Caloric curve and multifragmentation in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies

A unified description of multifragmentation and of the equation of state fo r isotopically nondegenerate nuclear matter has been constructed on the bas is of a canonical ensemble within the statistical model of a nuclear system undergoing fragmentation. The free energy of primary fragments has been ta ken in the liquid-drop approximation of the statistical model of multifragm entation. The canonical partition function for a nuclear system undergoing fragmentation has been calculated exactly with the aid of recursion relatio ns. Results obtained for some thermodynamic parameters indicate that a phas e transition of the liquid-gas type occurs in this model. The mass distribu tions of fragments and the dependences of thermodynamic quantities on the t emperature and volume of the system have been calculated. The caloric curve characterizing the aforementioned phase transition has been discussed. The effective parameter tau of the charge distributions of fragments and the m ean multiplicity of medium mass fragments have been compared with relevant experimental data on heavy-ion collisions.