Influence of Cluster Configurations and Nucleon--Nucleon Scattering Cross-Section on Stopping Power in Heavy-Ion Collisions

TL;DR

This study explores how nuclear clustering structures and nucleon--nucleon cross-sections influence stopping power in heavy-ion collisions, revealing that specific configurations significantly affect collision dynamics and energy dependence.

Contribution

It introduces an extended quantum molecular dynamics model to analyze the effects of alpha-clustering configurations and nucleon--nucleon cross-sections on nuclear stopping power.

Findings

Tetrahedral alpha-clustering yields highest stopping power.

Coulomb repulsion reduces proton stopping power at Fermi energies.

Stopping power trends are influenced by cross-section and mean field at higher energies.

Abstract

We investigate the impacts of nuclear $\alpha$-clustering structures and nucleon--nucleon cross-section on nuclear stopping power for ${}^{16}\text{O}$ + ${}^{40}\text{Ca}$ collisions below 300 MeV/nucleon using an extended quantum molecular dynamics (EQMD) model. Our results show that the specific $\alpha$-clustering configurations of ${}^{16}\text{O}$--including chain, square, kite, and tetrahedron--have a significant effect on collision dynamics. Among them, the tightly bound tetrahedral structure exhibits the highest stopping power. Moreover, the repulsive Coulomb interaction is found to reduce the stopping power of protons in the Fermi-energy domain. At higher energies, the decreasing trend is influenced by both the nucleon--nucleon cross-section and the mean field.