Multifragmentation in Heavy-Ion Reactions: Theory and Experiments

This book provides a collection of reviews of some of the recent developments in nuclear physics research at intermediate energies carried out throughout the world. It especially discusses the most essential aspects such as multifragmentation and associated phenomena in nuclear collisions with the incident energy region between a few MeV and several hundreds of MeV/nucleon. The topic of the book—multifragmentation—was chosen based on the fact that the entire heavy-ion collisions revolve around a fragmenting system, which is also thought to have a link to phase transitions. One of the unique and valuable dimensions of the book is that it has brought together many experts working in the field of intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions in various renowned laboratories across the world. It provides a thorough review of the recent developments in various phenomena, especially multifragmentation, observed at intermediate energy range both theoretically and experimentally. It extensively discusses the concept of nuclear symmetry, which is important for the nuclear physics and astrophysics communities. In addition, the book identifies potential research directions and technologies that will drive future innovations. The book will serve as a valuable reference for a larger audience.

Rajeev K. Puri is the chairperson of the Department of Physics, and the university coordinator of RUSA (National Higher Education Mission), Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. He earned his PhD in theoretical nuclear physics in 1991 from Panjab University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institut fur Theoretische Physik, Universitaet Tubingen, Germany, and a visiting scientist at Laboratoire de Physique Nucleaire, Universite de Nantes, France. Prof. Puri has been honored with several prestigious awards, some of which are the Young Scientist Research Award of the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India; S. N. Satyamurthy Memorial Award conferred by the Indian Physics Association; and various Himachal Excellence Awards. He has authored numerous research papers on theoretical nuclear physics and is on the board of academic/advisory bodies of about a dozen noted universities throughout India. His areas of research are on theoretical nuclear physics and computational physics, including fusion, fission, multifragmentation, collective flow, elliptical flow, stopping, thermalization, and sub-threshold particle production.

is an assistant professor of physics at Government Degree College Billawar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. He earned his PhD in theoretical nuclear physics from University of Jammu, India. He has been the organizing secretary of one national and three state-level science conferences and has delivered invited talks on various national and international conferences in India. He has also been invited to deliver a talk in the International Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics in Heavy-Ion Reactions (IWND2018), held at Huzhou University, Zhejiang, and to visit the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China. Dr Sharma has received letters of appreciation from several organizations, including one from NGPE, Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT). He has authored numerous research papers on physics and has been the chief guest editor of two abstract books.

is a professor at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. He earned his PhD in July 1994 from the Shanghai Institute of Nuclear Research (now Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, SINAP) and was promoted to be a full professor in December 1994 at SINAP shortly after graduation. He has been a Wang Kuan Cheng fellow at LPC Caen, France, and a visiting scholar at the Texas A&M University, USA. Prof. Ma was elected as an academician member of CAS in 2017 and a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 2015. He has served as the chief scientist of the 973 Program, a basic research national program of PR China. He has been honored with several national and international awards, including the OCPA AAA (Robert T. Poe Prize) in 2015. He has published more than 700 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals such as Nature, Science, Physics Reports, and Physics Review Letters. His major research interests are on heavy-ion collision physics from low energy to relativistic energies.