuming Theta(+) interacts with nucleon or Theta(+) by exchanging isoscalar mesons sigma and omega, the equation of state of {p, n, Theta(+)} and possible metastable state are studied in the framwork of the density dependent relativistic hadron field theory(DDRH). The ratio of the proton isospin to the neutron isospin with different baryon densities and the effect of the Theta(+) component on the binding energy per baryon of the system are also discussed. It is shown that when the binding energy per baryon of the system takes the maximal value, Theta(+) might be bound in the nuclear matter.

Improved BCS-type pairing for the relativistic mean-field theory

A density-dependent delta interaction (DDDI) is proposed in the formalism of BCS-type pairing correlations for exotic nuclei whose Fermi surfaces are close to the threshold of the unbound state. It provides the possibility to pick up those states whose wave functions are concentrated in the nuclear region by making the pairing matrix elements state dependent. On this basis, the energy level distributions, occupations, and ground-state properties are self-consistently studied in the RMF theory with deformation. Calculations are performed for the Sr isotopic chain. A good description of the total energy per nucleon, deformations, two-neutron separation energies and isotope shift from the proton drip line to the neutron drip line is found. Especially, by comparing the single-particle structure from the DDDI pairing interaction with that from the constant pairing interaction for a very neutron-rich nucleus it is demonstrated that the DDDI pairing method improves the treatment of the pairing in the continuum.

Search for beta-delayed fission of Ac-228

Radium was radiochemically separated from natural thorium. Thin Ra-228 ->beta Ac-228 sources were prepared and exposed to mica fission track detectors, and measured by an HPGe gamma-ray detector. The beta-delayed fission events of Ac-228 were observed and its beta-delayed fission probability was found to be (5 +/- 2)x10(-12).