We explore the influence of in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross section, symmetry potential and impact parameter on isospin sensitive observables in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions with the ImQMD05 code, a modified version of Quantum Molecular D
ynamics model. At incident velocities above the Fermi velocity, we find that the density dependence of symmetry potential plays a more important role on the double neutron to proton ratio $DR(n/p)$ and the isospin transport ratio $R_i$ than the in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross sections, provided that the latter are constrained to a fixed total NN collision rate. We also explore both $DR(n/p)$ and $R_i$ as a function of the impact parameter. Since the copious production of intermediate mass fragments is a distinguishing feature of intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions, we examine the isospin transport ratios constructed from different groups of fragments. We find that the values of the isospin transport ratios for projectile rapidity fragments with $Zge20$ are greater than those constructed from the entire projectile rapidity source. We believe experimental investigations of this phenomenon can be performed. These may provide significant tests of fragmentation time scales predicted by ImQMD calculations.
Collisions involving 112Sn and 124Sn nuclei have been simulated with the improved Quantum Molecular Dynamics transport model. The results of the calculations reproduce isospin diffusion data from two different observables and the ratios of neutron an
d proton spectra. By comparing these data to calculations performed over a range of symmetry energies at saturation density and different representations of the density dependence of the symmetry energy, constraints on the density dependence of the symmetry energy at sub-normal density are obtained. Results from present work are compared to constraints put forward in other recent analysis.
