Asymmetry Dependence of the Nuclear Caloric Curve

A basic feature of the nuclear equation of state is not yet understood: the dependence of the nuclear caloric curve on the neutron-proton asymmetry. Predictions of theoretical models differ on the magnitude and even the sign of this dependence. In this work, the nuclear caloric curve is examined for fully reconstructed quasi-projectiles around mass A = 50. Two independent thermometers, the momentum quadrupole fluctuation thermometer and the Albergo yield ratio thermometer, are used to extract the caloric curve. For both methods, the caloric curve extracted shows that the temperature varies linearly with quasi-projectile asymmetry (N-Z)/A. For the momentum quadrupole fluctuation thermometer, an increase in asymmetry of 0.15 units corresponds to a decrease in temperature on the order of 1 MeV. These results also highlight the importance of a full quasi-projectile reconstruction in the study of thermodynamic properties of hot nuclei.