Methane anomalies over TAG hydrothermal field on Mid Atlantic Ridge

Black smoker type hydrothermal venting was discovered in July 1985 at the TAG hydrothermal field in the rift valley of the Mid Atlantic Ridge near 26N. We present here, the first methane profiles in the seawater column over this black smoker along with methane profiles away from the black smokers for comparison. The CH4 plume, spreading over 400 m above the seafloor, shows a maximum concentration of 105 nl/l at 3450 m (238 m above the bottom), correlated with a positive temperature anomaly (0.02°C). CH4 concentrations up to 2422 nl/l, correlated with a huge positive increase of in situ temperature (0.349°C), have been measured in samples taken 5 m above the sea floor, showing an important CH4 input in this slow spreading site which is similar to inputs from fast spreading sites like the East Pacific Rise

Universal fluctuations in heavy-ion collisions in the Fermi energy domain

We discuss the scaling laws of both the charged fragments multiplicity fluctuations and the charge of the largest fragment fluctuations for Xe+Sn collisions in the range of bombarding energies between 25 MeV/A and 50 MeV/A. We show close to E_{lab}=32 MeV/A the transition in the fluctuation regime of the charge of the largest fragment which is compatible with the transition from the ordered to disordered phase of excited nuclear matter. The size (charge) of the largest fragment is closely related to the order parameter characterizing this process.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Thermodynamical features of multifragmentation in peripheral Au + Au Collisions at 35 A.MeV

The distribution of fragments produced in events involving the multifragmentation of excited sources is studied for peripheral Au + Au reactions at 35 A.MeV. The Quasi-Projectile has been reconstructed from its de-excitation products. An isotropic emission in its rest frame has been observed, indicating that an equilibrated system has been formed. The excitation energy of the Quasi-Projectile has been determined via calorimetry. A new event by event effective thermometer is proposed based on the energy balance. A peak in the energy fluctuations is observed related to the heat capacity, suggesting that the system undergoes a liquid-gas type phase transition at an excitation energy about 5 A.MeV and a temperature 4 - 6 MeV, dependent on the freeze-out hypothesis. By analyzing different regions of the Campi-plot, the events associated with the liquid and gas phases as well as the critical region are thermodynamically characterized. The critical exponents, tau, beta,gamma, extracted from the high moments of the charge distribution are consistent with a liquid-gas type phase transition.Comment: 44 pages, 16 Postscript figures, Fig14_nucl-ex.eps in colors, to be published in Nucl.Phys.A (1999

Isospin diffusion in semi-peripheral 58Ni^{58}Ni + 197Au^{197}Au collisions at intermediate energies (I): Experimental results

Isospin diffusion in semi-peripheral collisions is probed as a function of the dissipated energy by studying two systems $^{58}Ni$ + $^{58}Ni$ and $^{58}Ni$ + $^{197}Au$, over the incident energy range 52-74\AM. A close examination of the multiplicities of light products in the forward part of phase space clearly shows an influence of the isospin of the target on the neutron richness of these products. A progressive isospin diffusion is observed when collisions become more central, in connection with the interaction time

The prominent role of the heaviest fragment in multifragmentation and phase transition for hot nuclei

The role played by the heaviest fragment in partitions of multifragmenting hot nuclei is emphasized. Its size/charge distribution (mean value, fluctuations and shape) gives information on properties of fragmenting nuclei and on the associated phase transition.Comment: 11 pages, Proceedings of IWND09, August 23-25, Shanghai (China

Isospin Diffusion in 58^{58}Ni-Induced Reactions at Intermediate Energies

Isospin diffusion is probed as a function of the dissipated energy by studying two systems $^{58}$Ni+$^{58}$Ni and $^{58}$Ni+$^{197}$Au, over the incident energy range 52-74\AM. Experimental data are compared with the results of a microscopic transport model with two different parameterizations of the symmetry energy term. A better overall agreement between data and simulations is obtained when using a symmetry term with a potential part linearly increasing with nuclear density. The isospin equilibration time at 52 \AM{} is estimated to 130$\pm$10 fm/$c$

Nuclear multifragmentation time-scale and fluctuations of largest fragment size

Distributions of the largest fragment charge, Zmax, in multifragmentation reactions around the Fermi energy can be decomposed into a sum of a Gaussian and a Gumbel distribution, whereas at much higher or lower energies one or the other distribution is asymptotically dominant. We demonstrate the same generic behavior for the largest cluster size in critical aggregation models for small systems, in or out of equilibrium, around the critical point. By analogy with the time-dependent irreversible aggregation model, we infer that Zmax distributions are characteristic of the multifragmentation time-scale, which is largely determined by the onset of radial expansion in this energy range.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters on 8/4/201