Distributions of the largest fragment size in multifragmentation: Traces of a phase transition

Distributions of the largest fragment charge are studied using the ALADIN data on fragmentation of ¹⁹⁷Au projectiles at relativistic energies. The statistical measures skewness and kurtosis of higher-order fluctuations provide a robust indication of the transition point, linked to a phase transition in the thermodynamic limit. Extensive comparisons with predictions of a bond percolation model corroborate the high accuracy of this model in reproducing the distributions as well as the whole fragmentation pattern as represented by the measured charge correlations. In analogy to percolation, the pseudocritical and critical points are identified in the fragmentation data. Questions concerning the distinction between different models and between first- and second-order phase transitions are discussed.