Signature of exotic nuclear shapes from IMF-IMF correlations

Fragmentation of exotic nuclear shapes like toroids and bubbles predicted to be formed in intermediate energy heavy ion central collisions within the framework of BUU type calculations is studied in a statistical model with microcanonical simulation of prompt multifragmentation. The relatively smaller interfragment Coulomb interaction energy in the exotic shapes results in an enhanced production of intermediate mass fragments (IMFs) compared to that in the compact spherical configuration. The differences in the spatial geometry of the fragmenting shapes manifested in the inclusive charge distributions are further projected sharply in the IMF-IMF correlations. We exploit the correlation function to delineate the different fragmenting configurations. ((orig.))