Eur. Phys. J. A 14, 451-457 (2002)
DOI: 10.1140/epja/i2002-10027-7

Dynamical properties of constrained drops

M. Ison¹, P. Balenzuela¹, A. Bonasera² and C.O. Dorso<sup>1

1</sup>  Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 1, Ciudad Universitaria, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina
²  INFN-Laboratorio Nazionale del Sud, Via S. Sofia 44, I-95123 Catania, Italy

mison@df.uba.ar

(Received: 28 March 2002/ Revised version: 10 May 2002 Communicated by P. Schuck)

Abstract
In this communication we analyze the behavior of excited drops contained in spherical volumes. We study different properties of the dynamical systems, i.e. the maximum Lyapunov exponent MLE, the asymptotic distance in momentum space and the normalized variance of the maximum fragment. It is shown that the constrained system behaves as undergoing a first-order phase transition at low densities while as a second-order one at high densities. The transition from liquid-like to vapor-like behavior is signaled both by the caloric curves, the thermal response functions and the MLE. The relationship between the MLE, and the caloric curve is explored.

PACS
24.60.Lz - Chaos in nuclear systems.
24.60.-k - Statistical theory and fluctuations.

© Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2002