Nuclear liquid-gas phase transition within the lattice gas model

We study the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition on the basis of a two-comp onent lattice gas model. A Metropolis type of sampling method is used to ge nerate microscopic states in the canonical ensemble. The effective equation of state and fragment mass distributions are evaluated in a wide range of temperatures and densities. A definition of the phase coexistence region ap propriate for small systems is proposed. The caloric curve resulting from d ifferent types of freeze-out conditions are presented. (C) 1999 Published b y Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.