Light particle emission induced by stopped antiprotons in nuclei: Energy dissipation and neutron-to-proton ratio

Simultaneous measurements of inclusive energy spectra and multiplicities of ${\mathrm{\pi }}^{\pm }$, ${\mathit{K}}^{\pm }$, n, p, d, and t following antiproton annihilation on nuclei over a wide energy range and in the case of neutrons down to the evaporative part of the spectra are reported. Thirteen targets in the mass range of A=12–238 were used in a target mass dependent investigation of the fast stage of the antiproton-nucleus interaction. The deduced transferred, preequilibrium and equilibrium excitation energies agree very well with the dynamical picture drawn by the intranuclear cascade model (INC). Ratios of directly emitted neutrons to protons have been determined to be about twice the N/Z ratio in the target nucleus nearly independently of its mass. These unexpected values for this new sensitive observable are not completely understood in the standard framework of INC. Possible effects of isospin and nucleon densities as well as further schemes beyond the INC are discussed.