Signature of a Pairing Transition in the Heat Capacity of Finite Nuclei

The heat capacity of iron isotopes is calculated within the interacting shell model using the complete $(pf+0g_{9/2})$-shell. We identify a signature of the pairing transition in the heat capacity that is correlated with the suppression of the number of spin-zero neutron pairs as the temperature increases. Our results are obtained by a novel method that significantly reduces the statistical errors in the heat capacity calculated by the shell model Monte Carlo approach. The Monte Carlo results are compared with finite-temperature Fermi gas and BCS calculations.