EXAMINING SOME ASPECTS OF THE NUCLEAR CALORIC CURVE

The recent publication of a nuclear caloric curve is examined. We stud y the influence of the excited states of the fragments on the extracte d temperatures, the freeze-out density and the interpretation of the o bserved steady rise of the temperature at high excitation energies. A deeper understanding of this curve is necessary before a definite conc lusion can be drawn about the observation of a liquid-gas phase transi tion.