N/Z and N/A dependence of balance energy as a probe of symmetry energy in heavy-ion collisions

Abstract

We study the N/Z and N/A dependence of balance energy (E${}_{bal}$) for isotopic series of Ca having N/Z (N/A) varying from 1.0 to 2.0 (0.5 to 0.67). We show that the N/Z (N/A) dependence of E${}_{bal}$ is sensitive to symmetry energy and its density dependence at densities higher than saturation density and is insensitive towards the isospin dependence of nucleon-nucleon (nn) cross section and Coulomb repulsion. We also study the effect of momentum dependent interactions (MDI) on the N/Z (N/A) dependence of E${}_{bal}$. We find that although MDI influences the E${}_{bal}$ drastically, the N/Z (N/A) dependence of E${}_{bal}$ remains unchanged on inclusion of MDI.