Anomalons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

By reviewing experimental results from many anomalon searches, one can reasonably conclude that anomalons, if they exist, are preferentially produced in peripheral collisions, signified by low values of N_h and δZ. For Z ≥ 3, the experimental picture about the existence of anomalons is not very clear at this moment. In the Z = 2 case, however, there are reasonably convincing indications that anomalons do seem to be present in fragments produced by light projectile nuclei such as ¹²C.     

Coherent vector-meson photoproduction with nuclear breakup in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Relativistic heavy ions are copious sources of virtual photons. The large photon flux gives rise to a substantial photonuclear interaction probability at impact parameters where no hadronic interactions can occur. Multiple photonuclear interactions in a single collision are possible. In this Letter, we use mutual Coulomb excitation of both nuclei as a tag for moderate-impact-parameter collisions. We calculate the cross section for coherent vector-meson production accompanied by mutual excitation and show that the median impact parameter is much smaller than for untagged production. The vector-meson rapidity and transverse-momentum distribution are very different from untagged exclusive vector-meson production.     

Intermittency in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Corrected scaled-factorial-moments are calculated for the multiplicity distributions of shower particles in different phase spaces. An intermittency power-law is observed in the central collisions of³²S and¹⁶O at 200A GeV,¹⁶O at 60A GeV and²⁸Si at 14.5A GeV in nuclear emulsion.     

Quarkochemistry in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The time necessary to achieve the equilibrium ratio of strange to non-strange quarks in heavy-ion reactions is estimated in the framework of perturbative QCD. It is found, in the present approximation, to be much larger than the total collision time of even a central U + U collision at E_lab=2.1 GeV/nucleon bombarding energy.     

Observing B-violation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Under certain situations, partons formed in heavy-ion collision experiments may expand out forming a shell-like structure. The partons in the outer shell subsequently hadronize, leaving a bubble of pure deconfined vacuum for a first-order quark-hadron phase transition. The bubble collapses and may eventually decay into particles which may thermalize to temperatures exceeding the electroweak transition temperature (100 GeV) at LHC. This will lead to the possibility of unsuppressed electroweak baryon number violating processes.     

Strangeness production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Kaon production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions is studied. Particular attention is paid to situations in which high densities are obtained, such as in the Brookhaven AGS experiments with 14.6 GeV/nucleon Si on Au. Because of the explicit chiral-symmetry breaking terms in chiral Langrangians, kaons acquire an effective mass m _K ^* which goes to zero at the critical baryon density. Well before such densities, m _K ^* is sufficiently reduced to greatly facilitate kaon production through processes like K¯K. Previous expressions for the decreasing kaon mass were arrived at by linear chiral perturbation theory. Whereas we cannot systematically proceed to higher order, we use physical models to suggest how relevant quantities will behave in higher order. We present arguments that m _K ^* effectively goes to zero in the present AGS experiments.Supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy Grant No. DE-FG02-88ER40388     

Pion collectivity in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The inelastic nucleon-nucleon cross section may be enhanced in the nuclear medium by pion collectivity. Empirical hamiltonians are on the borderline of strongly collective behavior, and the predicted enhancement factors range from 1–5 for various hamiltonians from the literature. An enhancement would have a substantial effect on the sideward flow in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. If this effect is present, the equation of state could be softer than in previous analyses.     

Isospin equilibration in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the mixing and the kinetic equilibration of projectile and target nucleons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions in the energy regime between 150 AMeV and 2 AGeV in a coupled-channel BUU (CBUU) approach. We find that equilibrium in the projectile-target degrees of freedom is in general not reached even for large systems at low energy where elastic nucleon-nucleon collisions dominate. Inelastic nucleon excitations are more favorable for equilibration and their relative abundance increases both with energy and mass. Experimentally, the projectile/target admixture can be determined by measuring the degree of isospin equilibration in isospin asymmetric nuclear collisions. For one of the most promising systems currently under investigation, ⁹⁶ ₄₄Ru +⁹⁶ ₄₀Zr, we investigate the influence of the equation of state and the inelastic in-medium cross section. Received: 23 September 1998 / Revised version: 3 December 1998     

Hubble-like flows in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the dynamical appearance of scaling solutions in relativistic hydrodynamics. The phase transition effects are included through the temperature dependent sound velocity. If a pre-equilibrium transverse flow is included in the initial conditions, then it may reach the form of the asymptotic Hubble flow, r/t, in short evolution times, 7–15 fm. The numerical solutions are found to support the freeze-out models (Blast-Wave, Buda-Lund, Cracow).     

Collective flow in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

A brief introduction is given to the field of collective flow, currently being investigated experimentally at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider, Brookhaven National Laboratory. It is followed by an outline of the work that I have been doing in this field, in collaboration with Nicolas Borghini and Jean-Yves Ollitrault.     

Multiplicity fluctuations in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

We discuss the event-by-event multiplicity fluctuations in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions. Recent results of the transport and statistical approaches are presented and compared with existing data. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Diffusion model for relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The decay of 2.4 h^117g Cd and 3.4 h^117m Cd has been investigated with the use of high-resolution Si(Li) and Ge(Li) detectors, also in an anti-Compton arrangement. Spectra from the two isomers have been resolved by comparing young reactor-produced¹¹⁷Cd with aged cyclotron-produced¹¹⁷Cd. Ge(Li)-Ge(Li) coincidences have been measured with a multi-parameter analyzer. A hundred observedγ-rays are placed in a level scheme of¹¹⁷In. Possible theoretical interpretations are discussed. The I.T. Branching of¹¹⁷In is (47.1±1.5)%. Only about 1% of 11/2^{? 117m} Cd decays to 1.93 h 1/2^{? 117m} In and 10.9% of 1/2^{+ 117g} Cd decays to the 9/2^{+ 117g} In ground state bypassing the isomeric In state.     

Diffusion model for relativistic heavy-ion collisions

A transport model is formulated in order to represent the nonequilibrium-statistical nature of heavy-ion collisions at relativistic and ultra-relativistic energies. The time evolution of macroscopic variables such as transverse energyE _? and longitudinal energyE _‖, or rapidityY, is described by means of a diffusion equation. Analytical solutions for mean values and fluctuations ofE _? andE _‖ are derived and evaluated at impact-parameter dependent values of the interaction times. Agreement with the available data on transverse energy distributions in ultra-relativistic reactions fromp+Au to Au+Au is obtained, and calculated rapidity distributions are found to agree with the data. A prediction for Pb+Pb at SPS-energies is compared with recent experimental results, and a possible signature of quark-gluon plasma formation is discussed.     

Nuclear shadowing effect in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Two complementary approaches are used in studying the nuclear shadowing effect in heavy-ion collisions at SIS/GSI beam energies within a hadronic transport model. By analysing simultaneously the average transverse momentum of nucleons and pions in the reaction plane as a function of rapidity, the shadowing effect is revealed as an anticorrelation of the average transverse momentum distributions of nucleons and pions in semicentral and peripheral collisions. While by studying the azimuthal angle distribution of pions with respect to the reaction plane, the shadowing effect appears as an azimuthal anisotropy with a preferential emission of pions perpendicular to the reaction plane. The dependence of the nuclear shadowing effect on the impact parameter and the beam energy is also studied.     

Vector meson radiation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The (σ, ω) model in the mean-field approximation where the meson fields are treated classically, describes much of observed nuclear structure and has been employed to describe the nuclear equation of state up to the quark-gluon phase transition. The acceleration of the meson sources, for example, in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, should result in bremsstrahlung-like radiation of the meson fields. The many mesons emitted serve to justify the use of classical meson fields. The slowing of the nuclei during the collision is modeled here as a smooth transition from initial to final velocity. Under ultra-relativistic conditions, vector radiation dominates. The angular distribution of energy flux shows a characteristic shape. It appears that if the vector meson field couples to the conserved baryon current, independent of the baryonic degrees of freedom, this mechanism will contribute to the radiation seen in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The possible influence of the quark-gluon plasma is also considered.     

HYDJET++ model of relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The HYDJET++ event generator intended for simulating multiparticle hadron production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions over a broad energy range ($ sqrt s sim 10 - 10 000 GeV $ sqrt s sim 10 - 10 000 GeV per nucleon pair) is described in the present article. Within HYDJET++, the final state of a nuclear reaction is a superposition of two independent components: a soft, hydrodynamic, part (processes involving the production of low-transverse-momentum hadrons) and a hard, multiparton, state (processes involving the production of high-transverse-momentum hadrons via the fragmentation of quark-gluon jets). Some results of a simulation of nucleus-nucleus interactions on the basis of the HYDJET++ event generator at the energies of the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are discussed.