Evidence of Critical Behavior in the Disassembly of Nuclei with A ∼36
/ Authors
Y. Ma, R. Wada, K. Hagel, J. Wang, T. Keutgen, Z. Majka, M. Murray, L. Qin, P. Smith, J. Natowitz
and 24 more authors
R. Alfaro, J. Cibor, M. Cinausero, Y. Masri, D. Fabris, E. Fioretto, A. Keksis, M. Lunardon, A. Makeev, N. Marie, E. Martin, A. Martínez-Dávalos, A. Menchaca-Rocha, G. Nebbia, G. Prete, V. Rizzi, A. Ruangma, D. Shetty, G. Souliotis, P. Staszel, M. Veselský, G. Viesti, E. Winchester, S. Yennello
/ Abstract
A wide variety of observables indicate that maximal fluctuations in the disassembly of hot nuclei with A ~ 36 occur at an excitation energy of 5.6 +- 0.5 MeV/u and temperature of 8.3 +- 0.5 MeV. Associated with this point of maximal fluctuations are a number of quantitative indicators of apparent critical behavior. The associated caloric curve does not appear to show a flattening such as that seen for heavier systems. This suggests that, in contrast to similar signals seen for liquid-gas transitions in heavier nuclei, the observed behavior in these very light nuclei is associated with a transition much closer to the critical point.
Journal: Physical Review C