Projectile fragment emission in the fragmentation of ⁵⁶Fe on C, Al and CH₂ targets at 471 A MeV

The emission angle and the transverse momentum distributions of projectile fragments produced in the fragmentation of ⁵⁶Fe on CH₂, C and Al targets at 471 A MeV are measured. It is found that for the same target, the average value and width of the angular distribution decrease with an increase of the projectile fragment charge; for the same projectile fragment, the average value of the distribution increases and the width of the distribution decreases with increasing the target charge number. The transverse momentum distribution of a projectile fragment can be explained by a single Gaussian distribution and the averaged transverse momentum per nucleon decreases with the increase of the charge of projectile fragment. The cumulated squared transverse momentum distribution of a projectile fragment can be explained well by a single Rayleigh distribution. The temperature parameter of the emission source of the projectile fragment, calculated from the cumulated squared transverse momentum distribution, decreases with the increase of the size of the projectile fragment. (authors)