Hadron-Induced Multifragmentation

Abstract

For light-ion-induced reactions in the bombarding energy regime 1–10 GeV, dramatic changes occur for inclusive observables associated with highly excited heavy residues.1 For example, the excitation functions for IMF production (IMF: 3 $łeq$ Z $≥$ 15) increase by more than two orders of magnitude over this energy range-while the N-N total scattering cross section changes only gradually. This has been interpreted in terms of large deposition energies in the residue, giving rise to multifragmentation events. Subsequent 4$π$ studies2 have verified this interpretation and further shown that the most highly excited residues are produced with very low velocities (v/c ∼ 0.01). This latter fact suggests the importance of baryonic resonances in the excitation process; the former demonstrates that light-ion-induced reactions create hot, multifragmenting systems that can be observed in the laboratory with minimal kinematic distortion.