One of the most interesting goals of the intermediate energy heavy ion research is to probe the properties of the nuclei under extreme conditions of density and temperature. The decay of the hot and compressed system formed in the collision can give information on the basic properties of the equation of state (EOS) of the nuclear matter. Moreover, the availability of Radioactive Ion Beams, with N/Z ratio very far from the stability valley, opened a new domain of research allowing to study the different effects of isotopic degree of freedom on the properties of nuclear matter. Due to the occurrence of different reaction mechanisms and to the large number of reaction products a complete experimental investigation needs an event by event analysis with an accurate determination of the primary properties of the decaying system.

The CHIMERA (Charged Heavy Ion Mass and Energy Resolving Array) device (see picture) is a 4π array for charged particles with high granularity and large coverage of the solid angle, dedicated to the study of heavy-ion reactions at Fermi energies and successfully operating at the LNS from 2003 in its full configuration. During these years different experimental campaigns were carried out following different research lines. Among them we can found the search for Isospin Effects on Nuclear Reaction Dynamics (see Activity Report pag 102), the study of Dynamical Fission (see Activity Report pag 98) and the Isospin Dependence of Heavy Residue Production (see Activity Report pag 106). Apart from these experimental campaigns, in these years an intense R&D activity has been carried out (see Activity Report pag 109) in order to improve the identification performances of the device, thus opening new possibilities in the field of heavy ions reactions with exotic beams and with stable beams at lower energy. Thanks to this improvements, a new campaign of experiment called EXOCHIM has begin in 2008, with the aim of using also the radioactive ion beams delivered by the EXCYT and FRIBs facilities at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS).

RESEARCH TEAM

F. Amorini, A. Anzalone [INFN-LNS], N. Arena, L. Auditore [Univ. Messina], G. Cardella, S. Cavallaro, E. De Filippo, U. Emanuele, E. Geraci, F. Giustolisi, L. Grassi, P. Guazzoni [Univ. Milano], E. La Guidara, G. Lanzalone, G. Lanzanò, I. Lombardo, S. Lo Nigro, A. Pagano, M. Papa, S. Pirrone, G. Politi, F. Porto, F. Rizzo, P. Russotto, L. Sperduto, A Trifirò [Univ. Messina], M. Trimarchi [Univ. Messina], G. Verde, L. Zetta [Univ. Milano].

MORE INFO

CHIMERA