Studies of the 136Xe+p and 136Xe+12C reactions at 1 GeV per nucléon with the SPALADIN setup

Abstract

Obtaining a correct description of spallation, in which a proton of energy in the GeV-range interacts with an atomic nucleus, is essential for different research domains in basic nuclear physics, advanced nuclear technologies, space- and medical research. Such a description is based on models developed within the larger framework of nuclear reactions at relativistic beam energies, where a complex interplay of different nuclear excitation and de-excitation mechanisms occurs. At the initial intranuclear cascade stage of the interaction of the target- and projectile nuclei a highly excited prefragment-nucleus is formed, whose decay towards stability could proeceed via different mechanisms such as sequential particle evaporation, asymmetric binary decay, fission in the case of fissile nuclei but also the so-called multifragmentation. Employing the inverse kinematics technique by impinging a heavy relativistic beam of 136Xe on light targets of liquid hydrogen and 12C, the SPALADIN experimental setup detects in coincidence neutrons and charged residues with Z ≥ 2, which include the heavy residual nucleus and the light mass fragments emitted in the course of its formation.