This research project involves an international collaboration between Professors J. Natowitz and R. Schmitt of Texas A&M University (TAMU), and Professors M.E. Brendan and A. Menchacha Rocha of the Physics Institute of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). The collaborators intend to study properties of nuclei having very high excitation energies within temperatures approaching the average binding energy per nucleon. To the research they will bring to bear the latest experimental facilities such as: i) a new K500 superconducting cyclotron located at TAMU that will greatly increase the energy and mass of particles useful for nuclear experiments; ii) an advanced neutron ball multiplicity detector, which acts as a very powerful filter in studying both nuclear reaction mechanisms and the properties of highly excited nuclei; and iii) discrete phostron detectors, to be designed and constructed by the UNAM group, which will greatly enhance the utility of the neutron ball detector. The investigators will focus on important aspects of intermediate energy heavy ion collision using sophisticated techniques and equipment. The U.S. investigators have made valuable contributions to the present understanding of reaction and particle emission mechanisms, and the Mexican investigators also possess expertise in experimental heavy ion science at low and intermediate energies. The degree of interaction between the two experienced groups of researchers increases the likelihood that the project will be one of mutual benefit, thus fulfilling a prime objective of the U.S.-Mexico Program. Given the researchers past records, the potential for significant advance is very high.
