Microscopic Calculation of Pre-Compound Excitation Energies for Heavy-Ion Collisions

We introduce a microscopic approach for calculating the excitation energies of systems formed during heavy-ion collisions. The method is based on time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) theory and allows the study of the excitation energy as a function of time or ion-ion separation distance. We discuss how this excitation energy is related to the estimate of the excitation energy using the reaction $Q$-value, as well as its implications for dinuclear pre-compound systems formed during heavy-ion collisions.