Isospin dependence of the nuclear equation of state near the critical point

Abstract

We discuss experimental evidence for a nuclear phase transition driven by the different concentrations of neutrons to protons. Different ratios of the neutron to proton concentrations lead to different critical points for the phase transition. This is analogous to the phase transitions occurring in $^{4}\mathrm{He}$-$^{3}\mathrm{He}$ liquid mixtures. We present experimental results that reveal the $N/A$ (or $Z/A$) dependence of the phase transition and discuss possible implications of these observations in terms of the Landau free energy description of critical phenomena.