We look for signals of criticality in multifragment production in heavy-ion collisions using model-independent universal fluctuations theory. The phenomenon is studied as a function of system size, bombarding energy, and impact parameter over a wide range of INDRA data. For very central collisions $(b/b_{\max }<0.1)$ we find evidence that the largest fragment in each event, $Z_{\max }$, plays the role of an order parameter, defining two different regimes at low and high incident energy, respectively, according to the scaling properties of its fluctuations. Data for a wide range of system masses and incident energies collapse on to an approximately universal scaling function in each regime for the most central collisions. The forms of the scaling functions for the two regimes are established, and their dependence on the total mass and the bombarding energy is mapped out. Data suggest that these regimes are linked to the disappearance of heavy residues in central collisions.

• Received 21 April 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.71.034607