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Fission at low excitation energy is an ideal playground to probe the impact of nuclear structure on nuclear dynamics. While the importance of structural effects in the nascent fragments is well-established in the (trans-)actinide region, the observation of asymmetric fission in several neutron-deficient pre-actinides can be explained by various mechanisms. To deepen our insight into that puzzle, an innovative approach based on inverse kinematics and an enhanced version of the VAMOS++ heavy-ion spectrometer was implemented at the GANIL facility, Caen. Fission of $^{178}$Hg was induced by fusion of $^{124}$Xe and $^{54}$Fe. The two fragments were detected in coincidence using VAMOS++ supplemented with a new SEcond Detection arm. For the first time in the pre-actinide region, access to the pre-neutron mass and total kinetic energy distributions, and the simultaneous isotopic identification of one the fission fragment, was achieved. The present work describes the experimental approach, and discusses the pre-neutron observables in the context of an extended asymmetric-fission island located south-west of $^{208}Pb. A comparison with different models is performed, demonstrating the importance of this "new" asymmetric-fission island for elaborating on driving effects in fission.

The understanding of the antineutrino production in fission and the theoretical calculation of their energy spectra in different types of fission reactors rely on the application of the summation method, where the individual contributions from the different radioactive nuclides that undergo a beta decay are estimated and summed up. The most accurate estimation of the independent fission-product yields is essential to this calculation. We have coupled for the first time the predictions of the general fission model GEF for the fission yields to fission-product beta-decay data in a summation calculation of reactor antineutrino energy spectra. The first comparisons performed between the spectra from GEF and those obtained with the evaluated nuclear databases exhibited large discrepancies that highlighted the exigency of the modelisation of the antineutrino spectra and showing their usefulness in the evaluation of nuclear data. Additional constraints for the GEF model were thus needed in order to reach the level of accuracy required. The quality of different sources of information on the fission yields has been investigated with GEF, and the benefit of a combined analysis is demonstrated. The quality of fission yields emerging from different experimental techniques has been analyzed and indications for shortcomings of mass yields for some of the studied fissioning systems were provided. The combination of a careful study of the independent isotopic yields and the adjunction of the LOHENGRIN fission-yield data as additional constraints led to a substantially improved agreement between the antineutrino spectra computed with GEF and with the evaluated data. The comparison of inverse beta-decay yields computed with GEF with those measured by the Daya Bay experiment shows the excellent level of predictiveness of the GEF model for the fundamental or applied antineutrino physics., Comment: 88 pages, 100 figures

A regular pattern, revealing the leading role of the light-fragment nuclear charge, is found to emerge from a consistent analysis of the experimental information collected recently on low-energy asymmetric fission of neutron-deficient nuclei around lead. The observation is corroborated by a theoretical investigation within a microscopic framework, suggesting the importance of proton configurations driven by quadrupole-octupole correlations. This is in contrast to the earlier theoretical interpretations in terms of dominant neutron shells. The survey of a wider area of the nuclear chart by a semi-empirical approach points to the lack of understanding of the competition between the different underlying macroscopic and microscopic forces in a quantitative manner. Combined with previously identified stabilizing forces, the present finding shows a striking connection between the "old" (actinide) and "new" (pre-actinide) islands of asymmetric fission which could steer the strive for an unified theory of fission., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

Single neutron- and proton-removal cross sections have been systematically measured for 72 medium-mass neutron-rich nuclei around Z=50 and energies around 900A MeV using the FRagment Separator (FRS) at GSI. Neutron-removal cross sections are described by considering the knock-out process together with initial- and final-state interactions. Proton-removal cross sections are, however, significantly smaller than predicted by the same calculations. The observed difference can be explained as due to the knockout of short-correlated protons in neutron-proton dominating pairs.

The GEneral description of Fission observables (GEF) model was developed to produce fission related nuclear data which are of crucial importance for basic and applied nuclear physics. The investigation of the performance of the GEF code is here extended to a region in fissioning-system mass, charge, excitation energy and angular momentum, as well as to new observables, that could not be benchmarked in detail so far. The work focuses on fragment mass and isotopic distributions, benefiting from recent innovative measurements. The approach reveals a high degree of consistency and provides a very reasonable description of the new data. The physics behind specific discrepancies is discussed, and hints to improve on are given. Comparison of the calculation with experiment permits to highlight the influence of the system intrinsic properties, their interplay, and the importance of experimental aspects, namely instrumental resolution. All together points to the necessity of as selective and accurate as possible experimental data, for proper unfolding of the different influences and robust interpretation of the measurement. The GEF code has become a widely used tool for this purpose, Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures

The isotopic-yield distributions and kinematic properties of fragments produced in transfer-induced fission of 240Pu and fusion-induced fission of 250Cf, with 9 MeV and 45 MeV of excitation energy respectively, were measured in inverse kinematics with the spectrometer VAMOS. The kinematic properties of identified fission fragments allow to derive properties of the scission configuration such as the distance between fragments, the total kinetic energy, the neutron multiplicity, the total excitation energy, and, for the first time, the proton- and neutron-number sharing during the emergence of the fragments. These properties of the scission point are studied as functions of the fragment atomic number. The correlation between these observables, gathered in one single experiment and for two different fissioning systems at different excitation energies, give valuable information for the understanding and modeling of the fission process., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures

Inelastic and multi-nucleon transfer reactions between a $^{238}$U beam, accelerated at 6.14 MeV/u, and a $^{12}$C target were used for the production of neutron-rich, fissioning systems from U to Cm. A Si telescope, devoted to the detection of the target-like nuclei, provided a characterization of the fissioning systems in atomic and mass numbers, as well as in excitation energy. Cross-sections, angular and excitation-energy distributions were measured for the inelastic and transfer channels. Possible excitations of the target-like nuclei were experimentally investigated for the first time, by means of g -ray measurements. The decays from the first excited states of $^{12}$C, $^{11}$B and $^{10}$Be were observed with probabilities of 0.12 - 0.14, while no evidence for the population of higher-lying states was found. Moreover, the fission probabilities of $^{238}$U, $^{239}$Np and $^{240,241,242}$Pu and $^{244}$Cm were determined as a function of the excitation energy., Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures

A novel method to access the complete identification in atomic number Z and mass A of fragments produced in low-energy fission of actinides is presented. This method, based on the use of multi- nucleon transfer and fusion reactions in inverse kinematics, is applied in this work to reactions between a 238U beam and a 12C target to produce and induce fission of moderately excited actinides. The fission fragments are detected and fully identified with the VAMOS spectrometer of GANIL, allowing the measurement of fragment yields of several hundreds of isotopes in a range between A ~ 80 and ~ 160, and from Z ~ 30 to ~ 64. For the first time, complete isotopic yield distributions of fragments from well-defined fissioning systems are available. Together with the precise measurement of the fragment emission angles and velocities, this technique gives further insight into the nuclear-fission process., Comment: 22 pages, 21 figures

During the fission process, the nucleus deforms and elongates up to the two fragments inception and their final separation at scission deformation. The evolution of the nucleus energy with deformation is determined by the macroscopic properties of the nucleus, and is also strongly influenced by the single-particle structure of the nucleus. The fission fragment distribution is a direct consequence of the deformation path the nucleus has encountered, and therefore is the most genuine experimental observation of the potential energy landscape of the deforming nucleus. Very asymmetric fusion-fission reactions at energy close to the Coulomb barrier, produce well-defined conditions of the compound nucleus formation, where processes such as quasi-fission, pre-equilibrium emission and incomplete fusion are negligible. In the same time, the excitation energy is sufficient to reduce significantly structural effects, and mostly the macroscopic part of the potential is responsible for the formation of the fission fragments. We use inverse kinematics combined with spectrometers to select and identify the fission fragments produced in $^{238}$U+$^{12}$C at a bombarding energy close to and well-above the Coulomb barrier. For the first time, the isotopic yields are measured over the complete atomic-number distribution, between Z=30 and Z=63. The experimental set-up also allows to identify transfer-induced reactions, which lead to low-energy fission where the nuclear shell structure shows a strong influence on the fission-fragment distributions. The resulting set of data gives the possibility to observe the fission fragment properties over a wide range of excitation energy, and they reveal the vanishing of the shell effects in the potential energy of the fissioning nucleus, as well as the influence of fission dynamics., Comment: Invited Plenary Talk given at the 11th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (NN2012), San Antonio, Texas, USA, May 27-June 1, 2012. To appear in the NN2012 Proceedings in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS)

Total cross sections for proton- and deuteron-induced-fission of 208Pb and 238U have been determined in the energy range between 500 MeV and 1 GeV. The experiment has been performed in inverse kinematics at GSI Darmstadt, facilitating the counting of the projectiles and the identification of the reaction products. High precision between 5 and 7 percent has been achieved by individually counting the beam particles and by registering both fission fragments in coincidence with high efficiency and full Z resolution. Fission was clearly distinguished from other reaction channels. The results were found to deviate by up to 30 percent from Prokofiev's systematics on total fission cross sections. There is good agreement with an elaborate experiment performed in direct kinematics., Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures

On the basis of systematic measurements of fragmentation reactions, which provide a detailed overview on the velocity distributions of residual nuclei, an improved description of the kinematical properties of the fragmentation residues is established. This work is dedicated to the fluctuations of their momentum distributions. In contrast to previous investigations, limited to close-to-projectile fragments, we extended our study to the entire production range, down to the lightest observed fragments. In this context, beside the contribution of abrasion and evaporation processes, we considered the effect of the thermal break-up on the width of the momentum distributions. Using approximated theoretical descriptions of the different reaction stages, a new analytical formula for the variance of the momentum distribution is derived, which is well adapted to technical applications., Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, background info. at http://www-wnt.gsi.de/charms/

Production cross-sections and longitudinal velocity distributions of the projectile-like residues produced in the reactions 112Sn + 112Sn and 124Sn + 124Sn both at an incident beam energy of 1 AGeV were measured with the high-resolution magnetic spectrometer, the Fragment Separator (FRS) of GSI. For both reactions the characteristics of the velocity distributions and nuclide production cross sections were determined for residues with atomic number Z $\geq$ 10. A comparison of the results of the two reactions is presented., Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures

The fragmentation of neutron-rich 132Sn nuclei produced in the fission of 238U projectiles at 950 MeV/u has been investigated at the FRagment Separator (FRS) at GSI. This work represents the first investigation of fragmentation of medium-mass radioactive projectiles with a large neutron excess. The measured production cross sections of the residual nuclei are relevant for the possible use of a two-stage reaction scheme (fission+fragmentation) for the production of extremely neutron-rich medium-mass nuclei in future rare-ion-beam facilities. Moreover, the new data will provide a better understanding of the "memory" effect in fragmentation reactions., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

The production of heavy neutron-rich nuclei has been investigated using cold fragmentation reactions of $^{238}$U projectiles at relativistic energies. The experiment performed at the high-resolving-power magnetic spectrometer FRS at GSI allowed to identify 45 new heavy neutron-rich nuclei: $^{205}$Pt, $^{207-210}$Au, $^{211-216}$Hg, $^{213-217}$Tl, $^{215-220}$Pb, $^{219-224}$Bi, $^{221-227}$Po, $^{224-229}$At, $^{229-231}$Rn and $^{233}$Fr. The production cross sections of these nuclei were also determined and used to benchmark reaction codes that predict the production of nuclei far from stability., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures

The analysis of experimental production cross-sections of intermediate-mass fragments (IMF) of several nuclear reactions at relativistic energy, measured at the FRS, GSI Darmstadt, revealed a very strong and complex even-odd staggering. The origin of this effect is related to the condensation process of hot nuclei while cooling down by evaporation. The characteristics of the staggering correlate strongly with the lowest particle separation energy of the final experimentally observed nuclei, but not with the binding energy. The study confirms the important role of the de-excitation process in multifragmentation reactions, and indicates that sequential decay strongly influences the yields of IMF, which are often used to extract information on the nature of nuclear reactions at high energies., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures

New data from GSI on the production-cross-section for fragmentation of the systems 56Fe+p and 56Fe+Ti at 1 A GeV revealed the appearance of even-odd staggering in the cross-section distribution for chains of isotopes with given N-Z. The staggering is strongly enhanced for the chain N=Z, it reduces as the production moves away from the N=Z chain, and it reverses for the most neutron-rich odd-A residues. These phenomena, observed in the residues of rather violent reactions, are related to structural effects in the level-densities below the particle-emission threshold., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. 10th Nuclear Physics Workshop of Marie and Pierre Curie, 24 - 28 Septembre 2003, Kazimierz Dolny (Poland)

Peripheral collisions with radioactive heavy-ion beams at relativistic energies are discussed as an innovative approach for probing the transient regime experienced by fissile systems evolving towards quasi-equilibrium. A dedicated experiment using the advanced technical installations of GSI, Darmstadt, permitted to realize ideal conditions for the investigation of relaxation effects in the meta-stable well. Combined with a highly sensitive experimental signature, it provides a measure of the transient effects with respect to the flux over the fission barrier. Within a two-step reaction process, 45 proton-rich unstable spherical isotopes produced by projectile-fragmentation of a stable 238U beam have been used as secondary projectiles. The fragmentation of the radioactive projectiles on lead results in nearly spherical compound nuclei which span a wide range in excitation energy and fissility. The decay of these excited systems by fission is studied with a dedicated set-up which permits the detection of both fission products in coincidence and the determination of their atomic numbers with high resolution. The width of the fission-fragment nuclear charge distribution is shown to be specifically sensitive to pre-saddle transient effects and is used to establish a clock for the passage of the saddle point. The comparison of the experimental results with model calculations points to a fission delay of (3.3+/-0.7).10-21s for initially spherical compound nuclei, independent of excitation energy and fissility. This value suggests a nuclear dissipation strength at small deformation of (4.5+/-0.5).1021s-1. The very specific combination of the physics and technical equipment exploited in this work sheds light on previous controversial conclusions., Comment: 38 pages, 15 figures

The existence of nuclei with exotic combinations of protons and neutrons provides fundamental information on the forces acting between nucleons. The maximum number of neutrons a given number of protons can bind, neutron drip line1, is only known for the lightest chemical elements, up to oxygen. For heavier elements, the larger its atomic number, the farther from this limit is the most neutron-rich known isotope. The properties of heavy neutron-rich nuclei also have a direct impact on understanding the observed abundances of chemical elements heavier than iron in our Universe. Above half of the abundances of these elements are thought to be produced in rapid-neutron capture reactions, r-process, taking place in violent stellar scenarios2 where heavy neutron-rich nuclei, far beyond the ones known up today, are produced. Here we present a major step forward in the production of heavy neutron-rich nuclei: the discovery of 73 new neutron-rich isotopes of chemical elements between tantalum (Z=72) and actinium (Z=89). This result proves that cold-fragmentation reactions3 at relativistic energies are governed by large fluctuations in isospin and energy dissipation making possible the massive production of heavy neutron-rich nuclei, paving then the way for the full understanding of the origin of the heavier elements in our Universe. It is expected that further studies providing ground and structural properties of the nuclei presented here will reveal further details on the nuclear shell evolution along Z=82 and N=126, but also on the understanding of the stellar nucleosyntheis r-process around the waiting point at A~190 defining the speed of the matter flow towards heavier fissioning nuclei.

Based on a wide systematics of fission-fragment distributions measured in low-energy fission, the even-odd staggering in the fission-fragment element yields is investigated. The well-established evolution of the global even-odd effect with the fissioning system is found to be only a partial aspect of the even-odd structure. Indeed, it is shown that the global even-odd effect is varying systematically with the mean asymmetry of the fission-fragment distribution, and that the general increase of the even-odd staggering with asymmetry is depending on the fissioning system. Thus, the dependency of the even-odd effect with the fissioning system is accredited in part to the asymmetry evolution of the charge distribution, and not solely related to the dissipated energy as it has been done earlier. This interpretation is strongly supported by data measured in inverse kinematics, which cover the complete charge distribution and include precise yields at symmetry. The relevance of the order parameter to describe the even-odd effect in fission-fragment yields as a general property is explored.

Production cross sections of medium-mass neutron-rich nuclei obtained in the fragmentation of 136Xe projectiles at 1 A GeV have been measured with the FRagment Separator (FRS) at GSI. 125Pd was identified for the first time. The measured cross sections are compared to 238U fission yields and model calculations in order to determine the optimum reaction mechanism to extend the limits of the chart of the nuclides around the r-process waiting point at N=82., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

A correlation between the production and kinematic properties of the fragments issued of fission and multifragmentation is established in the study of the reaction 136Xe+hydrogen at 1 GeV per nucleon, measured in inverse kinematics at the FRagment Separator (GSI, Darmstadt). Such observables are analysed in a comprehensive study, selected as a function of the decay mode, and related to the isotopic properties of the fragments in the intermediate-mass region. Valuable information can be deduced on the characteristics of the heaviest product in the reaction, which has been considered a fundamental observable for tagging the thermodynamic properties of finite nuclear systems., Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures

This paper presents the nuclide cross sections and the longitudinal velocity distributions of residues produced in the reactions of 136Xe and 124Xe at 1 A GeV in a lead target, measured at the high-resolution magnetic spectrometer, the Fragment Separator (FRS) of GSI. The data cover a broad range of isotopes of the elements between Z = 3 and Z = 56 for 136Xe and between Z = 5 and Z = 55 for 124Xe, reaching down to cross sections of a few microbarns. The velocity distributions exhibit a Gaussian shape for masses above A = 20, while more complex behaviour is observed for lighter masses. The isotopic distributions for both reactions preserve a memory on the projectile N/Z ratio over the whole residue mass range., Comment: 31 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, background information on http://www.gsi.de/charms

Nuclear fission of several neutron-deficient actinides and pre-actinides from excitation energies around 11 MeV was studied at GSI Darmstadt by use of relativistic secondary beams. The characteristics of multimodal fission of nuclei around 226Th are systematically investigated and interpreted as the superposition of three fission channels. Properties of these fission channels have been determined for 15 systems. A global view on the properties of fission channels including previous results is presented. The positions of the asymmetric fission channels are found to be constant in element number over the whole range of systems investigated., Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, background information on http://www.gsi.de/charms

This paper reports the first application of a new technique to measure the beta-decay half -lives of exotic nuclei in complex background conditions. Since standard tools were not adapted to extract the relevant information, a new analysis method was developed. The time distribution of background events is established by recording time correlations in backward time. The beta half lives of the nuclides and the detection efficiency of the set-up are determined simultaneously from a least-squares fit of the ratio of the time-correlation spectra recorded in forward and in backward time, using numerical functions. The necessary numerical functions are calculated in a Monte-Carlo code using the known operation parameters of the experiment and different values for the two free parameters, half-life and detection efficiency, as input parameters., Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures

Heavy neutron-rich nuclei close to N=126 were produced by fragmentation of a 1 A GeV 208Pb beam at the FRS at GSI. The beta-decay half-lives of 8 nuclides have been determined. The comparison of the data with model calculations including an approach based on the self-consistent ground-state description and continuum QRPA considering the Gamow-Teller and first-forbidden decays provide a first indication on the importance of first-forbidden transitions around A=195. The measured data indicate that the matter flow in the r-process to heavier fissioning nuclei is faster than previously expected., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

We present an extensive overview of production cross sections and kinetic energies for the complete set of nuclides formed in the spallation of 136Xe by protons at the incident energy of 1 GeV per nucleon. The measurement was performed in inverse kinematics at the FRagment Separator (GSI, Darmstadt). Slightly below the Businaro-Gallone point, 136Xe is the stable nuclide with the largest neutron excess. The kinematic data and cross sections collected in this work for the full nuclide production are a general benchmark for modelling the spallation process in a neutron-rich nuclear system, where fission is characterised by predominantly mass-asymmetric splits., Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures

We report on a novel experimental approach for studying the dissipative spreading of collective motion in a meta-stable nuclear system, using, for the first time, highly fissile nuclei with spherical shape. This was achieved by fragmentation of 45 radioactive heavy-ion beams at GSI, Darmstadt. The use of inverse kinematics and a dedicated experimental set-up allowed for the identification in atomic number of both fission fragments. From the width of their charge distributions, a transient time of (3.3 +/- 0.7) 10-21 s is deduced for initially spherical nuclei., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, background information at http://www-win.gsi.de/charms/

The spallation residues produced in the bombardment of 56}Fe at 1.5, 1.0, 0.75, 0.5 and 0.3 A GeV on a liquid-hydrogen target have been measured using the reverse kinematics technique and the Fragment Separator at GSI (Darmstadt). This technique has permitted the full identification in charge and mass of all isotopes produced with cross-sections larger than 10^{-2} mb down to Z=8. Their individual production cross-sections and recoil velocities at the five energies are presented. Production cross-sections are compared to previously existing data and to empirical parametric formulas, often used in cosmic-ray astrophysics. The experimental data are also extensively compared to different combinations of intra-nuclear cascade and de-excitation models. It is shown that the yields of the lightest isotopes cannot be accounted for by standard evaporation models. The GEMINI model, which includes an asymmetric fission decay mode, gives an overall good agreement with the data. These experimental data can be directly used for the estimation of composition modifications and damages in materials containing iron in spallation sources. They are also useful for improving high precision cosmic-ray measurements., Comment: Submited to Phys. Rev. C (10/2006)

Recently, a series of dedicated inverse-kinematics experiments performed at GSI, Darmstadt, has brought an important progress in our understanding of proton and heavy-ion induced reactions at relativistic energies. The nuclear reaction code ABRABLA that has been developed and benchmarked against the results of these experiments has been used to calculate nuclide production cross sections at different energies and with different targets and beams. These calculations are used to estimate nuclide production rates by protons in thick targets, taking into account the energy loss and the attenuation of the proton beam in the target, as well as the low-energy fission induced by the secondary neutrons. The results are compared to the yields of isotopes of various elements obtained from different targets at CERN-ISOLDE with 600 MeV protons, and the overall extraction efficiencies are deduced. The dependence of these extraction efficiencies on the nuclide half-life is found to follow a simple pattern in many different cases. A simple function is proposed to parameterize this behavior in a way that quantifies the essential properties of the extraction efficiency for the element and the target - ion-source system in question., Comment: 46 pages, 49 figures, background information on http://www-w2k.gsi.de/charms/

Isotopic cross sections of all projectile residues with Z above 23 produced in collisions induced by 238U at 1 A GeV on deuterium have been measured. The isotopic distributions reflect the role of evaporation and fission in the formation process of these nuclei. The comparison of the measured cross sections with Monte-Carlo de-excitation codes including an analytical description of the dynamics of fission shows the sensitivity of the data to nuclear dissipation. Moreover, the large excitation-energy range covered in this experiment together with the high accuracy of the measured cross sections allowed to clearly separate and quantify the role of transient and quasi-stationary dissipative effects in the fission-decay width., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures

The production of light and intermediate-mass nuclides formed in the reaction 1H+238U at 1 GeV was measured at the Fragment Separator (FRS) at GSI, Darmstadt. The experiment was performed in inverse kinematics, shooting a 1 A GeV 238U beam on a thin liquid-hydrogen target. 254 isotopes of all elements in the range from Z=7 to Z=37 were unambiguously identified, and the velocity distributions of the produced nuclides were determined with high precision. The results show that the nuclides are produced in a very asymmetric binary decay of heavy nuclei originating from the spallation of uranium. All the features of the produced nuclides merge with the characteristics of the fission products as their mass increases., Comment: 40 pages, 16 figures, 3 tables

Isospin properties of fragments measured in multifragmentation of 136Xe and 124Xe projectiles in mid-peripheral collisions with a lead target at 1 A GeV were studied within the statistical approach describing the liquid-gas nuclear phase transition. By analyzing the isoscaling phenomenon and the mean N-over-Z ratio of the fragments with Z=10-13 we have concluded that the symmetry energy of hot fragments produced in multifragment environment at subnuclear densities at high temperatures decreases in comparison with cold nuclei., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, background information on http://www-w2k.gsi.de/charms/

The production cross sections of fragmentation-evaporation residues in the reaction Pb+p at 500A MeV have been measured using the inverse-kinematics method and the FRS spectrometer (GSI). Fragments were identified in nuclear charge using ionisation chambers. The mass identification was performed event-by-event using the B-rho - TOF - Delta-E technique. Although partially-unresolved ionic charge states induced an ambiguity on the mass of some heavy fragments, production rates could be obtained with a high accuracy by systematically accounting for the polluting ionic charge states. The contribution of multiple reactions in the target was subtracted using a new, partly self-consistent code. The isobaric distributions are found to have a shape very close to the one observed in experiments at higher energy. Kinematic properties of the fragments were also measured. The total and the isotopic cross sections, including charge-pickup cross sections, are in good agreement with previous measurements. The data are discussed in the light of previous spallation measurements, especially on lead at 1 GeV.

The feasibility of low-energy fragmentation experiments using a magnetic spectrometer is discussed. The main challenge is the multiplicity of the ionic charge states, which can hamper the identification in both Z and A of the fragments. Three topics are covered. First, a specific set-up for ionization chambers, based on a very large gas thickness, is presented. Its satisfactory performances are discussed in light of the observations during a 500A MeV Pb+p experiment performed at the FRS (GSI). As a second topic, the possibility to use a thick layer of matter (a degrader) as a passive measurement device to identify the nuclear charge and the ionic charge state of fragments is discussed. This method, successfully used for Z identification in experiments such as Pb+p at 1A GeV, fails to measure the charge states at 500A MeV for the same system. It is shown that surface defects of the degrader are probably responsible for this failure. The third topic is the description of new analysis techniques developed in order to account for and subtract the contribution of polluting charge states in the spectrometer, thus making possible a clean estimation of the production cross sections of all fragments. The combination of those new experimental and analysis techniques made the 500A MeV spallation experiment a success.

Isotopically resolved cross sections and velocity distributions have been measured in charge-pickup reactions of 1 A GeV 208Pb with proton, deuterium and titanium target. The total and partial charge-pickup cross sections in the reactions 208Pb + 1H and 208Pb + 2H are measured to be the same in the limits of the error bars. A weak increase in the total charge-pickup cross section is seen in the reaction of 208Pb with the titanium target. The measured velocity distributions show different contributions - quasi-elastic scattering and Delta-resonance excitation - to the charge-pickup production. Data on total and partial charge-pickup cross sections from these three reactions are compared with other existing data and also with model calculations based on the coupling of different intra-nuclear cascade codes and an evaporation code., Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, background information on http://www-w2k.gsi.de/kschmidt/

Spallation residues and fission fragments from 1A GeV 238U projectiles irradiating a liquid hydrogen target were investigated by using the FRagment Separator at GSI for magnetic selection of reaction products including ray-tracing, energy-loss and time-of-flight techniques. The longitudinal-momentum spectra of identified fragments were analysed, and evaporation residues and fission fragments could be separated. For 1385 nuclides, production cross-sections covering 3 orders of magnitude with a mean accuracy of 15%, velocities in the U-rest frame and kinetic energies were determined. In the reaction all elements from uranium to nitrogen were found, each with a large number of isotopes., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

New experimental results on the kinematics and the residue production are obtained for the interactions of 56Fe projectiles with protons and (nat)Ti target nuclei, respectively, at theincident energy of 1 A GeV. The titanium-induced reaction serves as a reference case for multifragmentation. Already in the proton-induced reaction, the characteristics of the isotopic cross sections and the shapes of the velocity spectra of light residues indicate that high thermal energy is deposited in the system during the collision. In the 56Fe+p system the high excitation seems to favour the onset of fast break-up decays dominated by very asymmetric partitions of the disassembling system. This configuration leads to the simultaneous formation of one or more light fragments together with one heavy residue., Comment: 24 pages, 21 figures, 1 table, this work forms part of the PhD thesis of P.Napolitani, background information on http://www-w2k.gsi.de/kschmidt/

Fissile nuclei with small shape distortion relative to the ground-state deformation and with low angular momentum were produced in peripheral heavy-ion collisions. Under the conditions of small shape distortions and low angular momentum, the theoretical description of the fission process can be considerably simplified, and the relevant information on dissipation can be better extracted than in conventional experiments based on fusion-fission reactions. In addition, this experimental approach induces very high excitation energies, a condition necessary to observe transient effects. The experimental data were taken at GSI using a set-up especially conceived for fission studies in inverse kinematics. This set-up allowed determining three observables whose sensitivity to dissipation was investigated for the first time: the total fission cross sections of 238U at 1 A GeV as a function of the target mass, and, for the reaction of 238U at 1 A GeV on a (CH2)n target, the partial fission cross sections and the partial charge distributions of the fission fragments. The comparison of the new experimental data with a reaction code adapted to the conditions of the reactions investigated leads to clear conclusions on the strength of dissipation at small deformation where the existing results are rather contradictory., Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures, background information on http://www-w2k.gsi.de/kschmidt/

We examine the manifestation of transient effects in fission by analysing experimental data where fission is induced by peripheral heavy-ion collisions at relativistic energies. Available total nuclear fission cross sections of 238U at 1 A GeV on gold and uranium targets are compared with a nuclear-reaction code, where transient effects in fission are modelled using different approximations to the numerical time-dependent fission-decay width: a new analytical description based on the solution of the Fokker-Planck equation and two widely used but less realistic descriptions, a step function and an exponential-like function. The experimental data are only reproduced when transient effects are considered. The deduced value of the dissipation strength depends strongly on the approximation applied for the time-dependent fission-decay width and is estimated to be of the order of 2x10**21 s**(-1). A careful analysis sheds severe doubts on the use of the exponential-like in-growth function largely used in the past. Finally, we discuss which should be the characteristics of experimental observables to be most sensitive to transient effects in fission, Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, background information on http://www-w2k.gsi.de/kschmidt/

A new experimental approach is introduced to investigate the relaxation of the nuclear deformation degrees of freedom. Highly excited fissioning systems with compact shapes and low angular momenta are produced in peripheral relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Both fission fragments are identified in atomic number. Fission cross sections and fission-fragment element distributions are determined as a function of the fissioning element. From the comparison of these new observables with a nuclear-reaction code a value for the transient time is deduced., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, background information at http://www-w2k.gsi.de/kschmidt/

Complex structural effects in the nuclide production from the projectile fragmentation of 1 A GeV 238U nuclei in a titanium target are reported. The structure seems to be insensitive to the excitation energy induced in the reaction. This is in contrast to the prominent structural features found in nuclear fission and in transfer reactions, which gradually disappear with increasing excitation energy. Using the statistical model of nuclear reactions, relations to structural effects in nuclear binding and in the nuclear level density are demonstrated., Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, background information on http://www-w2k.gsi.de/kschmidt/

Fission fragments from 1 A GeV 238U projectiles irradiating a hydrogen target were investigated by using the fragment separator FRS for magnetic selection of reaction products including ray-tracing and DE-ToF techniques. The momentum spectra of 733 identified fragments were analysed to provide isotopic production cross sections, fission-fragment velocities and recoil momenta of the fissioning parent nuclei. Besides their general relevance, these quantities are also demanded for applications. Calculations and simulations with codes commonly used and recently developed or improved are compared to the data., Comment: 60 pages, 21 figures, 4 tables, 2 appendices (15 pages)

The reaction mechanisms best suited for the production of neutron-rich nuclei, fragmentation and fission, are discussed. Measurements of the production cross sections of reaction residues together with model calculations allow to conclude about the expected production rates of neutron-rich isotopes in future facilities., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Fission and Properties of Neutron-Rich Nuclei November 3-9, 2002, Sanibel Island, Florida, USA

The production of heavy nuclides from the spallation-evaporation reaction of 238U induced by 1 GeV protons was studied in inverse kinematics. The evaporation residues from tungsten to uranium were identified in-flight in mass and atomic number. Their production cross-sections and their momentum distributions were determined. The data are compared with empirical systematics. A comparison with previous results from the spallation of 208Pb and 197Au reveals the strong influence of fission in the spallation of 238U., Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, background information at http://www-wnt.gsi.de/kschmidt/

Precise momentum distributions of identified projectile fragments, formed in the reactions 238U + Pb and 238U + Ti at 1 A GeV, are measured with a high-resolution magnetic spectrometer. With increasing mass loss, the velocities first decrease as expected from previously established systematics, then level off, and finally increase again. Light fragments are on the average even faster than the projectiles. This finding is interpreted as the response of the spectators to the participant blast. The re-acceleration of projectile spectators is sensitive to the nuclear mean field and provides a new tool for investigating the equation of state of nuclear matter., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, background information on http://www-wnt.gsi.de/kschmidt/

A two-step reaction scheme for the production of extremely neutron-rich radioactive beams, fission followed by cold fragmentation, is considered. The cross sections of the second step, the cold fragmentation of neutron-rich fission fragments, are estimated with different computer codes. Discrepancies between an empirical systematics and nuclear-reaction codes are found., Comment: 31 pages, 13 figures, background information on http://www-wnt.gsi.de/kschmidt/

The time-dependent flux over the fission barrier of an excited nucleus under the influence of dissipation is investigated. Characteristic features of the evolution of the amplitude of the probability distribution and the velocity profile at the fission barrier are derived. Analytical results are compared to numerical Langevin calculations and used to develop a new analytical approximation to the solution of the Fokker-Planck equation for the time-dependent fission-decay width. This approximation is shown to be more realistic than previously proposed descriptions, which were widely used in the past., Comment: 31 pages, 11 figures, major changes, background information at http://www-wnt.gsi.de/kschmidt/

Different analytical approximations to the time-dependent fission-decay width used to extract the influence of dissipation on the fission process are critically examined. Calculations with a new, highly realistic analytical approximation to the exact solution of the Fokker-Planck equation sheds doubts on previous conclusions on the dissipation strength made on the basis of less realistic approximations., Comment: 1 figure

Isotopic series of 58 neutron-deficient secondary projectiles (205,206At, 205-209Rn, 208-212,217,218Fr, 211-223Ra, 215-226Ac, 221-229Th, 226-231Pa, 231-234U) were produced by projectile fragmentation using a 1 A GeV 238U beam. Cross sections of fission induced by nuclear and electromagnetic interactions in a secondary lead target were measured. They were found to vary smoothly as a function of proton and neutron number of the fissioning system, also for nuclei with large ground-state shell effects near the 126-neutron shell. No stabilization against fission was observed for these nuclei at low excitation energies. Consequences for the expectations on the production cross sections of super-heavy nuclei are discussed., Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures

The high-resolution spectrometer FRS at GSI Darmstadt provides the full isotopic and kinematical identification of fragmentation residues in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Recent measurements of the isotopic distribution of heavy projectile fragments led to a very surprising new physical finding: the residue production does not lose the memory of the N/Z of the projectile ending up in a universal de-excitation corridor; an ordering of the residues in relation to the neutron excess of the projectile has been observed. These unexpected features can be interpreted as a new manifestation of multifragmentation. We have found that at the last stage of the reaction the temperature of the big clusters subjected to evaporation is limited to a universal value. The thermometer to measure this limiting temperature is the neutron excess of the residues., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, corrected some misprints in the abstract, to be published in "Yadernaya Fizika" as a proceeding of the "VII International School Seminar on Heavy-Ion Phyics", Dubna (Russia), May 27 - June 1, 2002