From fission to multifragmentation

Heavy ion collisions are known to have different reaction mechanisms depending on the beam energy. While binary fission is the most likely outcome at energies about 1-2 MeV/A, at intermediate energies (say above 5 MeV/A) several medium size fragments are usually produced. Here the authors report on a study on how this change of mechanisms takes place. They use the Bohr-Wheeler transition state method of binary fission generalized to higher breakup modes. They also contrast the kinematical observables obtained under a sequential production of fragments with those of a simultaneous multifragmentation with the hope of identifying the breakup mechanism