Searching for the statistically equilibrated systems formed in heavy ion collisions

Further improvements and refinements are brought to the microcanonical multifragmentation model [Al. H. Raduta and Ad. R. Raduta, Phys. Rev. C {\bf 55}, 1344 (1997); {\it ibid.} {\bf 61}, 034611 (2000)]. The new version of the model is tested on the recently published experimental data concerning the Xe+Sn at 32 MeV/u and Gd+U at 36 MeV/u reactions. A remarkable good simultaneous reproduction of fragment size observables and kinematic observables is to be noticed. It is shown that the equilibrated source can be unambiguously identified.Comment: Physical Review C, in pres

Effects of the secondary decays on the isotopic thermometers

The sharp microcanonical multifragmentation model from [Al. H. Raduta and Ad. R. Raduta, Phys. Rev. C 55, 1344 (1997); Phys. Rev. C, in press] is employed for evaluating the nuclear caloric curve predictions of nine isotopic thermometers for three representative nuclei. Evaluations are performed for both primary decay and asymptotic stages. Effects of the secondary decays on the primary decay caloric curves are evidenced and discussed. In both cases a dispersive character of the isotopic caloric curves with increasing the source excitation energy is observed. A procedure of calibrating the isotopic thermometers on the microcanonical predictions for both primary decay and asymptotic stages is proposed. The resulting set of calibrating parameters for each thermometer is independent on the source size, on its excitation energy and, in the case of the primary decay, on the freeze-out radius assumption.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, Nuclear Physics A, in pres

Homogeneity and Size Effects on the Liquid-Gas Coexistence Curve

The effects of (in)homogeneity and size on the phase diagram of Lennard-Jones fluids are investigated. It is shown that standard multifragmentation scenarios (finite equilibrated systems with conserved center of mass position and momentum) are implying a strong radial inhomogeneity of the system strongly affecting the phase diagram. The homogeneity constraint is therefore necessary for finite systems in order to align to the ``meaning'' of infinite systems phase diagrams. In this respect, a method which deduces the equation of state of homogeneous finite systems from the one corresponding to bulk matter is designed. The resultant phase diagrams show a strong dependence on the system's size.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

On the free volume in nuclear multifragmentation

In many statistical multifragmentation models the volume available to the $N$ nonoverlapping fragments forming a given partition is a basic ingredient serving to the simplification of the density of states formula. One therefore needs accurate techniques for calculating this quantity. While the direct Monte-Carlo procedure consisting of randomly generating the fragments into the freeze-out volume and counting the events with no overlapped fragments is numerically affordable only for partitions with small $N$, the present paper proposes a Metropolis - type simulation which allows accurate evaluations of the free volume even for cases with large $N$. This procedure is used for calculating the available volume for various situations. Though globally this quantity has an exponential dependence on $N$, variations of orders of magnitude for partitions with the same $N$ may be identified. A parametrization based on the virial approximation adjusted with a calibration function, describing very well the variations of the free volume for different partitions having the same $N$ is proposed. This parametrization was successfully tested within the microcanonical multifragmentation model from [Al. H. Raduta and Ad. R. Raduta, Phys. Rev. C {\bf 55}, 1344 (1997); {\it ibid.}, {\bf 56}, 2059 (1997)]. Finally, it is proven that parametrizations of the free volume solely dependent on $N$ are rather inadequate for multifragmentation studies producing important deviations from the exact results.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, Nucl. Phys. A (in press

Comparisons of Statistical Multifragmentation and Evaporation Models for Heavy Ion Collisions

The results from ten statistical multifragmentation models have been compared with each other using selected experimental observables. Even though details in any single observable may differ, the general trends among models are similar. Thus these models and similar ones are very good in providing important physics insights especially for general properties of the primary fragments and the multifragmentation process. Mean values and ratios of observables are also less sensitive to individual differences in the models. In addition to multifragmentation models, we have compared results from five commonly used evaporation codes. The fluctuations in isotope yield ratios are found to be a good indicator to evaluate the sequential decay implementation in the code. The systems and the observables studied here can be used as benchmarks for the development of statistical multifragmentation models and evaporation codes.Comment: To appear on Euorpean Physics Journal A as part of the Topical Volume "Dynamics and Thermodynamics with Nuclear Degrees of Freedo