Nuclear Reactions: Exploring Phase Transitions in Excited Nuclear Material

Presented by Sherry Yennello, Texas A&M University

Nuclear reactions induced by both light-ion and heavy-ion collisions are studied to understand the equation-of-state for nuclear matter. The nucleus is often compared to a drop of liquid and hence its phase diagram to that of water. Heating a nucleus can make it undergo a liquid-gas phase transition. Additionally the nucleus is a two- component system thus allowing for the possibility of a change in the composition of two phases that are in equilibrium. Recent experimental efforts have investigated this additional degree of freedom. This talk will present Gev pion and anti-proton induced reactions to characterize the liquid-gas phase transition as well as heavy-ion reactions of isotopically selected beams and targets to investigate the effect of the isospin degree of freedom.