Paper detail

Size properties of the largest fragments produced in the framework of the statistical multifragmentation model

We study the size properties of the largest intermediate mass fragments in each partition mode, produced in the prompt statistical breakup of a thermally equilibrated nuclear source, at different temperatures. We find that an appreciable amount of events have primary intermediate mass fragments of similar sizes. Our results suggest that, depending on the temperature of the fragmenting source, their production may be much larger than what would be expected from considerations based on purely combinatorial arrangements of the nucleons in the fragmenting system. We also find that the isospin composition of the largest fragments is sensitive to their rank size within the event. We suggest that experimental analyses, conceived to reconstruct the breakup configuration, should be employed to investigate the validity of our findings.