Transition from participant to spectator fragmentation in Au plus Au reactions between 60A and 150A MeV

Using the quantum molecular dynamics approach, we analyzed the results of the recent INDRA Collaboration Au+Au experiments at GSI in the energy range between 60A and 150A MeV. It turns out that in this energy region, the transition toward a participant-spectator scenario takes place. The large Au+Au system displays, in the simulations as in the experiment, simultaneously dynamical and statistical behavior, which we analyze in detail. The composition of fragments close to midrapidity follows statistical laws, and the system shows bimodality, i.e., a sudden transition between different fragmentation patterns, as a function of centrality, as expected for a phase transition. The fragment spectra at small and large rapidities, on the other hand, are determined by dynamics, and the system as a whole does not come to equilibrium-an observation that is confirmed by FOPI Collaboration experiments for the same system.