Heavy ion collisions at intermediate energy

Two types of measurement are proposed for the analysis of heavy ion collisions in the range of energy of 20--200 MeV/A. First, measurement of the longitudinal component of the kinetic energy of the collision products characterizes the impact parameter of the collision. The distribution in this quantity allows the dissipation in the theoretical models to be determined. A second kind of measurement is that of the coefficients of a spherical harmonic expansion of the angular distribution of the products. Besides giving independent information on the impact parameter and reaction dynamics, measurement of these coefficients offers the possibility of measuring the stiffness of the equation of state of nuclear matter. These ideas are explored in the context of a hydrodynamic model for the collision. In the purely hydrodynamic model there is a large measurable asymmetry in the angular distribution, but the dependence on the equation of state is small