Isoscaling, symmetry energy and thermodynamic models

The isoscaling parameter usually denoted by a depends upon both the symmetry energy coefficient and the isotopic contents of the dissociating systems. We compute a in theoretical models: first in a simple mean field model and then in thermodynamic models using both grand canonical and canonical ensembles. For finite systems the canonical ensemble is much more appropriate. The model values of alpha are compared with a much used standard formula. Next we turn to cases where in experiments. there are significant deviations from isoscaling. We show that in such cases, although the grand canonical model fails, the canonical model is capable of explaining the data. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.