Bimodal behavior of the heaviest fragment distribution in projectile fragmentation.
The charge distribution of the heaviest fragment detected in the decay of quasiprojectiles produced in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions has been observed to be bimodal. This feature is expected as a generic signal of phase transition in nonextensive systems. In this Letter, we present new analyses of experimental data from Au on Au collisions at 60, 80, and 100 MeV/nucleon showing that bimodality is largely independent of the data selection procedure and of entrance channel effects. An estimate of the latent heat of the transition is extracted.
Bonnet
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E
Institut de Physique Nucléaire, CNRS/IN2P3, Université Paris-Sud 11, F-91406 Orsay cedex, France.
Mercier
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Borderie
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Gulminelli
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Rivet
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Tamain
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Bougault
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Chbihi
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Dayras
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Frankland
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Galichet
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Gagnon-Moisan
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Guinet
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Lautesse
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Lukasik
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Le Neindre
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Pârlog
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Rosato
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Roy
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Vigilante
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Wieleczko
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Zwieglinski
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