Extended emission sources observed via two-proton correlations

Abstract

Two-proton correlations were measured as a function of the total energy and relative momentum of the protons. The correlation is analyzed for different orientations of the relative momentum, which allows information on the size and lifetime of the emission source to be extracted. The most energetic particles are emitted from a short-lived source of compound-nucleus dimensions while the lower-energy protons appear to be emitted from a source considerably larger than the compound nucleus.