A Study on Inelastic Nuclear Reactions

Exploring collective modes and transport theory in inelastic nuclear reactions

Abstract

?reviewed. The most prominent collective degrees offreedom excited in these reactions are discussed within the framework providedby the natural hierarchy of their characteristic relaxation times. Both thequantal and classical aspects of these modes are described. The limitations ofthe Lagrangian treatment of heavy-ion reactions are pointed out, and a moregeneral approach using transport theory is outlined. This latter approach isillustrated by the Langevin, Master and Fokker-Planck equations. The four mostwidely studied collective modes are then described in detail: the damping ofthe relative motion; the mass asymmetry degree of freedom; the isobaric chargedistribution with iso-spin fluctuations and giant iso-vector modes; rotationaldegrees of freedom.