The neutron emission in the fragmentation of stable and radioactive Sn and La projectiles of 600 MeV per nucleon has been studied with the Large Neutron Detector LAND coupled to the ALADIN forward spectrometer at SIS. A cluster-recognition algorithm
is used to identify individual particles within the hit distributions registered with LAND. The obtained momentum distributions are extrapolated over the full phase space occupied by the neutrons from the projectile-spectator source. The mean multiplicities of spectator neutrons reach values of up to 12 and depend strongly on the isotopic composition of the projectile. An effective source temperature of T approx. 3 - 4 MeV is deduced from the transverse momentum distributions. For the interpretation of the data, calculations with the Statistical Multifragmentation Model for a properly chosen ensemble of excited sources were performed. The possible modification of the liquid-drop parameters of the fragment description in the hot environment is studied, and a significant reduction of the symmetry-term coefficient is found necessary to simultaneously reproduce the neutron multiplicities and the mean neutron-to-proton ratios <N>/Z of Z <= 10 fragments. Because of the similarity of the freeze-out conditions with those encountered in supernova scenarios, this is of astrophysical interest.
New results for the strength of the symmetry energy are presented which illustrate the complementary aspects encountered in reactions probing nuclear densities below and above saturation. A systematic study of isotopic effects in spectator fragmentat
ion was performed at the ALADIN spectrometer with 124Sn primary and 107Sn and 124La secondary beams of 600 MeV/nucleon incident energy. The analysis within the Statistical Fragmentation Model shows that the symmetry-term coefficient entering the liquid-drop description of the emerging fragments decreases significantly as the multiplicity of fragments and light particles from the disintegration of the produced spectator systems increases. Higher densities were probed in the FOPI/LAND study of nucleon and light-particle flows in central and mid-peripheral collisions of 197Au+197Au nuclei at 400 MeV/nucleon incident energy. From the comparison of the measured neutron and hydrogen squeeze-out ratios with predictions of the UrQMD model a moderately soft symmetry term with a density dependence of the potential term proportional to (rho/rho_0)^{gamma} with gamma = 0.9 +- 0.3 is favored.
Isotopic effects in projectile fragmentation at relativistic energies have been studied with the ALADIN forward spectrometer at SIS. Stable and radioactive Sn and La beams with an incident energy of 600 MeV per nucleon have been used in order to expl
ore a wide range of isotopic compositions. Chemical freeze-out temperatures are found to be nearly invariant with respect to the A/Z ratio of the produced spectator sources, consistent with predictions for expanded systems. Consequences for the proposed interpretation of chemical breakup temperatures as representing the limiting temperatures predicted by microscopic models are discussed.
The systematic data set on isotopic effects in spectator fragmentation collected recently at the GSI laboratory permits the investigation of the N/Z dependence of the nuclear caloric curve which is of interest in several respects. In particular, new
light is shed on the proposed interpretation of chemical breakup temperatures as a manifestation of the limiting temperatures predicted by the Hartree-Fock model. The obtained results are discussed within the general context of temperature measurements in multifragmentation reactions.
Isotope temperatures from double ratios of hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, and carbon isotopic yields, and excited-state temperatures from yield ratios of particle-unstable resonances in 4He, 5Li, and 8Be, were determined for spectator fragment
ation, following collisions of 197Au with targets ranging from C to Au at incident energies of 600 and 1000 MeV per nucleon. A deviation of the isotopic from the excited-state temperatures is observed which coincides with the transition from residue formation to multi-fragment production, suggesting a chemical freeze-out prior to thermal freeze-out in bulk disintegrations.
The N/Z dependence of projectile fragmentation at relativistic energies has been studied in a recent experiment at the GSI laboratory with the ALADiN forward spectrometer coupled to the LAND neutron detector. Besides a primary beam of 124Sn, also sec
ondary beams of 124La and 107Sn delivered by the FRS fragment separator have been used in order to extend the range of isotopic compositions of the produced spectator sources. With the achieved mass resolution of Delta A/A approx 1.5%, lighter isotopes with atomic numbers Z le 10 are individually resolved. The presently ongoing analyses of the measured isotope yields focus on isoscaling and its relation to the properties of hot fragments at freeze-out and on the derivation of chemical freeze-out temperatures which are found to be independent of the isotopic composition of the studied systems. The latter result is at variance with the predictions for limiting temperatures as obtained with finite-temperature Hartree-Fock calculations.
