Relativistic heavy ion collisions with the 4π facility at GSI-Darmstadt

This paper reports on the cluster detector, the Plastic wall and the Zero-degree detector included in the 4π facility at GSI-Darmstadt that permits the analysis of light fragments (Z = 1 to 20) emitted at forward angles in heavy ion collisions. Our investigation will include triple differential cross sections dσ/dEdθdφ, where φ is the azimuth angle relative to the reaction plane. The measurement of the fragment excitation functions in central collisions, and the study of the charge distribution vs impact parameter, will be used for an approach of a possible liquid-vapor phase transition. These experiments will also deliver multiplicity and rapidity distributions, transverse momentum and flow angle analyses; all these quantities are sensitive to the Equation of state of the hadronic matter