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e1e-mail: [email protected] \thankstexte2e-mail: [email protected] \thankstexte3e-mail: [email protected] \thankstexte4e-mail: [email protected] \thankstexte5e-mail: [email protected] \thankstexte6e-mail: [email protected]

11institutetext: Department of Physics, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea22institutetext: Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA33institutetext: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA44institutetext: RIKEN Nishina Center, Hirosawa 2-1, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan55institutetext: Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kita-shirakawa, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan66institutetext: Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan77institutetext: Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Centro de Tecnologia, Bloco A, 21941-909 Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil88institutetext: Departamento de Engenharia Nuclear, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais UFMG, Av. Presidente Antônio Carlos, 6.627, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil99institutetext: Institut für Kernphysik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, D-64289 Darmstadt, Germany1010institutetext: GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Planckstrasse 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany1111institutetext: Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland1212institutetext: Division of Experimental Physics, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia1313institutetext: Department of Physics, Rikkyo University, Nishi-Ikebukuro 3-34-1, Tokyo 171-8501, Japan1414institutetext: Department of Life and Environmental Agricultural Sciences, Tottori University, Tottori 680-8551, Japan1515institutetext: Rare Isotope Science Project, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon 34047, Republic of Korea1616institutetext: Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan1717institutetext: Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, ul. Radzikowskiego 152, 31-342 Kraków, Poland1818institutetext: Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA1919institutetext: Nikhef National Institute for Subatomic Physics, Amsterdam, Netherlands2020institutetext: Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China2121institutetext: Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA

Isoscaling in central Sn+Sn collisions at 270 MeV/u

J.W. Lee\thanksrefe1,addr1    M.B. Tsang\thanksrefe2,addr2,addr3    C.Y. Tsang\thanksrefaddr2,addr3    R. Wang\thanksrefe3,addr2    J. Barney\thanksrefaddr2,addr3    J. Estee\thanksrefaddr2,addr3    T. Isobe\thanksrefe5,addr4    M. Kaneko\thanksrefaddr4,addr5    M. Kurata-Nishimura\thanksrefaddr4    W.G. Lynch\thanksrefe4,addr2,addr3    T. Murakami\thanksrefe6,addr4,addr5    A. Ono\thanksrefaddr6    S.R. Souza\thanksrefaddr7,addr8    D.S. Ahn\thanksrefaddr4    L. Atar\thanksrefaddr9,addr10    T. Aumann\thanksrefaddr9,addr10    H. Baba\thanksrefaddr4    K. Boretzky\thanksrefaddr10    J. Brzychczyk\thanksrefaddr11    G. Cerizza\thanksrefaddr2    N. Chiga\thanksrefaddr4    N. Fukuda\thanksrefaddr4    I. Gasparic\thanksrefaddr12,addr4,addr9    B. Hong\thanksrefaddr1    A. Horvat\thanksrefaddr9,addr10    K. Ieki\thanksrefaddr13    N. Ikeno\thanksrefaddr14    N. Inabe\thanksrefaddr4    G. Jhang\thanksrefaddr2    Y.J. Kim\thanksrefaddr15    T. Kobayashi\thanksrefaddr6    Y. Kondo\thanksrefaddr16    P. Lasko\thanksrefaddr17    H.S. Lee\thanksrefaddr15    Y. Leifels\thanksrefaddr10    J. Łukasik\thanksrefaddr17    J. Manfredi\thanksrefaddr2,addr3    A.B. McIntosh\thanksrefaddr18    P. Morfouace\thanksrefaddr2    T. Nakamura\thanksrefaddr16    N. Nakatsuka\thanksrefaddr4,addr5    S. Nishimura\thanksrefaddr4    H. Otsu\thanksrefaddr4    P. Pawłowski\thanksrefaddr17    K. Pelczar\thanksrefaddr11    D. Rossi\thanksrefaddr9    H. Sakurai\thanksrefaddr4    C. Santamaria\thanksrefaddr2    H. Sato\thanksrefaddr4    H. Scheit\thanksrefaddr9    R. Shane\thanksrefaddr2    Y. Shimizu\thanksrefaddr4    H. Simon\thanksrefaddr10    A. Snoch\thanksrefaddr19    A. Sochocka\thanksrefaddr11    T. Sumikama\thanksrefaddr4    H. Suzuki\thanksrefaddr4    D. Suzuki\thanksrefaddr4    H. Takeda\thanksrefaddr4    S. Tangwancharoen\thanksrefaddr2    Y. Togano\thanksrefaddr13    Z.G. Xiao\thanksrefaddr20    S.J. Yennello\thanksrefaddr18,addr21    Y. Zhang\thanksrefaddr20 (the Sπ\piRIT collaboration)
(Received: date / Revised version: date)
Abstract

Experimental information on fragment emissions is important in understanding the dynamics of nuclear collisions and in the development of transport model simulating heavy-ion collisions. The composition of complex fragments emitted in the heavy-ion collisions can be explained by statistical models, which assume that thermal equilibrium is achieved at collision energies below 100 MeV/u. Our new experimental data together with theoretical analyses for light particles from Sn+Sn collisions at 270 MeV/u, suggest that the hypothesis of thermal equilibrium breaks down for particles emitted with high transfer momentum. To inspect the system’s properties in such limit, the scaling features of the yield ratios of particles from two systems, a neutron-rich system of Sn132+Sn124{}^{132}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{124}\mathrm{Sn} and a nearly symmetric system of Sn108+Sn112{}^{108}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{112}\mathrm{Sn}, are examined in the framework of the statistical multifragmentation model and the antisymmetrized molecular dynamics model. The isoscaling from low energy particles agree with both models. However the observed breakdown of isoscaling for particles with high transverse momentum cannot be explained by the antisymmetrized molecular dynamics model.

journal: Eur. Phys. J. A

1 Introduction

During a collision involving heavy-ions at energies well above the Coulomb barrier, nuclear matter is driven through very different configurations. In the early stages, violent collisions between its constituents take place, causing matter to be heated up. If these collisions occur above the production thresholds, sub-atomic particles such as pions, for instance, may be produced StockR_PR_1986_135_259 ; SengerPeter_PPNP_2004_53_1 ; OnoAkira_PPNP_2019_105_139_HIC_dynamics ; IkenoNatsumi_PRC_2016_93_044612_AMD_SnSn300 ; HongJun_PRC_2014_90_024605 . Many particles are ejected in this pre-equilibrium stage XuHM_PRC_1994_50_1659 , carrying away an appreciable amount of energy from the system. At the same time, the relative collective motion between the colliding nuclei leads to the compression of nuclear matter and densities higher than the saturation density found in the core of normal nuclei such as lead IkenoNatsumi_PRC_2016_93_044612_AMD_SnSn300 ; BorderieB_PPNP_2019_105_82_Phase_Transition_Nuclei .

Dynamical treatments WolterHermann_PPNP_2022_125_103962 have been developed to study such early stages. The density, the isospin configuration, and the temperatures attained by the system are sensitive to the physics input parameters employed by the models WolterHermann_PPNP_2022_125_103962 ; XuHM_PRC_1994_50_1659 ; LiBaoAn_PRL_1997_78_1644 ; TanWP_PRC_2001_64_051901 ; JhangG_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_813_136016_pion_ratio . Therefore, important information on the Nuclear Equation of State (EOS) may be provided by these dynamical approaches. Determining the input parameters of the models using experimental observables is of particular interest, as some of them are closely related to the rate of equilibration of the system, providing deeper insight into the dynamics of the collisions.

After pre-equilibrium emission, a freeze-out configuration is reached and many fragments including protons and neutrons are emitted XuHM_PRC_1994_50_1659 . Its behaviors can be described both by dynamical OnoAkira_PPNP_2019_105_139_HIC_dynamics ; WolterHermann_PPNP_2022_125_103962 and statistical models BondorfJP_PR_1995_257_133_SMM ; DasCB_PR_2005_406_1 ; BotvinaAS_EPJA_2006_30_121 ; BorderieB_PPNP_2019_105_82_Phase_Transition_Nuclei . In the former case, it appears as a result of the dynamical path taken by the system. In the case of statistical models, a freeze-out configuration is assumed. In both cases, most of the excited fragments predicted by the models would decay before detection and, therefore, a de-excitation treatment BotvinaAS_NPA_1987_475_663 ; TanWP_PRC_2003_68_034609_ISMM must be applied before comparing theoretical predictions with the experimental data. Consequently, important vestiges of the freeze out configuration may be blurred by the de-excitation process.

In this context, the nuclear isoscaling phenomenon TsangMB_MSU_PRC_2001_64_054615_isoscaling_SMM_EES ; TsangMB_MSU_PRL_2001_86_5023_isoscaling_experiment , first reported in Ref. XuHS_MSU_PRL_2000_85_716_isoscaling for Sn+Sn reactions at 50 MeV/u, is a very useful tool as the ratios of yields from two different reactions (which differ mainly in the isospin composition) is weakly affected by the fragment de-excitation process TsangMB_MSU_PRC_2001_64_054615_isoscaling_SMM_EES , retaining information on the system’s configuration right after the violent stages of the reaction. Particularly, under certain conditions TsangMB_MSU_PRC_2001_64_054615_isoscaling_SMM_EES ; SouzaSR_PRC_2009_80_044606_isoscaling_symmetryenergy ; RamiF_PRL_2000_84_1120_FOPI_Isospin_tracing , it may be related to the symmetry energy, which makes this observable specially relevant to investigations on the nuclear EOS. The isoscaling analysis considers the ratio:

R21(N,Z)=Y2(N,Z)/Y1(N,Z),R_{21}(N,Z)=Y_{2}(N,Z)/Y_{1}(N,Z)\;, (1)

where Y1(N,Z)Y_{1}(N,Z) and Y2(N,Z)Y_{2}(N,Z) stand for the yields of species (N,Z)(N,Z), observed in two similar reactions “1” and “2” , where NN and ZZ respectively denote the neutron and proton numbers of the isotope. It has been found that this ratio follows a simple scaling law TsangMB_MSU_PRL_2001_86_5023_isoscaling_experiment ; TsangMB_MSU_PRC_2001_64_054615_isoscaling_SMM_EES

R21(N,Z)=Cexp(αN+βZ),R_{21}(N,Z)=C\exp(\alpha N+\beta Z), (2)

where α\alpha and β\beta are the scaling parameters and C is a normalization constant. By convention, reaction 2 is chosen to have a larger isospin asymmetry compared with that of reaction 1.

This scaling property can be derived in the framework of the grand-canonical ensemble TsangMB_MSU_PRC_2001_64_054615_isoscaling_SMM_EES . From it, simple relationships between the neutron and proton chemical potentials, μn\mu_{n} and μp\mu_{p}, respectively, and the scaling parameters are obtained:

Δμnμn(2)μn(1)=αT\Delta\mu_{n}\equiv\mu_{n}^{(2)}-\mu_{n}^{(1)}=\alpha T\; (3)

and

Δμpμp(2)μp(1)=βT.\Delta\mu_{p}\equiv\mu_{p}^{(2)}-\mu_{p}^{(1)}=\beta T\;. (4)

In these expressions, TT symbolizes the temperature at the freeze-out configuration and the superscripts (i=1,2i=1,2) represent reactions “1” or “2”.

Although the formal derivation is based on the grand-canonical ensemble, the isoscaling property is also found in nearly all statistical models TsangMB_MSU_PRC_2001_64_041603_isoscaling_condition , including versions of the Statistical Multifragmentation Model (SMM) which employ the micro-canonical and canonical ensembles SouzaSR_PRC_2009_80_044606_isoscaling_symmetryenergy . It has also been observed in the Antisymmetrized Molecular Dynamics (AMD) model OnoAkira_SpiRIT_PRC_2003_68_051601_isoscaling_AMD . Calculations based on the molecular dynamics approach DorsoCO_PRC_2006_73_044601 seem to indicate that the isoscaling may be observed even when the system has not yet attained thermal equilibrium. Furthermore, recent experimental results suggest that the parameters α\alpha and β\beta are sensitive to the mechanisms responsible for fragment production. These results call for further investigations on the nuclear isoscaling property.

Many experimental studies GeraciE_LNS_NPA_2004_732_173_isoscaling_experiment ; TrautmannW_2006_nuclex_0603027_isoscaling_ALADIN_INDRA ; FableQ_Arxiv_2022_2202_13850_CaCa_INDRA ; WuenschelS_TAMU_PRC_2009_79_061602_isoscaling_experiment ; YoungsM_TAMU_NPA_2017_962_61_isoscaling_experiment have investigated the isoscaling property in different systems at different bombarding energies. A close relationship between the parameter α\alpha and the symmetry energy coefficient CsymC_{\textrm{sym}} has been pointed out in Ref. TsangMB_MSU_PRC_2001_64_054615_isoscaling_SMM_EES . More specifically, denoting by ZiZ_{i} and AiA_{i} the atomic and mass numbers of the ii-th source, one has:

α4Csym[(Z1/A1)2(Z2/A2)2]/T.\alpha\approx 4C_{\textrm{sym}}[({Z_{1}}/{A_{1}})^{2}-({Z_{2}}/{A_{2}})^{2}]/T\;. (5)

This property has been examined in several theoretical SouzaSR_PRC_2009_80_044606_isoscaling_symmetryenergy ; BotvinaAS_JINR_PRC_2002_65_044610_isoscaling_ion_induce and experimental TrautmannW_2006_nuclex_0603027_isoscaling_ALADIN_INDRA ; FableQ_Arxiv_2022_2202_13850_CaCa_INDRA ; WuenschelS_TAMU_PRC_2009_79_061602_isoscaling_experiment ; YoungsM_TAMU_NPA_2017_962_61_isoscaling_experiment works. Studies found that the isoscaling parameter α\alpha and the (Z/A)2(Z/A)^{2} difference between the two sources are related WuenschelS_TAMU_PRC_2009_79_061602_isoscaling_experiment , and different isoscaling tendencies between the projectile-like fragments and the emitted fragments exist YoungsM_TAMU_NPA_2017_962_61_isoscaling_experiment . The INDRA-GSI collaboration extended this investigation to relativistic collision energies for carbon induced reactions on Sn isotopes LeFevreA_PRL_2005_94_162701_INDRA_Alladin .

In this work, we extend earlier investigations at low incident energies of Sn+Sn reactions to a collision energy (270 MeV/u). We concentrate on central mid-rapidity events, with impact parameters b<1.5b<1.5 fm. The scaling properties are studied as a function of the transverse momentum.

2 Experiment

The Sπ\piRIT experiment was performed at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory (RIBF) at RIKEN. The primary beams of 238U and 132Xe impinged on the Be target to produce secondary beams of Sn132,124{}^{132,124}\textrm{Sn} and Sn112,108{}^{112,108}\textrm{Sn} respectively, at 270 MeV/u. The beams bombarded on the isotopically enriched Sn124{}^{124}\textrm{Sn} and Sn112{}^{112}\textrm{Sn} targets with areal density of 608mg/cm2608\,\textrm{mg/cm}^{2} and 561mg/cm2561\,\textrm{mg/cm}^{2}, respectively. Four reactions with different neutron-to-proton ratios, N/ZN/Z, of the total system were measured: Sn132+Sn124{}^{132}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{124}\mathrm{Sn} (N/Z=1.56)(N/Z=1.56), Sn108+Sn112{}^{108}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{112}\mathrm{Sn} (N/Z=1.2)(N/Z=1.2), Sn112+Sn124{}^{112}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{124}\mathrm{Sn} (N/Z=1.36)(N/Z=1.36), and Sn124+Sn112{}^{124}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{112}\mathrm{Sn} (N/Z=1.36)(N/Z=1.36). In this work, we focus mainly on the most (N/Z=1.56)(N/Z=1.56) and least (N/Z=1.2)(N/Z=1.2) neutron rich systems.

Charged particles produced in the reactions were detected with the SAMURAI Pion Reconstruction and Ion-Tracker Time Projection Chamber (Sπ\piRIT-TPC) ShaneR_SpiRIT_NIMA_2015_784_513_spirittpc ; TangwancharoenS_SpiRIT_NIMA_2017_853_44_TPCGatingGrid ; BarneyJ_SpiRIT_RSI_2021_92_063302_spirittpc installed inside the SAMRURAI dipole magnet OtsuH_NIMB_2016_376_175_SAMURAIMagnet with a magnetic field of 0.5 T. The effective volume of the TPC is 1344 mm ×\times 864 mm ×\times 530 mm, and the target was placed at 15 mm upstream of the entrance window, resulting in an angular coverage of θ<80\theta<80^{\circ} with respect to the beam axis in the laboratory frame. Description of the associated trigger arrays located on the side and downstream of the TPC used to select central events can be found in Refs. LaskoP_NIMA_2017_856_92_KATANA ; KanekoM_NIMA_2022_1039_167010_KyotoArray . The Generic Electronics for TPCs (GET) was employed to read out the track signals. The analysis software Sπ\piRITROOT JhangGenie_SpiRIT_JKPS_2016_69_144_SpiRITROOT ; LeeJW_SpiRIT_NIMA_2020_965_163840_SpiRITROOT was developed for the track reconstruction of the charged particles. Detailed performance of the TPC and GET electronics as well as the software analysis codes have been published in  BarneyJ_SpiRIT_RSI_2021_92_063302_spirittpc ; JhangGenie_SpiRIT_JKPS_2016_69_144_SpiRITROOT ; IsobeT_SpiRIT_NIMA_2018_899_43_GET_electronics ; LeeJW_SpiRIT_NIMA_2020_965_163840_SpiRITROOT . Other technical issues including space charge correction and extending the dynamic range of the TPC electronics can be found in TsangCY_SpiRIT_NIMA_2020_959_163477_space_charge ; EsteeJ_SpiRIT_NIMA_2019_944_162509_tpcdynamicrange .

The cuboid-shaped Sπ\piRIT TPC lacks the azimuthal symmetry. In this work, we mainly analyze the data at the azimuthal angles, ϕ\phi, 30<ϕ<20-30^{\circ}<\phi<20^{\circ} and 160<ϕ<210160^{\circ}<\phi<210^{\circ} where the tracks are longest and the track quality is generally much better. The TPC efficiencies arising from the detector performance are determined by the track embedding method AndersonM_NIMA_2003_499_659_STARTPC using events generated from Monte Carlo simulations and GEANT-4. The reconstructed rigidity momentum/charge, p/Zp/Z and the mean energy loss per unit length dE/dx\left<dE/dx\right> were provided for each track. The resolution of the reconstructed momentum and dE/dx\left<dE/dx\right> for single tracks is 1.6% and 4.6 %, respectively EsteeJustinBrian_phdthesis_MichiganStateUniversity_2020 . The particle identification (PID) is obtained using the correlation plot of magnetic rigidity, p/Zp/Z, and energy loss, dE/dx\left<dE/dx\right>, of the detected particles, as shown in Fig. 1. Isotopes of pp, dd, tt, He3{}^{3}\mathrm{He}, 4He, He6{}^{6}\mathrm{He}, Li6{}^{6}\mathrm{Li}, and Li7{}^{7}\mathrm{Li} can be clearly identified. However, below p/Z<p/Z< 600 MeV/cc, the tt and He3{}^{3}\mathrm{He} PID lines merge. In this study, we mainly focus on particles in the mid-rapidity range y0=y_{0}= 0 - 0.4 with y0=y/yNNc.m.1y_{0}=y/y_{NN}^{c.m.}-1 where yy is the rapidity of the particle and yNNc.m.y_{NN}^{c.m.} is center-of-mass rapidity of the nucleon-nucleon system. Since the mid-rapidity gate eliminates tritons below p/Z<p/Z< 1000 MeV/cc, contamination from He3{}^{3}\mathrm{He} in triton spectra is minimal. On the other hand, contamination from triton in the 3He spectra has to be determined.

Some physics results regarding the symmetry energy constraints from the Sπ\piRIT experiments have been published. Charged pion multiplicities and ratios were published in Ref. JhangG_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_813_136016_pion_ratio and Ref. EsteeJ_SpiRIT_PRL_2021_126_162701_pion_ratio . Ref. KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD focused on ZZ=1 particles and comparisons of the rapidity distributions with the AMD modelsOnoAkira_PTP_1992_87_1185_AMD ; OnoAkira_PPNP_2019_105_139_HIC_dynamics . This paper provides a more comprehensive study than Ref. KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD and focuses on the transverse momentum spectra and yield ratios obtained from light charged fragments, specifically pp, dd, tt, 3He and 4He.

Refer to caption
Figure 1: Particle identification plot of energy loss, dE/dx\left<dE/dx\right> vs. magnetic rigidity, p/Zp/Z. The particles emitted from the Sn132+124Sn{}^{132}\textrm{Sn}+^{124}\textrm{Sn} collisions at 270 MeV/u are detected with the Sπ\piRIT-TPC.

To select central collisions, we assume the impact parameters increase monotonically with the charged particle multiplicity CavataC_PRC_1990_42_1760_reduced_impact_parameter ; BarneyJonathanElijah_phdthesis_MichiganStateUniversity_2019 . Very central collision events (b<b< 1.5 fm) similar to those analyzed in Ref. KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD are chosen for this work. The difference between this work and Ref. KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD for the rapidity spectra in y0=y_{0}= 0 - 0.4 (Fig. 2) is within 3 %. The charge multiplicity selection in both works is different. Indeed, events with multiplicities equal or more than 57 and 56 charged particles, for 132Sn+124Sn and 108Sn+112Sn respectively, are chosen in this work, while 56 and 55 are used in Ref. KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD . In both cases, the impact parameter gates of (b<b< 1.5 fm) is chosen. In this work, bmaxb_{\mathrm{max}} is defined to be the experimental bmaxb_{\mathrm{max}} of 7.52 fm in Sn132+Sn124{}^{132}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{124}\mathrm{Sn} and 7.13 fm in Sn108+Sn112{}^{108}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{112}\mathrm{Sn} while in Ref. KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD , bmaxb_{\mathrm{max}}=10 fm is defined by the sum of the radii for the projectile and target. These slight differences in the multiplicity gates do not affect the results of both works. The total statistics is increased as the tracks from both the left and right side of the TPC is used in the present work, whereas only the tracks in the right side of the TPC is used in Ref. KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD . These are the main reasons for the 3 % discrepancy. In any case, the isocaling ratios are unaffected by the slight discrepancies in the spectra.

Fig. 1 shows a typical PID plot of the charged particles obtained in the 132Sn+124Sn collisions. The heavier clusters with A >> 5 nuclei such as He6{}^{6}\textrm{He}, Li6{}^{6}\textrm{Li}, Li7{}^{7}\textrm{Li} are not included in the current analysis due to lack of statistics. To standardize the PID conditions, the center and width of dE/dx\left<dE/dx\right> of the PID line for each particle are fitted with the empirical Bethe-Bloch formula with Gaussian widths. Only tracks having PID probability larger than 70%70\% (50%50\% for He3{}^{3}\textrm{He}) and 2.2σ2.2\sigma width of dE/dx\left<dE/dx\right> are selected for the analysis.

The overall systematic uncertainties are estimated from the variations of track multiplicity, track quality LeeJW_SpiRIT_NIMA_2020_965_163840_SpiRITROOT and PID quality cuts TsangChunYuen_phdthesis_MichiganStateUniversity_2022 . In the region pT/A<p_{T}/A< 400 MeV/c, the statistical errors are smaller than systematic errors which are about 5% and 2% for the absolute yield and yield ratios, respectively. Outside of this region the statistic and systematic uncertainties increase with pT/Ap_{T}/A to exceed 15%. The error bars shown in this work include both the systematic and statistical errors.

3 Particle Spectra

Refer to caption
Figure 2: Differential multiplicity as a function of rapidity y0y_{0} for pp, dd, tt, 3He, and 4He from top to bottom panels from the collisions of Sn132+Sn124{}^{132}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{124}\mathrm{Sn} (black solid circles) and Sn108+Sn112{}^{108}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{112}\mathrm{Sn} (red open squares) reactions. The data points are compared to the AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})} (solid lines) on the left panels and AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})} (dotted lines) on the right panels.
Refer to caption
Figure 3: Differential multiplicity as a function of pT/Ap_{T}/A for pp, dd, tt, 3He, and 4He from top to bottom panels. Data points are compared to the AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})} (solid lines) on the left panels and AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})} (dotted lines) on the right panels for Sn132+Sn124{}^{132}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{124}\mathrm{Sn} (black) and Sn108+Sn112{}^{108}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{112}\mathrm{Sn} (red) reactions.

The experimental rapidity and transverse momentum spectra for ZZ=1 and 2 particles are shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, respectively, for the neutron rich system Sn132+Sn124{}^{132}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{124}\mathrm{Sn} (N/Z=1.56)(N/Z=1.56) (black circles) and the nearly symmetric system, Sn108+Sn112{}^{108}\mathrm{Sn}+{}^{112}\mathrm{Sn} (N/Z=1.20)(N/Z=1.20) (red squares). The data in both left and right panels in each figure are the same. Comparison of the data to the two different parameter sets of the AMD models, shown by solid (left panels) and dashed (right panels) lines, will be discussed in details later.

In all cases, the rapidity spectra show peaking near or at y0=0y_{0}=0 suggesting high degree of stopping. The slight asymmetry observed around y0=0y_{0}=0 for all particles is due to the inefficiencies in the TPC to detect target rapidity particles which are generally low in energy and emitted at backward angles in the laboratory frame. In the case of He3{}^{3}\mathrm{He}, the PID contamination from tritons is significant and the spectra peak is located slightly off y0=0y_{0}=0. For the analysis, we assume the spectra is symmetric at y0=0y_{0}=0 and only include data in y0=0y_{0}=0 - 0.40.4.

At mid rapidity, except for proton and He3{}^{3}\mathrm{He} isotopes, more particles, dd, tt and He4{}^{4}\mathrm{He} are produced in the neutron-rich systems. The same observation is also seen in Fig. 3 for particles with pT/A<280p_{T}/A<280 MeV/cc. On the contrary, more high energy particles including the neutron rich tritons, with pT/A>400p_{T}/A>400 MeV/cc, are produced from the nearly symmetric Sn108+Sn112{}^{108}\textrm{Sn}+{}^{112}\textrm{Sn} system than the neutron-rich one. This is surprising as one would expect that neutron-rich systems would produce more neutron-rich isotopes at all energies. One explanation could be that high energy particles are produced in a dynamical and non-equilibrium environment and that the hot participant zone is rather neutron deficient.

4 Yield Ratios and Isoscaling

It has been shown that isoscaling occurs only when the two systems have nearly the same temperature TsangMB_MSU_PRC_2001_64_041603_isoscaling_condition . Since the absolute temperature cannot be directly measured, we use the established isotope thermometers based on the double ratio of hydrogen and helium species

RHHe=[Y(d)Y(4He)]/[Y(t)Y(3He)]R_{\textrm{H}-\textrm{He}}=[Y(d)Y(^{4}\textrm{He})]/[Y(t)Y(^{3}\textrm{He})] (6)

to examine the relative temperature increase with particle energy in both reactions:

THHe(MeV)=14.29log(1.59RHHe).T_{\textrm{H}-\textrm{He}}\,\,\textrm{(MeV)}=\frac{14.29}{\log\left(1.59\,R_{\textrm{H}-\textrm{He}}\right)}\;. (7)

We note that the isotope temperature can be derived in the grand-canonical ensemble AlbergoS_INCA_1985_89_1 and it is found to be independent of N/ZN/Z ratio of the source in low energy collisions KundeGJ_PLB_1998_416_56_HHeTemperature .

The upper panel of Fig. 4 displays the H-He temperature evaluated from Eq. (7). The TH-HeT_{\textrm{H-He}} for both neutron rich (solid circles) and the near-symmetric (open squares) systems are nearly the same for low energy particles. The temperatures increases slowly from around 8 MeV to 10 MeV with increasing pT/Ap_{T}/A. Above 280 MeV/cc, temperatures start to increase dramatically. Furthermore, the temperatures of the two systems begin to differ. Above 400 MeV/cc the temperature of the near-symmetric system is higher than that of the neutron rich system. The increasing differences in temperatures with pT/Ap_{T}/A indicates that the Sn+Sn collisions studied here (with incident energy of 270 MeV/u) do not form fully equilibrated systems.

The increase in H-He temperature as a function of the surface velocity of the particles, has been observed in Refs. WangJ_PRC_2005_72_024603 ; BougaultR_JPG_47_025103 . In previous work, a drop of the temperature is also observed at very high velocity. We do not see the drop. This could be a consequence of the dramatic decrease of the cross-sections for pT/Ap_{T}/A above 280 MeV/cc.

Refer to caption
Figure 4: Upper panel: The H-He temperature evaluated using the isotope ratios of Eq. 6 & 7. Lower panel: The isoscaling yield ratio R21R_{21} as a function of transverse momentum for different particles. The break line at pT/Ap_{T}/A = 280 MeV/cc show different trend of isoscaling for particles with low (left side of the line) and high (right side of the line) pT/Ap_{T}/A. The horizontal solid lines for pT/A<p_{T}/A< 280 MeV/cc correspond to the average fitted values of R21R_{21} using Eq. 2. The dashed lines are used to guide the eye highlighting the trends of the data for different particles.

Next, we focus on the spectral ratio of isotope yields R21(N,Z)R_{21}(N,Z) of the ZZ=1 and 2 particles, observed in the Sn132+Sn124{{}^{132}\textrm{Sn}}+{{}^{124}\textrm{Sn}} and Sn108+Sn112{{}^{108}\textrm{Sn}}+{{}^{112}\textrm{Sn}} systems. These are shown in the lower panel of Fig. 4 as a function of pT/Ap_{T}/A. The dotted lines connect data points providing visual guidance to the trends of the data for each particle. The vertical dashed line at pT/A=280p_{T}/A=280 MeV/cc marks the approximate region when the temperatures of the two systems start to differ.

The isotope ratios plotted to the left of the dashed line show isoscaling characteristics. In each (NZ=1N-Z=-1, 0 and 1) group, R21(N,Z)R_{21}(N,Z) values are nearly constant as a function of pT/Ap_{T}/A. Moreover, 3He behave like protons (NZ=1N-Z=-1) with ratio value smaller than 1, and 4He behave similarly to deuterons (NZ=0N-Z=0) with higher ratio value than protons. The tritons (NZ=1N-Z=1) have the highest ratio values as expected from isoscaling.

The R21R_{21} ratios for the five particles with pT/A<p_{T}/A< 280 MeV/cc are plotted as a function of NN and ZZ, in the left panels of Fig 5. The three parameters α\alpha, β\beta and CC are simultaneously fitted and the resulting isoscaling fits are shown as lines in the figure. The two fitted lines of the data for the isotopes with ZZ = 1 and 2 are shown separately in the top left panel, where the slopes of the lines represent the fit parameter α\alpha = 0.29. The three fitted lines for the isotones with NN = 0, 1 and 2 are shown on the bottom left panel as a function of ZZ and the slopes represent the fit parameter β\beta = -0.23. In the absence of Coulomb, protons and neutrons should behave similarly and one would expect α\alpha and β\beta to have similar values but opposite signs. This has been observed in most of the previous studies of isoscaling. In this case, the magnitude of the α\alpha value is larger than the β\beta value. The isoscaling ratios obtained from these fits are plotted as solid horizontal lines in the bottom panel of Fig. 4 to the left of the vertical dashed line.

In contrast, except for protons, R21(N,Z)R_{21}(N,Z) for high energy isotopes shown on the right side of the vertical dashed line decreases with pT/Ap_{T}/A. Furthermore, the lines from different isotopes cross over each other. In the case of N=2N=2 particles (triton and 4He), R21R_{21} falls off suddenly above pT/A=p_{T}/A= 280 MeV/cc with the largest drop exhibited by tritons. This reflects the sharper drop in the tt and 4He particle spectra at the high energy. The right panels of Fig. 5 show the ratios R21R_{21} plotted as a function of NN and ZZ in the range of pT/A400p_{T}/A\geq 400 MeV/cc. R21R_{21} values for t, He3{}^{3}\mathrm{He} and 4He have nearly the same values leading to the breakdown of isoscaling. The lines connecting the isotope (upper right panel) and isotone (lower right panel) data points serve only to guide the eye and provide a contrast trends of the R21R_{21} values between fragments with low (left panels) and high (right panels) transverse momentum.

It is also interesting to note that R21R_{21} is less than 1 for all high energy isotopes. For isotopes with pT/A500p_{T}/A\approx 500 MeV/cc, R21R_{21}\approx 0.5 for t, 3He and 4He, i.e. 50% less tritons are produced from the neutron-rich system of Sn132+Sn124{{}^{132}\textrm{Sn}}+{{}^{124}\textrm{Sn}} than that from the Sn108+Sn112{{}^{108}\textrm{Sn}}+{{}^{112}\textrm{Sn}} system. So far there is no explanation for the surprising result.

Refer to caption
Figure 5: In each panel, R21R_{21} values of Z=1 and 2 particles are plotted as a function of NN and ZZ in the top and bottom panels, respectively. In the left panels, the lines are fits with Eq. (2) performed for particles with pT/A<p_{T}/A< 280 MeV/cc. The values of α\alpha and β\beta noted on the top corners of the panels correspond to the slope of the fitted lines. In the right panels, the data shown for pT/ApT/A\geq 400 MeV/cc do not follow Eq. (2), and the lines joining the data points are mainly used to guide the eyes.

5 Model Comparisons

The isoscaling ratios R21(N,Z)R_{21}(N,Z) of the ZZ = 1 and 2 particles, obtained from the experimental yields measured in the Sn132+Sn124{{}^{132}\textrm{Sn}}+{{}^{124}\textrm{Sn}} and Sn108+Sn112{{}^{108}\textrm{Sn}}+{{}^{112}\textrm{Sn}} systems, are shown in Fig. 6. In each panel, data are compared to the models; SMM (horizontal lines in the top panel), AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})} and AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})} (hatched bands in the middle and bottom pannels, respectively).

5.1 Statistical Multifragmentation Model

In order to check the extent to which the isoscaling properties observed experimentally may be understood in a scenario in which a thermal equilibrated source is formed and undergoes a prompt breakup, we employ the canonical version of the SMM model described in Refs. SouzaSR_NPA_2019_989_69_ISMM ; TanWP_PRC_2003_68_034609_ISMM . Many different sources contribute to the actual data whereas a single source is employed in the calculation due to the computational effort needed to generate a source distribution. The model assumes a breakup volume three times larger than that of the source at normal density, and breakup temperature T=8T=8 MeV. The mass and atomic numbers of the decaying source associated with the 132Sn+124Sn system are N2=93N_{2}=93 and Z2=79Z_{2}=79, whereas N1=71N_{1}=71 and Z1=71Z_{1}=71 are used in the case of the 108Sn+112Sn system. These values have been selected in order to obtain a good agreement with the measured R21R_{21} ratios. Different source compositions lead to slightly different R21R_{21} values and, therefore, those adopted in this work should be seen as average values. The predicted isotope ratios R21R_{21} are shown as horizontal solid lines in the top panel of Fig. 6.

Refer to caption
Figure 6: Isotope yield ratios compared with the models: SMM (top), AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})} (middle) and AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})} (bottom). The data are the same in all panels. The break line at pT/Ap_{T}/A = 280 MeV/cc show different trend of isoscaling for particles with low (left side of the line) and high (right side of the line) pT/Ap_{T}/A.

5.2 Asymmetrized Molecular Dynamics Model

In Ref. KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD , the AMD model OnoAkira_PTP_1992_87_1185_AMD ; OnoAkira_PPNP_2019_105_139_HIC_dynamics has been employed to describe the rapidity distributions of ZZ = 1 particles (top six panels in Fig. 2). The time evolution of the system is calculated by AMD until t=300t=300 fm/cc. The productions of light charged particles and their properties are almost determined at this primary stage. The employed version of AMD considers the process of cluster formation in the final state of every two-nucleon collision as N1+N2+B1+B2C1+C2N_{1}+N_{2}+B_{1}+B_{2}\to C_{1}+C_{2}, where each scattered nucleon NiN_{i} (i=1,2i=1,2) may form a cluster CiC_{i} with a surrounding particle(s) BiB_{i}. Clusters in the (0s)Ac(0s)^{A_{\text{c}}} configuration are considered for 1Ac41\leq A_{\text{c}}\leq 4. A formed cluster may be broken later, e.g., when a nucleon in the cluster is scattered by some other particle. The important model parameters include the medium effects on two-nucleon collision cross sections σNN\sigma_{NN} and cluster correlations. A set of parameters was chosen in Ref. OnoAkira_JPSCP_2020_32_010076_AMD_IMSigmaNN for a reasonable reproduction of the FOPI data of central Xe + CsI collisions at 250 MeV/nucleon ReisdorfW_FOPI_NPA_2010_848_366_HICsystematics ; AndronicA_PRC_2003_67_034907 , paying attention to the yields of light charged particles and heavier fragments, and a kind of stopping observable of various particle species. (The stopping observable is expressed as 12pT2/pz2\frac{1}{2}\langle p_{T}^{2}\rangle/\langle p_{z}^{2}\rangle with transverse and longitudinal momentum components, pTp_{T} and pzp_{z}, in the center-of-mass frame.) This parametrization of Ref. OnoAkira_JPSCP_2020_32_010076_AMD_IMSigmaNN is called AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})} here.

For the present systems of Sn + Sn collisions, the rapidity distributions predicted by AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})} are shown in the right panels of Fig. 2. The calculated distribution looks more transparent than the data and underestimates the yields of deuterons and especially that of tritons in the mid-rapidity region. To reduce this discrepancy in the rapidity distributions in Ref. KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD , another parametrization by adopting larger in-medium NNNN cross sections σNN\sigma_{NN} is chosen, so that the rapidity distributions become much narrower as shown in the left panels of Fig. 2. In addition, agreement with the triton multiplicity was improved by modifying the phase space so that the bound phase space for the relative coordinate between a two-nucleon pair and another nucleon becomes approximately (2π)3(2\pi\hbar)^{3} KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD . We label this parameter set as AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})}. A persistent observed problem is that the t/He3t/{}^{3}\mathrm{He} yield ratio is always underestimated, either by AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})} or AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})}.

In the present work, we adopt the Skyrme SLy4 effective interaction, which corresponds to a soft symmetry energy with the slope parameter L=46L=46 MeV. The calculation of stiff symmetry energy with L=108L=108 MeV was also analyzed in Ref. KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD . However, only the soft symmetry energy case is shown here since the data seems to have a better agreement with the soft symmetry energy case. The interaction with soft symmetry energy overestimates the deuteron binding energy and consequently may overestimate the deuteron yield PiantelliS_PRC_2019_99_064616 . However, such an effect of the binding energy or the bound phase space is largely canceled out when the double ratio is taken between two systems KanekoM_SpiRIT_PLB_2021_822_136681_Z1particles_AMD .

In Fig. 3, the pT/Ap_{T}/A spectra predicted by the AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})} and AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})} are depicted by the solid lines (left panels) and dotted lines (right panels) respectively. For proton and deuteron, the overall shapes and absolute yields are well explained with both AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})} and AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})}. On the other hand, for clusters with A3A\geq 3, the shapes of the pT/Ap_{T}/A spectra change significantly when the in-medium cross sections σNN\sigma_{NN} are increased from AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})} to AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})}, and the spectra extend to high pT/Ap_{T}/A in AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})} compared to the experimental data. The change from AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})} to AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})} is understood as a natural consequence of the increased σNN\sigma_{NN} to reduce pz2\langle p_{z}^{2}\rangle and increase pT2\langle p_{T}^{2}\rangle. To reproduce the experimental data of both the rapidity and pT/Ap_{T}/A distributions, both pz2\langle p_{z}^{2}\rangle and pT2\langle p_{T}^{2}\rangle of clusters need to be reduced, in particular for tritons.This is not possible by only changing σNN\sigma_{NN} in AMD. (The enhanced production of Z=2Z=2 isotope yields from the AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})} parameterizations in Fig. 2 suggests that adjusting the in-medium cluster correlations may also be needed.)

For the low energy particles with pT/A<280p_{T}/A<280 MeV/cc, the behaviour of R21R_{21} is qualitatively explained by both AMD(F){}^{(\textrm{F})} and AMD(S){}^{(\textrm{S})}. The predicted R21R_{21} values are shown as bands in the middle and bottom panels of Fig. 6. The widths of the bands represent statistical uncertainties. The predicted R21R_{21} for all particles except proton show slightly lower values. Similar to SMM, the R21R_{21} of tritons shows the largest difference in the model comparisons. Furthermore, the R21R_{21} ratios for tritons from AMD(S) underestimate the data more than the results from AMD(F).

An emergence of isoscaling in the AMD calculation is not trivial, because AMD does not assume any equilibrium state, and the fragments are produced within a rapidly evolving system OnoAkira_SpiRIT_PRC_2003_68_051601_isoscaling_AMD . However, during the dynamical evolution, clusters are repeatedly created and broken by the microscopic processes explained above, and therefore a situation similar to a chemical equilibrium may be realized before particles stop interacting. The isoscaling observed in AMD is consistent with such a picture, at least qualitatively. The precise values of R21R_{21} may depend on the details of the model ingredients. In the present calculation, all clusters with the (0s)Ac(0s)^{A_{\text{c}}} configuration (1Ac41\leq A_{\text{c}}\leq 4) are considered, including the dineutron and diproton correlations. When the strength of dinucleon correlation is varied, a test calculation shows that the composition of nucleons and clusters is affected. However, the steep drop of R21R_{21} of clusters at high pTp_{T} down to R21<1R_{21}<1 in the experimental data seems to be difficult to explain by a minor modification of the present AMD model. Direct information on free neutrons can be an important clue to solve this puzzle. It is available in the calculated results but is not shown in the present paper.

6 Summary and Conclusion

In summary, the isoscaling phenomenon of hydrogen and helium isotopes in Sn132+124Sn{}^{132}\textrm{Sn}+^{124}\textrm{Sn} and Sn108+112Sn{}^{108}\textrm{Sn}+^{112}\textrm{Sn} reactions at beam energy of 270 MeV/u is presented as a function of pT/Ap_{T}/A. Isoscaling phenomenon up to pT/A<280p_{T}/A<280 MeV/cc is found but breaks down for cluster particles with pT/A>280p_{T}/A>280 MeV/cc. The systems are found to form a thermal equilibrium not throughout the system but locally, which is evident from the increasing trend of H-He isotope ratio temperature with increasing pT/Ap_{T}/A. The isoscaling can be qualitatively explained by both the SMM and AMD models. When the yield spectra and isoscaling are compared to the predictions from the dynamical model AMD with two different parameter sets, we do not find any preference in increasing the default values of σNN\sigma_{NN} as observed in earlier study of Z=1 particles. While isoscaling breaks down for pT/A>280p_{T}/A>280 MeV/cc particles in the data, the isoscaling trend in AMD persist. Most intriguely, the high-momentum clusters are suppressed in the neutron-rich system compared to the more symmetric system suggesting the non-equilibrium nature of the emission process especially for the high energy particles.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Prof. Pawel Danielewicz for many fruitful discussions. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, USA under Grant Nos. DE-SC0021235, DE-NA0003908, DE-FG02-93ER40773, DE-FG02-93ER40773, DE-SC0019209, DE-SC0015266, DE-AC02-05CH11231, U.S. National Science Foundation Grant No. PHY-1565546, the Robert A. Welch Foundation (A-1266 and A-1358), the Japanese MEXT, Japan KAKENHI (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas) grant No. 24105004, JSPS KAKENHI Grants Nos. JP17K05432, JP19K14709 and JP21K03528, the National Research Foundation of Korea under grant Nos. 2018R1A5A1025563 and 2013M7A1A1075764, the Polish National Science Center(NCN) under contract Nos. UMO-2013/09/B/ST2/04064, UMO-2013/-10/M/ST2/00624, Computing resources were provided by FRIB, the HOKUSAI-Great Wave system at RIKEN, and the Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research at Michigan State University. S.R. Souza acknowledges partial support from CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ and the use of the supercomputer Lobo Carneiro, where part of the calculations have been carried out. This work has been done as part of the project INCT-Física Nuclear e aplicações, projeto No. 464898/2014-5.

Data Availability Statement

This manuscript has no associated data or the data will not be deposited. [Authors’ comment: The data can be available on request sent to the corresponding author.]

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