In fact, in many ways, atomic nuclei behave very much like drops of liquid. If we pursue this line of investigation, it isn't long before we are confronted by an interesting question. The physicist's response to such a question is to try to solve a more general question - that of the equation of state of nuclear matter, which links the thermodynamic variables of pressure, density and temperature. Here, the density and temperature of the nuclear matter can be varied over wide ranges and under controlled conditions. Careful and precise study of the resulting processes occurring provides insight into the properties of such hot and compressed nuclear matter.
Nuclear matter boils just like water.
For more than 20 years, theory has predicted that nuclear matter undergoes a liquid-gas phase transition upon reaching a certain critical temperature. However, it was only recently that convincing experimental evidence for this phase transition was finally delivered by a GSI research group. This was accomplished in a series of experiments in which heavy projectile nuclei, such as the nuclei of gold atoms, were fired at light target-nuclei, such as carbon. Because of their low mass, the light nuclei were not able to compress the projected heavy- nuclei to a noticeable extent at the moment of impact. The projectiles were, however, heated so much by the collisions that they disintegrated into numerous fragments.