Analysis of 2-Body Central Events for $^{129}Xe+^{nat}Sn$ from $8A$ $MeV$ up to $18A$ $MeV$ and for $^{129}Xe+^{197}Au$ at $15A$ $MeV$ and $18A$ $MeV$

TL;DR

This paper investigates fission and quasi-fission in medium-mass heavy-ion reactions involving $^{129}Xe$ on $^{nat}Sn$ and $^{197}Au$ targets at energies from 8A to 18A MeV, revealing energy-dependent shifts in reaction mechanisms and fragment distributions.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of fission and quasi-fission events across a range of energies for these specific reactions, highlighting the evolution of reaction dynamics with energy.

Findings

Fission events decrease around 20A MeV for both systems.

Asymmetric fission mode increases with energy at lower energies.

Quasi-fission dominates in $^{129}Xe+^{197}Au$ at higher energies.

Abstract

A study of medium-mass heavy-ion reactions leading to two fragments in the exit channel from barrier to 18A MeV is proposed. A special focus is made on fission and quasi-fission for events with two fragments ($Z\geq10$) in the exit channel selected. Reactions induced by $^{129}Xe$ projectiles on $^{nat}Sn$ and on $^{197}Au$ at energies ranging from $8A$ MeV to $18A$ MeV were analyzed. Using the fragment ($Z\geq10$) multiplicity equal to 2, fission and quasi-fission events were studied for the lowest beam energies using the fission fragment charge distributions, the total kinetic energy distribution (TKE) and its standard deviation $\sigma_{TKE}$. For the lighter system it is still possible to observe fission events from incomplete fusion. At variance, for the heavier system, Xenon on gold target only quasi-fission is evidenced. The study of the events characterized by two fragments in the final channel shows that fission, related to fusion in the entrance channel, disappears around 20A MeV for both systems. At lower energies (8A, 12A and 15A MeV) for the Sn target, an evolution with increasing energies towards an asymmetric fission mode is displayed in the fragment charge distributions. This trend can be attributed to the increasing angular momentum as indicated by the out-of-plane angular distribution for light charged particles. The same effect is also observed in the case of the gold target at 15A MeV. However, for this heavier system, a strong memory of the entrance channel leading to quasi-fission is evidenced. A comparison with the Viola systematics, moreover, shows a deviation, greater for the heavier system than for $^{129}Xe+^{nat}Sn$ system. A complete understanding of the above results would certainly require precise model calculations at these energies.