Correlations between fragment mass and excitation energy in damped reactions

A recent claim of significant correlations between the fragment mass and excitation energy at a fixed total kinetic energy loss in a damped reaction is reexamined. It is shown that correlations of similar character and strength to those reported, result from incorrect assumptions made in the original analysis of kinematical coincidence data from the ¹⁶⁵Fe reaction at 504 MeV. Based on Monte Carlo simulations of the experiment, it is concluded, that within the uncertainties resulting from the experimental method, the data from the above reaction are consistent with a damped reaction mechanism, in which, for a fixed kinetic energy loss, the fragment excitation energy is uncorrelated with its mass.