PHASE TRANSITION AND FRAGMENT PRODUCTION IN THE LATTICE GAS MODEL

The critical behavior of fragment production is studied within a Lattice Gas Model in the canonical ensemble. Finite size effects on the liquid-gas phase transition are analyzed by a direct calculation of the partition function, and it is shown that phase coexistence and phase transition are relevant concepts even for systems of a few tens of particles. Critical exponents are extracted from the behavior of the fragment production yield as a function of temperature by means of a finite size scaling. The result is that in a finite system well defined critical signals can be found at supercritical (Kertész line) as well as subcritical densities inside the coexistence zone.