Effect of nuclear shape of neutron rich isotopes in heavy ion reactions

The effect of projectile shape on cross sections and momentum distributions of fragments from heavy ion reactions is studied. We propose a new approach that implements the underlying symmetries of each isotope with a few parameters directly in the density. Various densities and their nuclear structure are analyzed in the reactions of {sup 12}C and {sup 11}Li, {sup 11}Be, and {sup 11}C on a carbon target. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}