Importance of nucleon-nucleon interactions in hardening nucleon spectra in heavy ion fusion

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Abstract
The thermalization of the composite system created in the fusion of two heavy ions at an incident energy of 20–30 MeV/nucleon and the emission of fast nucleons before the attainment of statistical equilibrium are described by means of the Harp-Miller-Berne master equation approach. The incident energy is transformed into excitation energy by two-body nucleon-nucleon interactions, assuming that the mean field readjusts itself instantaneously as the two ions fuse. Symmetric and asymmetric systems have been investigated. The results indicate the paramount importance, in the case of symmetric systems, of interactions between high-energy nucleons, one of which scatters to a deep-hole state, thus producing the higher-energy particles observed experimentally.