Probing the high-momentum component in the nucleon momentum distribution by nucleon emission from intermediate-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions

Abstract

The free nucleon emission from intermediate-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions is proposed as a possible probe to study the high-momentum tail (HMT) in nucleon momentum distribution of nuclei. Within the framework of the isospin-dependent Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (IBUU) transport model, the effect of HMT on free nucleon emission from the reactions of a light system $^{12}\mathrm{C}+^{12}\mathrm{C}$ and heavy one $^{124}\mathrm{Sn}+^{124}\mathrm{Sn}$ at the beam energies of 50 and 140 MeV/nucleon was investigated. We show that the probability of free nucleon emission, especially high-energy nucleons, is sensitive to the high-momentum component in nucleon momentum distribution of nuclei. The momentum distribution with HMT can lead to an increase of both high-energy free proton and neutron emission as compared to the free Fermi gas case for both symmetric and asymmetric nuclear systems.