Isospin Dependence of Collective Transverse Flow in Nuclear Collisions

Abstract

Collective transverse flow of nuclear matter was measured as a function of the ratio of neutrons to protons ( $N/Z$) of the interacting system for the first time. The collisions of three isotopically pure beams of $A\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}58\mathrm{nuclei}$ with two $A\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}58\mathrm{targets}$ were studied at 55 MeV/nucleon. The results for the flow variables demonstrate the sensitivity of transport models to elementary aspects of the nucleon-nucleon collisions.