THE NUCLEAR-EQUATION OF STATE

We present part of our (direct or indirect) knowledge on the equation of state of nuclear matter in a density-temperature domain for which nucleonic effects are dominant (densities smaller than 2-4 times the saturation density and temperatures smaller than 10-20 MeV). The text is divided into three parts corresponding, respectively, to direct studies close to the saturation, to the astrophysical case and to the studies involving heavy-ion collisions. In chapter one, after a brief introduction to the concept of equation of state, we discuss the saturation property of nuclear matter. The notion of incompressibility modulus is also introduced and its value is discussed in detail. Nuclear matter calculations trying to reproduce saturation from a nucleon-nucleon interaction are also briefly presented. In chapter two we study the equation of state in the astrophysical context. The role of the nuclear component is discussed in detail for the final phase of the collapse of supernovae cores. A brief presentation of calculations of the dense matter constituting neutron stars is also given. Chapter three is devoted to heavy-ion collisions below 500-600 MeV per nucleon. After a brief presentation of both theoretical and experimental frameworks, we focus on three particular aspects which could have a link with the nuclear matter equation of state: the formation of intermediate mass fragments, flow effects and subthreshold particle production.