Dr. Dworzecka is a major contributor to the field of heavy- ion collisions at low energy. She and her collaborators at the University of Maryland have developed a number of models for explaining the experimental data in this field. She is now proposing to extend her work to the following three areas of investigation: (1) the understanding of the nuclear exchange process and its relation to energy dissipation in damped heavy- ion collisions, (2) the microscopic study of nuclear dissipation and its relation to phenomenological models and (3) the study of collective motion within mean field dynamics. The purpose of the proposed research is to study the dynamical properties of nuclear processes as observed in heavy- ion collisions (i.e., nucleus-nucleus collisions) at low energy. This work will help us gain an insight into the mechanisms of reactions between complex nuclei and of the associated modes of excitation produced in damped nuclear collisions. This will be accomplished by concentrating on an understanding of the physical processes and on studying the physical observables in these processes and how they are related to the assumptions made in the models used for describing these processes. Dr. Dworzecka has worked on these problems for a number of years and has produced useful and internationally recognized results. She can be expected to make new advances in her proposed research, which will also involve undergraduates at George Mason University.
