Statistical nucleation in expanding nuclear matter

We investigate the formation of intermediate mass and light nuclei in the processes associated with expanding nuclear matter: It is demonstrated that this phenomenon can be explained within the statistical approach by applying the local equilibrium concept. The production of such nuclei can be realized in central collisions of heavy ions at intermediate energies. We subdivide the expanding nuclear system into several parts (primary clustering) consisting of nucleons which are close in phase space. The nucleation process takes place inside these primary clusters, and it can be described as their statistical decay in the coexistence region of the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition. Our model can explain simultaneously both the yield and energy of the produced nuclei that was not possible when we consider the global chemical equilibrium in the whole nuclear system.