EFFECT OF THE CONTINUUM ON THERMALLY INDUCED PHASE-TRANSITIONS IN NUCLEI

The specific heat has been calculated in the canonical ensemble for several light nuclei, using the experimental discrete spectrum and continuum. In each case, a prominent structure is present at low temperatures which results from the increased density of states associated with thermal excitation to the continuum; we associate this structure with the phase transition seen in earlier work in which the effects of the continuum were ignored. The phase transition is also predicted by finite-temperature mean-field calculations and is a general feature of all nuclei. © 1990 The American Physical Society.