Expansion Time of Hot Nuclei Produced by a Relativistic Deuteron Beam

The multifragmentation time scale is measured for d(4.4 GeV) + Au collisions by the analysis of the relative angle correlation function for the intermediate-mass fragments. The experiment was performed with the FASA 4 pi setup installed at the external beam of the superconducting accelerator Nuclotron. A combined approach of intranuclear cascade prescription followed by the Statistical Model of Multifragmentation is used for the analysis of the data. Multifragmentation of a target spectator is measured to be 100 fm/c (CL > 99.5%) delayed in relation to the collision moment. The latter is fixed by the registration of the fast fragment with Z = 4, produced at the collision moment.