Isospin dependence of projectile-like fragment production at intermediate energies

The cross sections of fragments produced in 140 A MeV ^40,48Ca+⁹Be and ^58,64Ni+⁹Be reactions are calculated by the statistical abration-ablation (SAA) model and compared to the experimental results measured at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University. The fragment isotopic and isotonic cross section distributions of ⁴⁰Ca and ⁴⁸Ca, ⁵⁸Ni and ⁶⁴Ni, ⁴⁰Ca and ⁵⁸Ni, and ⁴⁸Ca and ⁶⁴Ni are compared and the isospin dependence of the projectile fragmentation is studied. It is found that the isospin dependence decreases and disappears in the central collisions. The shapes of the fragment isotopic and isotonic cross section distributions are found to be very similar for symmetric projectile nuclei. The shapes of the fragment isotopic and isotonic distributions of different asymmetric projectiles produced in peripheral reactions are found to be very similar. The similarity of the distributions are related to the similar proton and neutron density distributions inside the nucleus in framework of the SAA model.