acta physica slovaca

Acta Physica Slovaca 63, No.1&2, 1 – 104 (2013) (104 pages)

NUCLEAR REACTIONS WITH HEAVY ION BEAMS

Martin Veselský
    Institute of Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, Bratislava, Slovakia

Full text: ::pdf :: (Received 31 October 2013, accepted 6 November 2013, in final form 18 November 2013)

Abstract: An introduction into the study of nucleus-nucleus collisions is presented, along with an overview of present status of selected topics. The study of nucleus-nucleus collisions is a diverse field, allowing to address a wide range of fundamental physics. In each domain of beam energies, from the Coulomb barrier to ultrarelativistic energies, characteristic reaction mechanisms contribute and offer possibility to obtain information on the properties of nuclear matter under specific conditions, what allows to determine a global equation of the state and construct a global phase diagram of the strongly interacting nuclear matter. The extracted properties of the nuclear matter can be used for development of theoretical description of the nuclear matter and the underlying theory of the strong interaction, the quantum chromodynamics. The properties of the nuclear matter further allow to make conclusions on various aspects of the nuclear astrophysics and astro-particle physics, from the primordial nucleosynthesis through production of heavy nuclei, properties of neutron stars, supernova explosions, to the physics of the early Universe. The nucleus-nucleus collisions can be also used as a practical tool for production of very exotic neutron-rich nuclei, thus allowing to enter this yet completely unknown domain with the potential for further discoveries of new nuclear phenomena. Further progress in the field will depend on availability of the new experimental facilities with the capabilities greatly exceeding the capabilities of the presently existing experimental facilities.

DOI: 10.2478/apsrt-2013-0001

PACS: 24.10.-i, 24.10.Pa, 25.70.-z, 25.70.Gh
Keywords: Nucleus-nucleus collisions, Heavy-ion beams, Exotic nuclei, Superheavy nuclei, Complete fusion reactions, Nucleon exchange, Multifragmentation, Liquid-gas phase transition, Nuclear equation of state, Symmetry energy.
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