Spinodal in asymmetric nuclear matter

Abstract

The phase diagram of nuclear matter is quite rich - it shows such phenomena as phase-transitions, formation of condensates, clustering, etc. From the analysis of the spinodal instability, one can learn about the region of liquid-gas coexistence in nuclear matter at low densities and finite isospin asymmetries. In a recent paper, we have shown that asymmetric nuclear matter at sub-nuclear densities should undergo only one type of instability. The associated order parameter is dominated by the isoscalar density and so the transition is of liquid-gas type. The instability goes in the direction of a restoration of the isospin symmetry leading to a fractionation phenomenon.