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Abstract: Kinetic energy spectra and fragment velocity correlations, simulated by means of stochastic mean-field calculations, are successfully confronted with experimental data for single multifragmenting sources prepared at the same excitation energy per nucleon in 32 A MeV 129Xe+ natSn and 36 A MeV 155Gd+ natU central collisions. Relying thus on simulations, average freeze-out times of 200–240 fm/c are estimated. The corresponding spatial distributions of fragments are more compact for the lighter system ( vs. ). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An estimate of the average freeze-out volume for multifragmentation events is presented. Values of volumes are obtained by means of a simulation using the experimental charged product partitions measured by the 4π multidetector INDRA for 129Xe central collisions on natSn at incident energy. The input parameters of the simulation are tuned by means of the comparison between the experimental and simulated velocity (or energy) spectra of particles and fragments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Directed and elliptic flow for the 197Au + 197Au system at incident energies between 40 and 150 MeV per nucleon has been measured using the INDRA 4π multi-detector. For semi-central collisions, the elliptic flow of particles switches from in-plane to out-of-plane enhancement at around 100 MeV per nucleon, in good agreement with the result reported by the FOPI Collaboration. The directed flow changes sign at a bombarding energy between 50 and 60 MeV per nucleon and remains negative at lower energies. The conditions for the appearance and possible origins of the observed antiflow are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Low-energy π+ (Eπ ≲ 35 MeV) from 12C + 197Au collisions at incident energies from 300 to 1800 MeV per nucleon were detected with the Si-Si(Li)-Csl(TI) calibration telescopes of the INDRA multidetector. The inclusive angular distributions are approximately isotropic, consistent with multiple rescattering in the target spectator. The multiplicity correlations of the low-energy pions and of energetic protons (Ep ≳ 150 MeV) with intermediate-mass fragments were determined from the measured coincidence data. The deduced correlation functions 1 + R ≈ 1.3 for inclusive event samples reflect the strong correlations evident from the common impact parameter dependence of the considered multiplicities. For narrow impact parameter bins (based on charged-particle multiplicity), the correlation functions are close to unity and do not indicate strong additional correlations. Only for pions at high particle multiplicities (central collisions) a weak anticorrelation is observed, probably due to a limited competition between these emissions. Overall, the results are consistent with the equilibrium assumption made in statistical multifragmentation scenarios. Predictions obtained with intranuclear-cascade models coupled to the Statistical Multifragmentation Model are in good agreement with the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Directed flow in symmetric heavy ion collisions has been studied using the 197Au+ 197Au reactions at incident energies between 40 and 150 A MeV. The reactions have been measured with the 4π multi-detector INDRA at the GSI facility. In particular, the bombarding energy at which the elliptic flow switches from in-plane to out-of-plane enhancement has been determined to be clearly above 100 A MeV in good agreement with the result obtained by the FOPI Collaboration. The new data also allows to extend the experimental excitation function of v2 to lower energies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The nucleus-nucleus Lie`ge intranuclear-cascade+percolation+evaporation model has been applied to the 12C+197Au data measured by the INDRA-ALADIN collaboration at GSI. After the intranuclear cascade stage, the data are better reproduced when using the Statistical Multiframentation Model as afterburner. Further checks of the model are done on data from the EOS and KAOS collaborations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Dedicated ionization chamber (IC) was built and installed to measure the energy loss of very heavy nuclei at 2.7 MeV/u produced in fusion reactions in inverse kinematics (beam of 208Pb). After going through the IC, products of reactions on 12C, 18O targets are implanted in a Si detector. Their identification through their α-decay chain is ambiguous when their half-life is short. After calibration with Pb and Th nuclei, the IC signal allowed us to resolve these ambiguities. In the search for rare super-heavy nuclei produced in fusion reactions in inverse or symmetric kinematics, such a chamber will provide direct information on the nuclear charge of each implanted nucleus. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The transport properties of the 36Ar + 58Ni system at 95 A. MeV measured with the INDRA array, are studied within the BNV kinetic equation. A general protocol of comparison between the N-body experimental fragment information and the one-body distribution function is developed using global variables, with a special focus on charge density. This procedure avoids any definition of sources and any use of an afterburner in the simulation. We shall discuss the feasibility of such an approach and the distortions induced by the finite detection efficiency and the completeness requirements of the data selection. The sensitivity of the different global observables to the macroscopic parameters of the effective nuclear interaction will be studied in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient method of energy scale calibration for the CsI(Tl) modules of the INDRA multidetector (rings 6–12) using elastic and inelastic 12C+1H scattering at E(12C)=30MeV per nucleon is presented. Background-free spectra for the binary channels are generated by requiring the coincident detection of the light and heavy ejectiles. The gain parameter of the calibration curve is obtained by fitting the proton total charge spectra to the spectra predicted with Monte-Carlo simulations using tabulated cross section data. The method has been applied in multifragmentation experiments with INDRA at GSI. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The influence of the entrance channel mass asymmetry upon the fragmentation process is addressed by studying heavy-ion induced reactions around the Fermi energy. The data have been recorded with the INDRA 4π array. An event selection method called the Principal Component Analysis is presented and discussed. It is applied for the selection of central events and furthermore to multifragmentation of single source events. The selected subsets of data are compared to the Statistical Multifragmentation Model (SMM) to check the equilibrium hypothesis and get the source characteristics. Experimental comparisons show the evidence of a decoupling between thermal and compressional (radial flow) component of the excitation energy stored in such nuclear systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Mass and charge identification of charged products detected with Silicon–CsI(Tl) telescopes of the Chimera apparatus are presented. An identification function, based on the Bethe–Bloch formula, is used to fit empirical correlations between ΔE and E ADC readings, in order to determine, event by event, the atomic and mass numbers of the detected charged reaction products prior to energy calibration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The charged particle identification obtained by the analysis of signals coming from the CsI(Tl) detectors of the CHIMERA 4π heavy-ion detector is presented. A simple double-gate integration method, with the use of the cyclotron radiofrequency as reference time, results in low thresholds for isotopic particle identification. The dependence of the identification quality on the gate generation timing is discussed. Isotopic identification of light ions up to Beryllium is clearly seen. For the first time also the identification of Z=5 particles is observed. The identification of neutrons interacting with CsI(Tl) by (n,α) and (n,γ) reactions is also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent important progress on the knowledge of multifragmentation and phase transition for hot nuclei, thanks to the high detection quality of the INDRA array, is reported. It concerns i) the radial collective energies involved in hot fragmenting nuclei/sources produced in central and semi-peripheral collisions and their influence on the observed fragment partitions, ii) a better knowledge of freeze-out properties obtained by means of a simulation based on all the available experimental information and iii) the quantitative study of the bimodal behaviour of the heaviest fragment distribution for fragmenting hot heavy quasi-projectiles which allows the extraction, for the first time, of an estimate of the latent heat of the phase transition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The charge distribution of the heaviest fragment detected in the decay of quasiprojectiles produced in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions has been observed to be bimodal. This feature is expected as a generic signal of phase transition in nonextensive systems. In this Letter, we present new analyses of experimental data from Au on Au collisions at 60, 80, and 100 MeV/nucleon showing that bimodality is largely independent of the data selection procedure and of entrance channel effects. An estimate of the latent heat of the transition is extracted.

Reaction mechanism analyses performed with a 4pi detector for the systems 208Pb + Ge, 238U + Ni and 238U + Ge, combined with analyses of the associated reaction time distributions, provide us with evidence for nuclei with Z=120 and 124 living longer than 10(-18) s and arising from highly excited compound nuclei. By contrast, the neutron deficient nuclei with Z=114 possibly formed in 208Pb + Ge reactions have shorter lifetimes, close to or below the sensitivity limit of the experiment.

Isotopic effects in the fragmentation of excited target residues following collisions of 12C on (112,124)Sn at incident energies of 300 and 600 MeV per nucleon were studied with the INDRA 4pi detector. The measured yield ratios for light particles and fragments with atomic number Z < or = 5 obey the exponential law of isotopic scaling. The deduced scaling parameters decrease strongly with increasing centrality to values smaller than 50% of those obtained for the peripheral event groups. Symmetry-term coefficients, deduced from these data within the statistical description of isotopic scaling, are near gamma = 25 MeV for peripheral and gamma < 15 MeV for central collisions.