Deacy of heavy and superheavy nuclei formed in a variety of nuclear reactions

Abstract

This thesis covers a comprehensive analysis of the mechanism involved in the decay of compound nuclei formed in a variety of nuclear reactions lying in low energy regime. The use of various projectiles like n, p, α or heavy-ions leads to the formation of compound nuclei covering different mass regions of the periodic table ranging from light mass to super-heavy mass region. The methodology of Dynamical Cluster-decay Model (DCM) is employed to account for the decay of nuclear systems and the relevant information is extracted from the fragmentation structures and preformation profiles. This investigation of the dynamics governing the decay of compound nuclei not only help in enhancing the overall understanding of the dynamics involved, but also provide idea about certain properties which play eminent role in deciding the fragmentation patterns. Here, the relative role of angular momentum and excitation energy of the decaying system is investigated along with the significance of nuclear deformations and orientations of the decaying fragments. Additionally, the role of the fragmentation potential has also been exercised by using two versions of proximity potential-Prox77 and Prox00 and two limits of moment of inertia-sticking (IS) and non-sticking moment of inertia (INS) which helps in defining the centrifugal potential term. Moreover, the decay dynamics is also investigated for the inclusion of asymmetry dependence in Bulk constant (α) of liquid drop term and the radius term used in DCM calculations, for the inclusion of mass dependence in level density parameter (a(A)) and the suitable information is imparted from the modified fragmentation patterns.