Experimental and theoretical search for a phase transition in nuclear fragmentation

Phase transitions of small isolated systems are signaled by the shape of the caloric equation of state e*(T), the relationship between the excitation energy per nucleon e* and temperature. In this work we compare the experimentally deduced e*(T) to the theoretical predictions. The experimentally accessible temperature was extracted from evaporation spectra from incomplete fusion reactions leading to residue nuclei. The experimental e*(T) dependence exhibits the characteristic S-shape at e*=2-3 MeV/A. Such behavior is expected for a finite system at a phase transition. The observed dependence agrees with predictions of the MMMC-model, which simulates the total accessible phase-space of fragmentation. (orig.)