Branching ratio and information entropy for the p+$^{12}$C reaction in the extended-quantum-molecular-dynamics model

TL;DR

This study uses the extended-quantum-molecular-dynamics model to analyze how the alpha-cluster structure of carbon-12 affects reaction branching ratios and information entropy across various incident energies, suggesting entropy as a structural probe.

Contribution

It introduces the use of event information entropy as a potential indicator for alpha-cluster structures in nuclear reactions within the EQMD framework.

Findings

Triangular 3α structure shows higher quasi-elastic reaction branching ratios.

Event information entropy exhibits a small dent for the triangular structure.

Entropy could serve as a probe for alpha-cluster detection.

Abstract

The reactions of p+$^{12}$C with triangular 3$\alpha$ structure and spherical structure with incident energies ranging from 5 to 200 MeV/nucleon are simulated by the in the extended-quantum-molecular-dynamics (EQMD) model together with the GEMINI decay process. This paper presents the incident energy dependence of the branching ratios of fragment production and multiplicity, as well as the associated event information entropy. The results indicate that the triangular 3$\alpha$ $^{12}$C has an extra branching ratio for the quasi-elastic reaction compared to the spherical $^{12}$C. This peculiarity of the branching ratios of the triangular 3$\alpha$ $^{12}$C appears as a small dent in the curves of the event information entropy (both the fragment information entropy and the multiplicity information entropy). Therefore, we propose that the event information entropy could be a probe for detecting the $\alpha$-cluster structure.