A novel approach to light cluster production in heavy-ion collisions

The issue of cluster production in heavy-ion collisions is addressed in a new manner, by implementing cluster correlation into the quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) transport model. We demonstrate for the first time, the good potentialities of this popular transport approach in the description of light cluster production including the deuteron, triton, $^{3}$He and $\alpha$ particle in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies. Both the INDRA and FOPI experimental data of the total multiplicities of light clusters and the charge distributions of heavier fragments are reasonably reproduced by the unified approach. The effects of both the cluster binding energies and the pauli repulsion are also shown to play crucial roles in the production of clusters.