Caloric curve for mononuclear configurations

The caloric curve for mononuclear configurations is studied with a schematic model. We investigate the dependence of the entropy on the density and effective-mass profiles. In finite nuclei, a plateau in the caloric curve is a consequence of decreasing density and the destruction of correlations rather than an indication of phase coexistence. The mononuclear regime is metastable with respect to binary fission at low excitation energy and with respect to multifragmentation at high excitation. The statistical framework presented here is suitable to treat scenarios where experimental conditions are set to favor a population of highly excited mononuclei.