EQUILIBRIUM VERSUS NONEQUILIBRIUM EMISSION IN PROJECTILE FRAGMENTATION FOR THE AR-40-NAT SYSTEM AT 58.7-A MEV(AG)

Coincidences between light-charged particles and projectile-like fragm ents were measured at forward angles. An analysis of the data based on a kinematical reconstruction of the emitter evidences a thermalized e mission for protons and a large non-equilibrium alpha emission. From t he slope of the equilibrated component of the particle energy spectra in the emitter frame, high temperatures in the primary projectile, up to approximately 4.5 MeV, have been extracted and are found to increas e as the atomic number of the projectile-like fragment decreases.