A model of nuclear matter

Jesus Escamilla Roa, University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

In view of the recent findings [Elliot et al.], that show that nuclei can undergo a liquid-gas phase transition, the determination of the equation of state becomes a fundamental problem in nuclear physics. In this work, a phenomenological model of the nuclear equation of state is developed. There have been numerous theoretical studies of the dynamics of medium-energy heavy ion collisions. Some of these are based on equilibrium thermodynamics and focus on the nuclear matter phase diagram. The basic feature is the liquid-gas phase transition at moderate temperatures, and how the nuclear system evolves through various phase-separation boundaries (binodals) and instability boundaries (spinodals). The study of nuclear liquid-gas phase transition is of special interest in the intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions. In the ground state nuclei can be described as a nuclear liquid at temperature T = 0 and normal nuclear density ρ = 0.15 fm−3 . During the collision the shock waves heat the nuclei interpenetrated each other, and when the excitation of nucleons exceeds their binding energy one may assume that the nuclear matter undergoes a phase transition to the gaseous state. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Subject Area

Nuclear physics

Recommended Citation

Escamilla Roa, Jesus, "A model of nuclear matter" (2003). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAIEP10356.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAIEP10356

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