Measurement of the non-fusion yield in 16O + 16O at E/sub cm/ = 34 MeV

Time-dependent Hartree-Fock calculations, have indicated that at sufficiently high bombarding energies collisions between two heavy ions for small impact parameters do not lead to compound nucleus formation, but rather proceed to deeply inelastic scattering. At E/sub cm/ = 34 MeV the partial waves L = O to 6 do not lead to fusion. An experiment to measure the cross section for the 16O(16O,16O*)16O* reaction to determine whether the predictions of TDHF calculations are, in fact, borne out was performed. Energy spectra for one reaction partner of the 16O + 16O coincidences and the Wilczynski plot for this system are shown. The inelastic cross section for this reaction peaks at theta/sub cm/ = 900. A peak in the inelastic yield occurs for Q = -14 MeV. Although the data are not in quantitative agreement with the theoretical predictions, they are qualitatively consistent. The agreement would be considerably improved if one assumed that the collison is not yet fully damped for the partial wave L = 6. 2 figures