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Higher-order effects are calculated in the framework of the eigenchannel theory for elastic and inelastic electron-nucleus scattering in the energy region 100≤E≤250 MeV. A dispersion effect of about 12% is found for the elastic scattering on Ni58 at a momentum transfer q≈500 MeV/c. For inelastic scattering, the reorientation effect is discussed, in addition to the dispersion effect. The total higher-order effect changes the form factor for a hindered first-order transition by 50% at its minima. Furthermore, the dependence of the higher-order effects on the transition potentials of the virtual excitations, the model dependence, and the dependence on the energy E of the electron and the momentum transfer q are discussed. A closed formula for the S matrix is developed by calculating the eigenchannels in stationary perturbation theory.
With a schematic model for the nuclear matter we give a unified treatment of the real and imaginary parts of the elastic O16-O16 scattering potential. The model connects the parameters of the potential with the density and binding properties of the O16-O16 system and reproduces the structure of the excitation function quite well. It is shown that the nuclear compressibility can be obtained from the scattering data, and in the case of the S32 compound system there results an effective compressibility (finite quenching of the nuclei) of about 200 MeV.
The total particle-particle SJ matrix of O16 for spin J=1- and excitation energies between 15 and 27 MeV has been calculated in the eigenchannel reaction theory for several parameters of the Saxon-Woods potential and the two-body force. The many-body problem has been treated in the 1-particle-1-hole approximation. The photon channels have been included by perturbation theory. Surprisingly, the most important structure of the experimental cross sections is reproduced quite well in this simple approximation.
The Coulomb-fission cross sections for 132Xe and 148Nd incident on 238U are calculated in a dynamical classical model. In particular the influence of nuclear forces on the cross sections is studied. Since they are counteracting the Coulomb force, they diminish the cross sections for Coulomb fission significantly and shift the Coulomb barrier towards lower energies.
The theory of collective correlations in nuclei is formulated for giant resonances interacting with surface vibrations. The giant dipole states are treated in the particle-hole framework, while the surface vibrations are described by the collective model. Consequently, this treatment of nuclear structure goes beyond both the common particle-hole model (including its various improvements which take ground-state correlations into account) and the pure collective model. The interaction between giant resonances and surface degrees of freedom as known from the dynamic collective theory is formulated in the particle-hole language. Therefore, the theory contains the particle-hole structures and the most important "collective intermediate" structures of giant resonances. Detailed calculations are performed for 12C, 28Si, and 60Ni. A good detailed agreement between theory and experiment is obtained for all these nuclei, although only 60Ni is in the region where one would expect the theory to work well (50< A <110).
The influence of the Coulomb and nuclear forces on the Coulomb barrier in heavy-ion reactions is studied in a dynamical classical model. It is shown that the fusion barrier is smaller than the conventional Coulomb barrier of two underformed nuclei. The model yields a dynamical picture of the excitation mechanism of surface vibrations and giant resonances. It is suggested that-due to nuclear forces-the excitation of the octupole mode is strongly enhanced over the excitation of the quadrupole mode in experiments at the Coulomb barrier.
Continuum structure of Ca40
(1967)
The total S1- matrix of Ca40 has been calculated for excitation energies between 11 and 28 MeV. As typical results, the (γ, p0) and the total absorption cross sections are shown and compared with experiments. It is shown that the proper treatment of the one-particle, one-hole shell-model continuum accounts for most of the observed structures.
Using the eigenchannel reaction theory we performed coupled-channel calculations for Si28 and computed the differential cross section for Al27(p, γ0)Si28 over the energy range 6 MeV<Ep <16 MeV. The obtained angular distributions are nearly constant over the whole energy range and agree with the experiment in that they are almost isotropic. Thus, it seems that in this framework we can give a natural explanation for the peculiar behavior of the Al27(p, γ0)Si28 cross section.
The theory of Raman scattering is extended to include electric-quadrupole radiation. The results obtained are used to compute the elastic and Raman scattering cross sections of heavy deformed nuclei. The dipole and quadrupole resonances are described by a previously developed theory which includes surface vibrations and rotations. The computed cross sections are compared with experimental data for all those nuclei where both absorption and scattering cross sections are available. Some discrepances still exist in certain details; however, the over-all agreement between theory and experiment is very good.
In a collective treatment the energies of the giant resonances are given by the boundary conditions at the nuclear surface, which is subject to vibration in spherical nuclei. The general form of the coupling between these two collective motions is given by angular-momentum and parity conservation. The coupling constants are completely determined within the hydrodynamical model. In the present treatment the influence of the surface vibrations on the total photon-absorption cross section is calculated. It turns out that in most of the spherical nuclei this interaction leads to a pronounced structure in the cross section. The agreement with the experiments in medium-heavy nuclei is striking; many of the experimental characteristics are reproduced by the present calculations. In some nuclei, however, there seem to be indications of single-particle excitations which are not yet contained in this work.
The modes and frequencies of the giant quadrupole resonance of heavy deformed nuclei have been calculated. The quadrupole operator is computed and the absorption cross section is derived. The quadrupole sum rule is discussed, and the relevant oscillator strengths have been evaluated for various orientations of the nucleus. The giant quadrupole resonances have energies between 20 and 25 MeV. The total absorption cross section is about 20% of the giant dipole absorption cross section. Of particular interest is the occurrence of the quadrupole mode which is sensitive to the nuclear radius in a direction of approximately θ=(1/4)π from the symmetry axis. This may give information on the details of the nuclear shape.
A method is proposed by which the eigenstates and the eigenvalues of the S matrix, i.e., the eigenchannels, can be directly computed from the nuclear problem, for example, from the shell model. The calculation of all cross sections, viz., partial and total cross sections, is then exceedingly simple. The characteristics of the eigenchannels are described and the relation with other reaction theories is briefly discussed.
The unified model and the collective giant-dipole-resonance model are unified. The resulting energy spectrum and the transition probabilities are derived. A new approximate selection rule involving the symmetry of the γ vibrations is established. It is verified that the main observable features in the photon-absorption cross section are not influenced by the odd particle, despite the considerably richer spectrum of states as compared to even-even nuclei.
In heavy nuclei the damping of the giant resonance is due to thermalization of the energy rather than to direct emission of particles; the latter process is strongly inhibited by the angular-momentum barrier. The thermalization proceeds via inelastic collisions leading from the particle-hole state to two-particle-two-hole states. In heavy nuclei, several hundred such states are available at the energy of the giant dipole resonance. The rather large width of the giant resonance arises from the addition of many small partial widths of channels leading to the different two-particle-two-hole states. Both the density of the two-particle-two-hole states and the mean value of the interaction matrix elements between the particle-hole and two-particle-two-hole states are evaluated in a simplified square-well shell model. In a given nucleus the energy dependence of the widths is determined mainly by the density of states; the A dependence is determined mainly by the size of the matrix elements. For A ~ 200, we find 0.5 <= Γ <=2.5 MeV. The uncertainty in this value comes mostly from the uncertainty in the strength of the interaction. Representing the energy dependence of the width by a power law we find for the exponent the value ~ 1.8.
A method is developed for the calculation of resonant nuclear states which preserves as many features of the shell model as possible. It is an extension of the R-matrix theory. The necessary formulas are derived and a detailed description of the computational procedure is given. The method is valid up to the two-particle emission threshold. With the assumption of consecutive decay of the nucleus, the two-particle emission process can also be described. The treatment is antisymmetrized in all particles.
The energies of, and transition probabilities involving, the ground-state rotation bands of Os186, Os188, and Os190 are compared with a diagonalized rotation-vibration theory in which vibrations are considered to three phonon order. Agreement even in the Os transition region is found to be excellent. The theory appears to be particularly successful in predicting two phonon states in Os190.
The rotation-vibration model and the hydrodynamic dipole-oscillation model are unified. A coupling between the dipole oscillations and the quadrupole vibrations is introduced in the adiabatic approximation. The dipole oscillations act as a "driving force" for the quadrupole vibrations and stabilize the intrinsic nucleus in a nonaxially symmetric equilibrium shape. The higher dipole resonance splits into two peaks separated by about 1.5-2 MeV. On top of the several giant resonances occur bands due to rotations and vibrations of the intrinsic nucleus. The dipole operator is established in terms of the collective coordinates and the γ-absorption cross section is derived. For the most important 1- levels the relative dipole excitation is estimated. It is found that some of the dipole strength of the higher giant resonance states is shared with those states in which one surface vibration quantum is excited in addition to the giant resonance.
Collisions of Si(14.5A GeV+Au are investigated in the relativistic-quantum-molecular-dynamics approach. The calculated pseudorapidity distributions for central collisions compare well with recent experimental data, indicating a large degree of nuclear stopping and thermalization. Nevertheless, nonequilibrium effects play an important role in such complex multihadron reactions: They lead to a strong enhancement of the total kaon production cross sections, in good agreement with the experimental data, without requiring the formation of a deconfined quark-gluon plasma.
Angular and energy distributions of fragments emitted from fast nucleus-nucleus collisions (Ne--> U at 250, 400, and 800 MeV/N) are calculated with use of nuclear fluid dynamics. A characteristic dependence of the energy spectra and angular distributions on the impact parameter is predicted. The preferential sideward emission of reaction fragments observed in the calculation for nearly central collisions seems to be supported by recent experimental data.
We present an analysis of high energy heavy ion collisions at intermediate impact parameters, using a two-dimensional fluid-dynamical model including shear and bulk viscosity, heat conduction, a realistic treatment of the nuclear binding, and an analysis of the final thermal emission of free nucleons. We find large collective momentum transfer to projectile and target residues (the highly inelastic bounce-off effect) and explosion of the hot compressed shock zones formed during the impact. As the calculated azimuthal dependence of energy spectra and angular distributions of emitted nucleons depends strongly on the coefficients of viscosity and thermal conductivity, future exclusive measurements may allow for an experimental determination of these transport coefficients. The importance of 4π measurements with full azimuthal information is pointed out.
Two-particle correlation data are presented for the reaction Ar (800 MeV/ nucleon) + Pb. The experimental results are analyzed in the nuclear fluid dynamical and in a linear cascade model. We demonstrate that the collective hydrodynamical correlations dominate the measured two-particle correlation function for the heavy system studied. We discuss the transition from the early stages of the reaction which are governed by few nucleon correlations, to the later stages with their macroscopic flow which can only be reached using heavy colliding systems. The sensitivity of the correlation data on the underlying compressional dissipative processes is analyzed.
The fluid dynamical model is used to study the reactions 20Ne+238U and 40Ar+40Ca at Elab=390 MeV/nucleon. The calculated double differential cross sections d²ð/dΩdE exhibit sidewards maxima in agreement with recent experimental data. The azimuthal dependence of the triple differential distributions, to be obtained from an event-by-event analysis of 4π; exclusive experiments, can yield deeper insight into the collision process: Jets of nuclear matter are predicted with a strongly impact-parameter-dependent thrust angle θjet(b). NUCLEAR REACTIONS Ar+Ca, Ne+U, Elab=393 MeV/nucleon, fluid dynamics with thermal breakup, double differential cross sections, azimuthal dependence of triple differential cross sections, event-by-event thrust analysis of 4π exclusive experiments.
Measurement of complex fragments and clues to the entropy production from 42-137-MeV/nucleon Ar + Au
(1983)
Intermediate-rapidity fragments with A=1-14 emitted from 42-137-MeV/nucleon Ar + Au have been measured. Evidence is presented that these fragments arise from a common moving source. Entropy values are extracted from the mass distributions by use of quantum statistical and Hauser-Feshbach theories. The extracted entropy values of S/A≈2-2.4 are much smaller than the values expected from measured deuteron-to-proton ratios, but are still considerably higher than theoretically predicted values.
Proton spectra have been calculated for the reaction 12C(85 MeV/nucleon) + 197Au using a three-dimensional hydrodynamical model with viscosity and thermal conductivity and final thermal breakup. The theoretical results are compared to recent data. It is shown that the predicted flow effects are not observable as a result of the impact parameter averaging inherent in the inclusive proton spectra. In contrast, angular distributions of medium mass nuclei (A>3) in nearly central collisions can provide signatures for flow effects.
The time dependent Hartree-Fock approximation is used to study the dynamical formation of long-lived superheavy nuclear complexes. The effects of long-range Coulomb polarization are treated in terms of a classical quadrupole polarization model. Our calculations show the existence of "resonantlike" structures over a narrow range of bombarding energies near the Coulomb barrier. Calculations of 238U + 238U are presented and the consequences of these results for supercritical positron emission are discussed. NUCLEAR REACTIONS 238U + 238U collisions as a function of bombarding energy, in the time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation. Superheavy molecules and strongly damped collisions.
Energy spectra for p, d, t, 3He, 4He, and 6He from the reaction 12C+197Au at 35 MeV/nucleon are presented. A common intermediate rapidity source is identified using a moving source fit to the spectra that yields cross sections which are compared to analogous data at other bombarding energies and to several different models. The excitation function of the composite to proton ratios is compared with quantum statistical, hydrodynamic, and thermal models.
Microscopic calculations of collective flow probing the short-range nature of the nuclear force
(1984)
Collisions between two nuclei have been modeled by numerical solution of classical approximations to the equations of motion of the constituent nucleons. For the reaction Nb(400 MeV/u)+Nb, a correlated sidewards emission of nucleons is observed. This is attributed to the repulsive short-range component of the nucleon-nucleon potential. A strong dependence of the flow angle on the impact parameter is observed, in accord with recent experimental results.
Rapidity dependence of entropy production in proton- and nucleus-induced reactions on heavy nuclei
(1984)
The entropy of hot nuclear systems is deduced from the mass distribution of fragments emitted from high energy proton- and nucleus-induced reactions via a quantum statistical model. It is found that the entropy per baryon, S/A, of intermediate rapidity ("participant") fragments is higher than the entropy of target rapidity ("spectator") fragments. The spectator fragments exhibit S/A values of ≅ 1.8 independent of the projectile energy from 30 MeV/nucleon up to 350 GeV. This value of the entropy coincides with the entropy at which nuclear matter becomes unbound.
Kinetic energy flow in Nb(400 A MeV) + Nb: evidence for hydrodynamic compression of nuclear matter
(1984)
A kinetic-energy—flow analysis of multiplicity-selected collisions of 93Nb(Elab=400A MeV)+93Nb is performed on the basis of the nuclear fluid dynamical model. The effects of finite particle numbers on the flow tensor are explicitly taken into account. Strong sidewards peaks are predicted in dN/dcosθF, the distribution of event by event flow angles. This is in qualitative agreement with recent data from the "Plastic Ball" electronic detection system. Cascade simulations fail to reproduce the data.
Nuclear collisions from 0.3 to 2 GeV/nucleon are studied in a microscopic theory based on Vlasov's self-consistent mean field and Uehling-Uhlenbeck's two-body collision term which respects the Pauli principle. The theory explains simultaneously the observed collective flow and the pion multiplicity and gives their dependence on the nuclear equation of state.
The novel momentum analysis technique introduced by Danielewicz and Odyniec can be used to detect and exhibit collective flow in the light system Ar(1800 MeV/nucleon) + KCl where the usual kinetic energy flow analysis fails. The microscopic Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck theory which includes the nuclear mean field, two-body collisions, and Pauli blocking is used to study this phenomenon. The resulting transverse momentum transfers turn out to be quite sensitive to the nuclear equation of state. From a comparison with experimental data, evidence is presented for a rather stiff nuclear equation of state. The cascade model is unable to describe the data.
The role of nonequilibrium and quantal effects in fast nucleus-nucleus collisions is studied via the Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck theory which includes the nuclear mean field dynamics, two-body collisions, and Pauli blocking. The intranuclear cascade model, where the dynamics is governed by independent NN collisions, and the Vlasov equation, where the nuclear mean field determines the collision dynamics, are also studied as reference cases. The Vlasov equation (no collision term) yields single particle distribution functions which–after the reaction–are only slightly modified in momentum space; even in central collisions, transparency is predicted. This is in agreement with the predictions of the quantal time-dependent Hartree-Fock method. In contrast, large momentum transfer is obtained when the Uehling-Uhlenbeck collision term is incorporated; then the final momentum distribution is nearly spherically symmetric in the center of mass and a well-equilibrated nuclear system is formed: the nuclei stop each other; the translational kinetic energy is transformed into randomized microscopic motion. The Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck theory is supplemented with a phase space coalescence model of fragment formation. Calculated proton spectra compare well with recent data for Ar(42, 92, and 137 MeV/nucleon) + Ca. Also the total yields of medium mass fragments are well reproduced in the present approach. The mean field dynamics without two-body collisions, on the other hand, exhibits forward peaked proton distributions, in contrast to the data. The cascade approach underpredicts the yields of low energy protons by more than an order of magnitude.
The influence of fluctuations of the shape degree of freedom in collisions of deformed nuclei with energies between 0.8 and 2.1 GeV/nucleon is analyzed on the basis of an intranuclear cascade simulation for the strongly deformed systems 46Ti+ 46Ti and 166Er+ 166Er. While there is a considerable sensitivity of the global event variables to the orientation for polarized beams and targets, this dependence disappears in the average over all orientations for impact parameter selected and integrated events. The dependence of the nuclear stopping and thermalization on the size of the system under consideration and on the bombarding energy is also investigated.
We study the recent claim that the intranuclear cascade model exhibits collective sidewards flow. 4000 intranuclear cascade simulations of the reaction Nb(400 MeV/nucleon)+Nb are performed employing bound and unbound versions of the Cugnon cascade. We show that instability of the target and projectile nuclei in the unbound cascade produces substantial spurious sidewards flow angles, for spectators as well as for participants. Once the nuclear binding is included, the peak of the flow angle distributions for the participants alone is reduced from 35° to 17°. The theoretical ‘‘data’’ are subjected to the experimental multiplicity and efficiency cuts of the plastic ball 4π electronic spectrometer system. The flow angular distributions obtained from the bound cascade—with spectators and participants subjected to the plastic ball filter—are forward peaked, in contrast to the plastic ball data. We discuss the uncertainties encountered with the application of the experimental efficiency and multiplicity filter. The influence of the Pauli principle on the flow is also discussed. The lack of flow effects in the cascade model clearly reflects the absence of the nuclear compression energy that can cause substantially larger collective sidewards motion—there is too little intrinsic pressure built up in the cascade model.
Time dependent dirac equation with relativistic mean field dynamics applied to heavy ion scattering
(1986)
We treat the relativistic propagation of nucleons coupled to scalar- and vector-meson fields in a mean-field approximation. The time-dependent Dirac and mean-meson-field equations are solved numerically in three dimensions. Collisions of 16O(300, 600, and 1200 MeV/nucleon) + 16O are studied for various impact parameters. The results are compared to other recent theoretical approaches. The calculations predict spallation, large transverse-momentum transfer, and positive-angle sidewards flow, in qualitative agreement with the data in this energy regime.
Studying Walecka's mean-field theory we find that one can reproduce the observed binding energy and density of nuclear matter within experimental precision in an area characterized by a line in the coupling-constant plane. A part of this line defines systems which exhibit a phase transition around Tc~200 MeV for zero baryon density. The rest corresponds to such systems where the phase transition is absent; in that case a peak appears in the specific heat around T~200 MeV. We interpret these results as indicating that the hadron phase of nuclear matter alone indicates the occurrence of an abrupt change in the bulk properties around ρV~0 and T~200 MeV.
We present a theoretical description of nuclear collisions which consists of a three-dimensional fluid-dynamical model, a chemical equilibrium breakup calculation for local light fragment (i.e., p, n, d, t, 3He, and 4He) production, and a final thermal evaporation of these particles. The light fragment cross sections and some properties of the heavy target residues are calculated for the asymmetric system Ne+U at 400 MeV/N. The results of the model calculations are compared with recent experimental data. Several observable signatures of the collective hydrodynamical processes are consistent with the present data. An event-by-event analysis of the flow patterns of the various clusters is proposed which can yield deeper insight into the collision dynamics.
Intranuclear cascade calculations and fluid dynamical predictions of the kinetic energy flow are compared for collisions of 40Ca + 40Ca and 238U + 238U. The aspect ratio, R13, as obtained from the global analysis, is independent of the bombarding energy for the intranuclear cascade model. Fluid dynamics, on the other hand, predicts a dramatic increase of R13 at medium energies Elab≲200 MeV/nucleon. In fact, R13(Elab) directly reflects the incompressibility of the nuclear matter and can be used to extract the nuclear equation of stat at high densities. Distortions of the flow tensor due to few nucleon scattering are analyzed. Possible procedures to remove this background from experimental data are discussed.
We analyze the phase structure of the nonlinear mean-field meson theory of baryonic matter (nucleons plus delta resonances). Depending on the choice of the coupling constants, we find three physically distinct phase transitions in this theory: a nucleonic liquid-gas transition in the low temperature, Tc<20 MeV, low density, ρ≃0.5ρ0, regime, a high-temperature (T≃150 MeV) finite density transition from a gas of massive hadrons to a nearly massless baryon, antibaryon plasma, and, third, a strong phase transition from the nucleonic fluid to a resonance-dominated ‘‘delta-matter’’ isomer at ρ>2ρ0 and Tc<50 MeV. All three phase transitions are of first order. It is shown that the occurrence of these different phase transitions depends critically on the coupling constants. Since the production of pions also depends strongly on the coupling constants, it is seen that the equation of state cannot be derived unambiguously from pion data.
We study the dynamics of high energy heavy ion collisions through the Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck approach. Equilibration is observed, for central collisions. It is shown that the produced entropy, the pion multiplicity, flow angle, and transverse momentum distributions saturate at the moment of maximum compression and temperature. The effects of the nuclear equation of state and the Pauli principle are investigated. For the flow angle distribution there is a 20 deg reduction of the peak flow angle due to the Pauli principle. A stiff equation of state results in a 10–20 deg increase over the soft equation of state at all energies. The transverse momentum at projectile rapidity exhibits a peak structure as a function of impact parameter b. A 40% difference between soft and hard equation of state is observed for the peak impact parameter, i.e., for intermediate multiplicities.
The final states of central Ca + Ca and Nb + Nb collisions at 400 and 1050 MeV/nucleon and at 400 and 650 MeV/nucleon, respectively, are studied with two independently developed statistical models, namely the classical microcanonical model and the quantum-statistical grand canonical model. It is shown that these models are in agreement with each other for these systems. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that there is essentially a one-to-one relationship between the observed relative abundances of the light fragments p, d, t, 3He, and α and the entropy per nucleon, for breakup temperatures greater than 30 MeV. Entropy values of 3.5–4 are deduced from high-multiplicity selected fragment yield data.
We demonstrate that momentum-dependent nuclear interactions (MDI) have a large effect on the dynamics and on the observables of high-energy heavy-ion collisions: A soft potential with MDI suppresses pion and kaon yields much more strongly than a local hard potential and results in transverse momenta intermediate between soft and hard local potentials. The collective-flow angles and the deuteron-to-proton ratios are rather insensitive to the MDI. Only simultaneous measurements of these observables can give clues on the nuclear equation of state at densities of interest for supernova collapse and neutron-star stability.
The recent attempts to extract the temperature in the late stage of medium energy (20–60 MeV/nucleon) heavy ion collisions from the yields of γ- and particle-instable fragments are discussed. The quantum statistical model is employed to demonstrate that feeding from instable states distorts the yields used for the temperature determination severely. Some particle instable fragments are only moderately affected by feeding. These selected species can still be useful for determining the temperature. The breakup temperatures of the fragment conglomerate extracted with this method are T≃4–8 MeV, much smaller than the corresponding slope factors, which indicate T∼15 MeV.
Introduction: Intoxications with carbachol, a muscarinic cholinergic receptor agonist are rare. We report an interesting case investigating a (near) fatal poisoning. Methods: The son of an 84-year-old male discovered a newspaper report stating clinical success with plant extracts in Alzheimer's disease. The mode of action was said to be comparable to that of the synthetic compound 'carbamylcholin'; that is, carbachol. He bought 25 g of carbachol as pure substance in a pharmacy, and the father was administered 400 to 500 mg. Carbachol concentrations in serum and urine on day 1 and 2 of hospital admission were analysed by HPLC-mass spectrometry. Results: Minutes after oral administration, the patient developed nausea, sweating and hypotension, and finally collapsed. Bradycardia, cholinergic symptoms and asystole occurred. Initial cardiopulmonary resuscitation and immediate treatment with adrenaline (epinephrine), atropine and furosemide was successful. On hospital admission, blood pressure of the intubated, bradyarrhythmic patient was 100/65 mmHg. Further signs were hyperhidrosis, hypersalivation, bronchorrhoea, and severe miosis; the electrocardiographic finding was atrio-ventricular dissociation. High doses of atropine (up to 50 mg per 24 hours), adrenaline and dopamine were necessary. The patient was extubated 1 week later. However, increased dyspnoea and bronchospasm necessitated reintubation. Respiratory insufficiency was further worsened by Proteus mirabilis infection and severe bronchoconstriction. One week later, the patient was again extubated and 3 days later was transferred to a peripheral ward. On the next day he died, probably as a result of heart failure. Serum samples from the first and second days contained 3.6 and 1.9 mg/l carbachol, respectively. The corresponding urine concentrations amounted to 374 and 554 mg/l. Conclusion: This case started with a media report in a popular newspaper, initiated by published, peer-reviewed research on herbals, and involved human failure in a case history, medical examination and clinical treatment. For the first time, an analytical method for the determination of carbachol in plasma and urine has been developed. The analysed carbachol concentration exceeded the supposed serum level resulting from a therapeutic dose by a factor of 130 to 260. Especially in old patients, intensivists should consider intoxications (with cholinergics) as a cause of acute cardiovascular failure.