Isobaric yield ratios in heavy-ion reactions, and symmetry energy of neutron-rich nuclei at intermediate energies

TL;DR

This paper analyzes isobaric yield ratios from neutron-rich heavy-ion reactions to extract symmetry energy and other nuclear properties, providing a method to determine these parameters from experimental data at intermediate energies.

Contribution

It introduces a modified Fisher model analysis linking isobaric yield ratios to nuclear energy coefficients and chemical potential differences, enabling extraction of symmetry energy in neutron-rich nuclei.

Findings

Correlations between yield ratios and energy coefficients are established.

A method to extract symmetry energy and chemical potential differences from experimental data.

The approach is applicable to heavy-ion collision experiments at intermediate energies.

Abstract

The isobaric yield ratios of the fragments produced in the neutron-rich 48Ca and 64Ni projectile fragmentation are analyzed in the framework of a modified Fisher model. The correlations between the isobaric yield ratios (R) and the energy coefficients in the Weisz\"acker-Beth semiclassical mass formula (the symmetry-energy term asym, the Coulomb-energy term ac, and the pairing-energy term ap) and the difference between the chemical potentials of the neutron and proton ({\mu}n-{\mu}p) are investigated. Simple correlations between ({\mu}n-{\mu}p)/T, ac/T, asym/T, and ap/T (where T is the temperature), and lnR are obtained. It is suggested that ({\mu}n-{\mu}p)/T, ac/T, asym/T, and ap/T of neutron-rich nuclei can be extracted using isobaric yield ratios for heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies.