title: Characterizing Neutron-Proton Equilibration in Nuclear Reactions with Subzeptosecond Resolution.
abstract: We study neutron-proton equilibration in dynamically deformed atomic nuclei created in nuclear collisions. The two ends of the elongated nucleus are initially dissimilar in composition and equilibrate on a subzeptosecond time scale following first-order kinetics. We use angular momentum to relate the breakup orientation to the time scale of the breakup. The extracted rate constant is 3  zs^{-1}, which corresponds to a mean equilibration time of 0.3 zs. This technique enables new insight into the nuclear equation of state that governs many nuclear and astrophysical phenomena leading to the origin of the chemical elements.
authors.affiliation: Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.|Chemistry Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jedele
authors.affiliation: Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: McIntosh
authors.affiliation: Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hagel
authors.affiliation: Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.|Chemistry Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Heilborn
authors.affiliation: National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.|Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kohley
authors.affiliation: Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.|Chemistry Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: May
authors.affiliation: Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: McCleskey
authors.affiliation: Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Youngs
authors.affiliation: Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.|Chemistry Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zarrella
authors.affiliation: Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.|Chemistry Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yennello