PHASE-TRANSITION OF A FINITE QUARK-GLUON PLASMA

The deconfinement transition region between hadronic matter and quark- gluon plasma (QGP) is studied for finite volumes. Assuming simple mode l equations of state and a first order phase transition, we find that fluctuations in finite volumes hinder a sharp separation between the t wo phases around the critical temperature, leading to a rounding of th e phase transition. For reaction volumes expected in heavy Ion experim ents, the softening of the equation of state is reduced considerably. This is especially true when the requirement of exact color singletnes s is included in the QGP equation of state.