Formation and decay of hot nuclei in the 64Zn + 48Ti reactions from 35 to 79 MeV/u

The 4π plastic multidetector of NAUTILUS has been used to detect charged products of the collisions in the reactions of 64Zn with 48Ti from 35 to 79 MeV/u. Well measured events were selected and sorted as a function of the impact parameter. The primary mass of the fast source as well as its excitation energy have been carefully reconstructed from the characteristics of the disintegration products after separation of both the pre-equilibrium and the target emission. The isotropic emission of particles in the frame of the primary hot nucleus suggests that thermal equilibrium has been achieved. The excitation energy increases from peripheral to central collisions, with values reaching more than 10 MeV/u at the highest bombarding energy. Experimental multiplicities and relative velocity distributions of intermediate mass fragments will be compared to theoretical predictions of both statistical and dynamical models. Differences between data and calculations suggest the existence of a radial expansion of the hottest nuclei