Reactions between 58Ni nuclei at 15.1 MeV/u

This study was motivated by reports of the observation of ternary events in Kr- and Xe-induced reactions corresponding to the fast fission, or splitting, of projectile like products. The first of these reports, by Olmi et al., emphasized indirect evidence obtained from inclusive data from the reaction 86Kr + 166Er at 12.1 MeV/u. It was argued that the observed drift to low-Z products as a function of increasing energy loss could not be accounted for by charged-particle evaporation since the observed yield of charged particles was too low. It was concluded that the distribution of projectile fragments reflected an admixture of ternary events. More direct evidence for this hypothesis was presented by measurements of both projectile fragments, which indicated that relatively little energy loss is involved in the first step of the reaction and little charge transfer takes place prior to fission. The present study was intended to determine if such three-body events also occur in reactions with lighter projectiles to establish the extent of charge transfer and energy loss in the first step of the reaction. Results and preliminary conclusions are presented for reactions between 58Ni nuclei at 15.1 MeV/u and 58Ni reactions with mylar