Nuclear thermodynamics and isospin degree of freedom.

Nuclear thermodynamics studies evidenced the existence of a liquid-gas type phase transition, that manifests through multifragmentation and may originate from spinodal instabilities. Several signals typical of finite systems were experimentally observed. The spinodal region of the phase diagram is theoretically predicted to shrink for systems away from the valley of stability. What happens to the signals of phase transition for such systems should thus bring further information on the symmetry energy term of the nuclear equation of state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]