Pionisation, relativistic lead-lead collisions, and the nature of average phase space density

The average phase space density (APSD) of the particles produced in high energy nuclear collisions at ultrarelativistic energies has here been theoretically estimated on the basis of some particular models for particle production spectra. The model-based values so obtained have been compared with the very recent experimental results in the field on the relevant observable and also with the calculated results obtained by some other models. Based on such comparisons, the present work indicates very strongly that Hagedorn's model has a sound potentiality to achieve a competitive status in its capability to deal with the data on the APSD factor in heavy-ion collisions. The impact and implications of all this have also been emphasised here in the end. Received: 14 November 2000 / Accepted: 19 April 2001     

Modified Glauber model for the total reaction cross-section of 12C + 12C collisions

Glauber's theory has been adopted to calculate the total heavy-ion reaction cross-sections at high energies. At relatively low energies, Glauber's total reaction cross-section has been modified in order to take into account the Coulomb field effect and is called modified Glauber model I. In addition to the Coulomb field effect, the nuclear effect has also been taken into account in the Glauber model and is called modified Glauber model II. An analytical expression for the transparency function for heavy-ion reactions, involving the nuclear densities of the colliding ions and the nucleon-nucleon cross- section, has been obtained within the framework of the modified Glauber models I and II. The transparency and the total reaction cross-sections of the ¹²C + ¹²C collisions are calculated at different bombarding energies. The obtained results are in good agreement with the experimental data and with previous theoretical calculations. Received: 26 January 2001 / Accepted: 15 October 2001     

Transverse-momentum distribution of J/Ψ's in Pb-Pb collisions and gluon rescattering

We study anomalous J/Ψ suppression and p _t broadening in the model of prompt gluons. The anomalous suppression can be successfully described in this model. The transverse-momentum dependence of J/Ψ suppression in relativistic heavy-ion collisions is calculated from initial-state gluon rescattering with both nucleons and prompt gluons produced in nucleon-nucleon collisions in the early phase of the reaction. It seems impossible to describe simultaneously anomalous suppression and p _t broadening in Pb-Pb collisions within the model of prompt gluons with reasonable values of the parameters. Received: 27 September 2001 / Accepted: 12 November 2002 / Published online: 17 January 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: zhuangpf@mail.singhua.edu.cn Communicated by A. Molinari     

Probing the strange quark condensate by di-electrons from φ-meson decays in heavy-ion collisions at SIS energies

QCD sum rules predict that the change of the strange quark condensate 〈ˉss〉 in hadron matter at finite baryon density causes a shift of the peak position of the di-electron spectra from φ-meson decays. Due to the expansion of hadron matter in heavy-ion collisions, the φ peak suffers a smearing governed by the interval of density in the expanding fireball, which appears as an effective broadening of the di-electron spectrum in the φ region. The emerging broadening is sensitive to the in-medium change of 〈ˉss〉. This allows to probe directly in-medium modifications of 〈ˉss〉 via di-electron spectra in heavy-ion collisions at SIS energies with HADES. Received: 22 November 2002 / Accepted: 30 January 2003 / Published online: 29 April 2003     

The directed flow maximum near cs = 0

We investigate the excitation function of quark-gluon plasma formation and of directed in-plane flow of nucleons in the energy range of the BNL-AGS and for the E ^kin _Lab = 40A GeV Pb + Pb collisions performed recently at the CERN-SPS. We employ the three-fluid model with dynamical unification of kinetically equilibrated fluid elements. Within our model with first-order phase transition at high density, droplets of QGP coexisting with hadronic matter are produced already at BNL-AGS energies, E ^kin _Lab≃ 10A GeV. A substantial decrease of the isentropic velocity of sound, however, requires higher energies, E ^kin _Lab≃ 40A GeV. We show the effect on the flow of nucleons in the reaction plane. According to our model calculations, kinematic requirements and EoS effects work hand-in-hand at E ^kin _Lab = 40A GeV to allow the observation of the dropping velocity of sound via an increase of the directed flow around midrapidity as compared to top BNL-AGS energy. Received: 7 May 2000 / Accepted: 2 August 2000     

III. A stochastic two-stage reaction model for heavy-ion collisions

We propose a two-stage, stochastic model of heavy-ion reactions. Nucleons becoming participants by mean-field effects or by nucleon-nucleon interactions are transferred to definite final states, creating a PLF, a TLF, clusters, or escaping to continuum. Nucleon transfer probabilities are governed by state densities. In this way different hot particle sources are created which afterwards decay by particle emission. Received: 12 March 2001 / Accepted: 20 June 2001     

Bose-Einstein transition in a dilute interacting gas

We study the effects of repulsive interactions on the critical density for the Bose-Einstein transition in a homogeneous dilute gas of bosons. First, we point out that the simple mean field approximation produces no change in the critical density, or critical temperature, and discuss the inadequacies of various contradictory results in the literature. Then, both within the frameworks of Ursell operators and of Green's functions, we derive self-consistent equations that include correlations in the system and predict the change of the critical density. We argue that the dominant contribution to this change can be obtained within classical field theory and show that the lowest order correction introduced by interactions is linear in the scattering length, a, with a positive coefficient. Finally, we calculate this coefficient within various approximations, and compare with various recent numerical estimates. Received 15 July 2001     

Relativistic diffusion model

Evidence is presented that diffusion drives colliding many-particle systems at relativistic energies from the initial δ–functions in rapidity towards the equilibrium distribution. Analytical solutions of a linear Fokker-Planck equation represent rapidity spectra for participant protons in central heavy-ion collisions at SPS-energies accurately. Thermal equilibrium in the interaction region is not attained, nonequilibrium features persist and can account for the broad rapidity spectra. Received: 24 November 1998 / Revised version: 20 February 1999     

In-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy with exotic beams at the NSCL

Projectile fragmentation provides radioactive beams at intermediate velocities (v/c = 0.3-0.5) by physical means of fragment separation. With the development of position-sensitive photon detectors it has become possible to measure the energies and directions of photons emitted in-flight from such fast-moving exotic beams. This allows the reconstruction of the photons' energies emitted from an exotic projectile with high accuracy. It can be advantageous to employ photon detection in experiments with exotic beams since photons can traverse matter easily and their attenuation can be calculated. Experiments with standard luminosities can be carried out at intermediate beam energies with thick secondary targets (order of g/cm²) and very low incident beam rates (order of particle/s or less). Experimental success in this field is strongly correlated with the development of photon detectors such as position-sensitive scintillation detectors or segmented germanium detectors. In-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy of fast exotic beams has been successfully used at all projectile fragmentation facilities in intermediate-energy heavy-ion inelastic scattering experiments, knockout reactions and fragmentation reactions. Here, we focus on experimental results for neutron-rich exotic nuclei in the π(sd )-shell. Measurements and detector developments carried out at the NSCL at Michigan State University during the last four years are discussed. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Microscopic three-body force for asymmetric nuclear matter

Brueckner calculations including a microscopic three-body force have been extended to isospin-asymmetric nuclear matter. The effects of the three-body force on the equation of state and on the single-particle properties of nuclear matter are discussed with a view to possible applications in nuclear physics and astrophysics. It is shown that, even in the presence of the three-body force, the empirical parabolic law of the energy per nucleon vs. isospin asymmetry β = (N - Z)/A is fulfilled in the whole asymmetry range 0≤β≤1 up to high densities. The three-body force provides a strong enhancement of the symmetry energy which increases with density in good agreement with the predictions of relativistic approaches. The Lane's assumption that proton and neutron mean fields linearly vary vs. the isospin parameter is violated at high density due to the three-body force, while the momentum dependence of the mean fields turns out to be only weakly affected. Consequently, a linear isospin split of the neutron and proton effective masses is found for both cases with and without the three-body force. The isospin effects on multifragmentation events and collective flows in heavy-ion collisions are briefly discussed along with the conditions for direct URCA processes to occur in the neutron star cooling. Received: 18 February 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002     

Gamma-ray spectroscopy of the neutron-rich Ni region through heavy-ion deep-inelastic collisions

Nuclei in the neutron-rich Ni region have been studied by γ-ray spectroscopy. Gamma-rays emitted from isomers, with T _1/2 > 1 ns, produced in heavy-ion deep-inelastic collisions were measured with an isomer-scope. The nuclear structure of the doubly magic ⁶⁸Ni and its neighbor ^69,71Cu is discussed on the basis of the shell model. Future experiments for more neutron-rich Ni nuclei are also viewed. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Combinatorial nuclear level densities based on the Gogny nucleon-nucleon effective interaction

A combinatorial method to calculate total level densities from an arbitrary single-particle level scheme is presented. Parity, angular momentum, pairing correlations as well as collective enhancements are explicitly treated. This method is employed using single-particle level schemes obtained from Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations based on the Gogny effective interaction. Sixty five even-even nuclei with masses 26 ?A? 250 are considered. Rather good agreements are obtained when comparing our predictions with experimental data for energies of the order of the neutron binding energies and for low excitation energies where discrete levels are experimentally observed. Received: 13 February 2001 / Accepted: 24 September 2001     

Dispersion relation formalism for virtual Compton scattering off the proton

We present in detail a dispersion relation formalism for virtual Compton scattering (VCS) off the proton from threshold into the Δ(1232)-resonance region. Such a formalism can be used as a tool to extract the generalized polarizabilities of the proton from both unpolarized and polarized VCS observables over a larger energy range. We present calculations for existing and forthcoming VCS experiments and demonstrate that the VCS observables in the energy region between pion production threshold and the Δ(1232)-resonance show an enhanced sensitivity to the generalized polarizabilities. Received: 14 March 2001 / Accepted: 18 June 2001     

High-spin states in neutron-rich nuclei explored with deep-inelastic HI reactions

The use of deep-inelastic heavy-ion reactions for the spectroscopy of neutron-rich nuclei is discussed. Conclusions from the N/Z equilibration process studies are outlined and examples of spectroscopic results obtained for the neutron-rich spdf shell nuclei, N = 82 isotones and nuclei from the ²⁰⁸Pb region are reviewed. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

First-principles calculation of electric field gradients and hyperfine couplings in YBa2Cu3O7

The local electronic structure of YBa₂Cu₃O₇ has been calculated using first-principles cluster methods. Several clusters embedded in an appropriate background potential have been investigated. The electric field gradients at the copper and oxygen sites are determined and compared to previous theoretical calculations and experiments. Spin polarized calculations with different spin multiplicities have enabled a detailed study of the spin density distribution to be made and a simultaneous determination of magnetic hyperfine coupling parameters. The contributions from on-site and transferred hyperfine fields have been disentangled with the conclusion that the transferred spin densities essentially are due to nearest neighbour copper ions only with marginal influence of ions further away. This implies that the variant temperature dependencies of the planar copper and oxygen NMR spin-lattice relaxation rates are only compatible with commensurate antiferromagnetic correlations. The theoretical hyperfine parameters are compared with those derived from experimental data. Received 10 April 2001 and Received in final form 19 June 2001     

(<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>,π<Superscript>±</Superscript>) correlations in central heavy-ion collisions at 1 ÷ 2 AGeV

The proton–charged pion correlated emission is studied in the reactions Au (1.06 AGeV) + Au, Ni (1.06 and 1.93 AGeV) + Ni and Ni (1.97 AGeV) + Cu within the BUU approach. The associated invariant mass distributions are shifted to smaller energies with respect to the free Δ(1232) mass distribution due to kinematical reasons. We find that the existing and partly conflicting experimental data do not allow to draw definite conclusions on the in-medium modification of the Δ(1232). Received: 18 October 1999 / Revised version: 4 February 2000     

The large probability of the 0+ ground states

We investigate the dominance of 0⁺ states as the lowest states in shell model calculations with random two-body interactions in a single j-shell. We have found an explanation of the large probability of the 0⁺ ground state. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of light nuclei

Quantum Monte Carlo calculations using realistic two- and three-nucleon interactions are presented for nuclei with up to ten nucleons. Our Green's function Monte Carlo calculations are accurate to ∼1-2% for the binding energy. We have constructed Hamiltonians using the Argonne v₁₈ NN interaction and reasonable three-nucleon interactions that reproduce the energies of these nuclear states with only ∼500 keV rms error. Other predictions, such as form factors, decay rates, and spectroscopic factors also agree well with data. Some of these results are presented to show that ab initio calculations of light nuclei are now well in hand. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Thermal dileptons from quark and hadron phases of an expanding fireball

A fireball model with time evolution based on transport calculations is used to examine the dilepton emission rate of an ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collision. A transition from hadronic matter to a quark-gluon plasma at a critical temperature T _C between 130-170 MeV is assumed. We also consider a possible mixed phase scenario. We include thermal corrections to the hadronic spectra below T _C and use perturbation theory above T _C. The sensitivity of the spectra with respect to the freeze-out temperature, the initial fireball temperature and the critical temperature is investigated. Received: 4 August 2000 / Accepted: 14 November 2000