Bimodal behavior of the heaviest fragment distribution in projectile   fragmentation
  The charge distribution of the heaviest fragment detected in the decay of quasi-projectiles produced in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions has been observed to be bimodal. This feature is expected as a generic signal of phase transition in non-extensive systems. In this paper we present new analyses of experimental data from Au on Au collisions at 60, 80 and 100 MeV/nucleon showing that bimodality is largely independent of the data selection procedure, and of entrance channel effects. An estimate of the latent heat of the transition is extracted. 
Eric Bonnet (IPNO, Ganil), Damien Mercier (IPNL, LPCC), Bernard   Borderie (IPNO), Francesca Gulminelli (LPCC), Marie-France...