Reviewing the experimental achievements of the early years of FAZIA at INFN-LNS

This review reports on the first years of experimental activity of the FAZIA array. It focuses on the research carried out at the INFN-LNS, from the end of the R&D phase up to 2018. In these early years, few FAZIA (Forward-angle A and Z Identification Array) modules have been exploited to investigate the properties of nuclear matter via heavy-ion collisions. Here, we review the main topics addressed by the collaboration, which have been investigated, thanks to the unique identification capabilities of the FAZIA multi-telescope array. In well-selected reaction channels, heavy fragments and light particles were isotopically identified and precisely measured in energy, allowing detailed and extensive tests of the transport models, to improve the knowledge on isospin dynamics.