No Arabic abstract
Novel transverse-momentum technique is used to analyse charged-particle exclusive data for collective motion in the Ar+KCl reaction at 1.8 GeV/nucl. Previous analysis of this reaction, employing the standard sphericity tensor, revealed no significant effect. In the present analysis, collective effects are observed, and they are substantially stronger than in the Cugnon cascade model, but weaker than in the hydrodynamical model.
The dilepton transverse momentum spectra and invariant mass spectra for low $p_T <0.15$~GeV/c in Au+Au collisions of different centralities at $sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV are studied within the parton-hadron-string dynamics (PHSD) transport approach. The PHSD describes the whole evolution of the system on a microscopic basis, incorporates hadronic and partonic degrees-of-freedom, the dynamical hadronization of partons and hadronic rescattering. For dilepton production in p+p, p+A and A+A reactions the PHSD incorporates the leading hadronic and partonic channels (also for heavy flavors) and includes in-medium effects such as a broadening of the vector meson spectral functions in hadronic matter and a modification of initial heavy-flavor correlations by interactions with the partonic and hadronic medium. The transport calculations reproduce well the momentum integrated invariant mass spectra from the STAR Collaboration for minimum bias Au+Au collisions at $sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV, while the description of the STAR data - when gating on low $p_T < 0.15$ GeV/c - is getting worse when going from central to peripheral collisions. An analysis of the transverse momentum spectra shows that the data for peripheral (60-80%) collisions are well reproduced for $p_T>0.2$ GeV/c while the strong peak at low $p_T < 0.15$ GeV/c, that shows up in the experimental data for the mass bins ($0.4 < M < 0.7$ GeV and $1.2 < M < 2.6$ GeV), is fully missed by the PHSD and cannot be explained by the standard in-medium effects. This provides a new puzzle for microscopic descriptions of low $p_T$ dilepton data from the STAR Collaboration.
We calculate the cross section and transverse-momentum ($P_{bot}$) distribution of the Breit-Wheeler process in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and their dependence on collision impact parameter ($b$). To accomplish this, the Equivalent Photon Approximation (EPA) was generalized in a more differential way compared to the approach traditionally used for inclusive collisions. In addition, a lowest-order QED calculation with straightline assumption was performed as a standard baseline for comparison. The cross section as a function of $b$ is consistent with previous calculations using the equivalent one-photon distribution function. Most importantly, the $P_{bot}$ shape from this model is strongly dependent on impact parameter and can quantitatively explain the $P_{bot}$ broadening observed recently by RHIC and LHC experiments. This broadening effect from the initial QED field strength should be considered in studying possible trapped magnetic field and multiple scattering in a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). The impact-parameter sensitive observable also provides a controllable tool for studying extreme electromagnetic fields.
We show that an event-shape engineering based on the mean transverse momentum of charged hadrons, $[p_t]$, provides an optimal handle on the strength of the magnetic field created in central heavy-ion collisions at high energy. This is established through quantitative evaluations of the correlation existing between the event-by-event magnetic field produced by the spectator protons in 5.02 TeV Pb+Pb collisions and the event-by-event $[p_t]$ at a given collision centrality. We argue that the event selection based on $[p_t]$ provides a better handle on the magnetic field than the more traditional selection based on the event ellipticities. Advantages brought by this new method for the experimental search of the chiral magnetic effect are discussed.
Higher order symmetric cumulants of global collective observables in heavy ion collisions are studied. The symmetric cumulants can be straightforwardly constructed for scalar observables: the average transverse momentum, the multiplicity, and the squares of harmonic flow vectors. Third and fourth order cumulants are calculated in the hydrodynamic model. A linear predictor of the average transverse momentum and harmonic flow coefficients in a collision is used to predict the value of the cumulants from the moments of the initial distribution. The symmetric cumulants divided by the averages (or the standard deviations) of the considered observables can be used as a fine tool to study correlations present in the initial state of the collision.
Using transport theory to model central Au + Au collisions in the energy region of 20 - 110 MeV/u, at impact parameters b <= 5 fm, we predict a measurable impact of spinoidal instability as the collective expansion sets in with energy. Two transport models are employed, the pBUU model, solving a Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck equation, and the Brownian Motion (BM) model, solving a set of Langevin equations to describe the motion of individual nucleons in a noisy nuclear medium. We find without ambiguity, for the first time, that a combination of delayed equilibration, onset of collective expansion and the spinodal instability produces a pair of transient ring structures, made of the projectile and target remnants, with spectator nucleons predicted to end in the entities reminiscent of stones in jewelry, on the rings. The ring structures, calculated in the configuration space and mapped onto the velocity space, could be detected in experimental collective flow data.