spallation reaction

spallation reaction [spȯ′lā·shən rē‚ak·shən]

(nuclear physics)

spallation

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Spallation reaction

A nuclear reaction that can take place when two nuclei collide at very high energy (typically 500 MeV per nucleon and up), in which the involved nuclei are either disintegrated into their constituents (protons and neutrons), light nuclei, and elementary particles, or a large number of nucleons are expelled from the colliding system resulting in a nucleus with a smaller atomic number. This mechanism is clearly different from fusion reactions induced by heavy or light ions with modest kinetic energy (typically 5 MeV per nucleon) where, after formation of a compound nucleus, only a few nucleons are evaporated. A spallation reaction can be compared to a glass that shatters in many pieces when it falls on the ground. The way that the kinetic energy is distributed over the different particles involved in a spallation reaction and the process whereby this results in residues and fluxes of outgoing particles are not well understood. See Nuclear fusion

Spallation reactions take place in interstellar space when energetic cosmic rays (such as high-energy protons) collide with interstellar gas, which contains atoms such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. This leads to the synthesis of light isotopes, such as ⁶Li, ⁹Be, ¹⁰Be, and ¹¹B, that cannot be produced abundantly in nucleosynthesis scenarios in the big bang or stellar interiors.

In terrestrial laboratories spallation reactions are initiated by bombarding targets with accelerated light- or heavy-ion beams, and they are used extensively in basic and applied research, such as the study of the equation of state of nuclear matter, production of energetic neutron beams, and radioactive isotope research. See Neutron diffraction, Relativistic heavy-ion collisions, Slow neutron spectroscopy