Nuclear fragmentation induced by low-energy antiprotons within a microscopic transport approach

Within the framework of the Lanzhou quantum molecular dynamics (LQMD) transport model, the nuclear fragmentation induced by low-energy antiprotons has been investigated thoroughly. A coalescence approach is developed for constructing the primary fragments in phase space. The secondary decay process of the fragments is described by the well-known statistical code. It is found that the localized energy released in antibaryon-baryon annihilation is deposited in a nucleus mainly via pion-nucleon collisions, which leads to the emissions of pre-equilibrium particles, fission, evaporation of nucleons and light fragments etc. The strangeness exchange reactions dominate the hyperon production. The averaged mass loss increases with the mass number of target nucleus. A bump structure in the domain of intermediate mass for heavy targets appears owing to the contribution of fission fragments.