Scaling properties of light-cluster production

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that ratios of light-particle energy spectra exhibit scaling properties accurately described by local chemical potentials, enabling better comparison between theory and experiment for understanding nuclear symmetry energy.

Contribution

It introduces a scaling approach for light-particle spectral ratios that facilitates direct comparison between theoretical predictions and experimental data.

Findings

t/3He and n/p spectral ratios are equivalent under this scaling

The method allows for better constraints on the symmetry energy

Spectral ratios follow predictable scaling behaviors

Abstract

We show that ratios of light-particle energy spectra display scaling properties that can be accu- rately described by effective local chemical potentials. This demonstrates the equivalence of t/3He and n/p spectral ratios and provides an essential test of theoretical predictions of isotopically resolved light-particle spectra. In addition, this approach allows direct comparisons of many theoretical n/p spectral ratios to experiments where charged-particle spectra but not neutron spectra are accurately measured. Such experiments may provide much more quantitative constraints on the density and momentum dependence of the symmetry energy.