Chemistry of nuclear particle production in 32 A MeV 136,124Xe+124,112Sn reactions and nuclear symmetry energy.

Nuclear particle production from peripheral to central events is presented. N/Z gradient between projectile and target is studied using the fact that two reactions have the same projectile+target N/Z and so the same neutron to proton ratio for the combined system and the impact parameter size dependent geometrical overlap region. Data in the forward part of the centre of mass indicates that N/Z equilibration is achieved for impact parameters below 6 fm and a comparison with transport model SMF calculations is done. SMF results agree with the data in average and by using the fragment multiplicity difference between ¹³⁶Xe+¹¹²Sn and ¹²⁴Xe+¹²⁴Sn systems it seems possible to characterize the density dependence of the symmetry energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]