Using hyperspherical coordinates to analyze many-particle fragmentation experiments
POSTER
Abstract
Analyzing and plotting the distribution of momenta for processes producing more than two fragments has long been a challenge for two reasons: lack of an appropriate representation and our inability to effectively plot and visualize more than two or three dimensions. While there is little that can be done about the latter, we propose using hyperspherical coordinates to address the former. Existing methods such as Newton and Dalitz plots give us information about the fragmentation process for three or four bodies, but neither can be easily generalized to fragmentation with an arbitrary number of particles. We will show that hyperspherical coordinates provide a systematic framework for doing exactly this. We will compare the suggested method with Newton and Dalitz plots for three-body breakup and discuss the similarities and differences between them.
*This work was supported by the Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, U. S. Department of Energy. BJ was also supported in part by DOE-SCGF (DE-AC05-06OR23100).