| Hot nuclei produced in 8 GeV/c π−, p¯ + 197Au reactions have been studied with the Indiana Silicon Sphere (ISiS) 4π detector array at the Brookhaven AGS accelerator. This dissertation examines the caloric curve—the relationship between nuclear temperature and excitation energy—of the hot system. The temperature of the hot system was calculated by using the double-isotope ratio technique. The two thermometers p/d-3He/4He and d/t- 3He/4He are in good agreement below E*/A ∼ 7 MeV when corrected for secondary decay. At low excitation energies, the caloric curve shows an increase in temperature with increasing excitation energy, followed by a gradual temperature increase at higher excitation energies (E*/A ∼ 4–9 MeV). In the case of the d/t-3He/4He thermometer, there is an indication of a more rapid increase in temperature at the highest excitation energies. Comparison of these results to those from other experiments shows some differences that may be attributable to instrumentation and analysis procedures. The data from this experiment are also compared with predictions from a statistical multifragmentation model. Caloric curves are also constructed by using slope temperature parameters from the kinetic energy spectra of C, O, and Ne. The temperatures derived from the slope parameter increase monotonically with increasing excitation energy. The slope temperatures are higher than the temperatures from the double-isotope ratio technique. |
