Thermal Signatures of Pairing Correlations in Nuclei and Nanoparticles

The Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) mean-field theory of the pairing interaction breaks down for nuclei and ultra-small metallic grains (nanoparticles). Finite-temperature pairing correlations in such finite-size systems can be calculated beyond the BCS theory in an auxiliary-field Monte Carlo approach. We identify thermal signatures of pairing correlations in both nuclei and nanoparticles that depend on the particle-number parity.