Correlations in Finite Systems and Their Universal Scaling Properties

Abstract

In this lecture, we shall discuss universal scaling laws of the order- parameter fluctuations in any finite system in which the second-order critical behavior can be identified. The relation between the order-parameter, the criticality and the scaling law of fluctuations is established, and the connection between the scaling function and the critical exponents is found. Recent experimental data from fragment production in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies, are discussed within this novel framework.