Effects of the mean-field dynamics and the phase-space geometry on the cluster formation

A model allowing to simulate the production of clusters is developed and applied to heavy-ion reactions at intermediate energies. The model investigates the geometrical properties of the dynamically generated one-body phase space. The collision process is entirely governed by the Landau-Vlasov model, which provides the time evolution of the one-body phase-space distribution. Particles emitted during successive time intervals of the dynamics are gathered together into subensembles to which a clusterization procedure is applied. Comparison with the experimental data for the Ar(65 MeV/nucleon) + Al reaction shows that the average behaviour of particle-dependent global observables is correctly reproduced within this framework. These results point out that the studied global properties of heavy-ion collisions greatly rely on the dynamical effects of the primary non-steady stage of the nuclear reaction.