Nuclear expansion with excitation

The expansion of an isolated hot spherical nucleus with excitation energy and its caloric curve are studied in a thermodynamic model with the SkM∗ force as the nuclear effective two-body interaction. The calculated results are shown to compare well with the recent experimental data from energetic nuclear collisions. The fluctuations in temperature and density are also studied. They are seen to build up very rapidly beyond an excitation energy of ∼9MeV/u. Volume-conserving quadrupole deformation in addition to expansion indicates, however, nuclear disassembly above an excitation energy of ∼4MeV/u.