The angular momentum dependence of large fragment production in long lived reactions is studied by measurements of fragment cross sections from reactions with substantially different angular momentum distributions and the coincident $\gamma$-ray multiplicity distributions. The results indicate that the primary $l$-wave distributions move to larger mean values and decrease in width and skewness with increasing mass symmetry in the decay channel. The results also confirm that the partition of angular momentum in kinetic energy relaxed heavy-ion reactions is that expected for a rigidly rotating intermediate.

• Received 8 September 1987

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.36.2713