K+ versus Λ flow in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study K⁺ and Λ flow in heavy-ion collisions at beam energies of about 2 AGeV. We present our results in both the “traditional” (i.e., in terms of the average transverse momentum in the reaction plane) as well as “modern” (i.e., in terms of coefficients of the Fourier analysis of azimuthal distributions) methods of flow analysis. We find significant differences between the K⁺ and the Λ flow: while the Λ flow is basically similar to that of nucleons, the K⁺ flow almost disappears. This difference is attributed chiefly to their different mean field potentials in dense matter. The comparisons with the experimental data, as well as theoretical results from independent calculations, indicate clearly the pivotal roles of both K⁺ and Λ medium effects. We emphasize that similar experimental data from independent collaborations are essential for the eventual verification of these medium effects.     

Hydrodynamic radial and elliptic flow in heavy-ion collisions from AGS to LHC energies

Using ideal relativistic hydrodynamics in 2+1 dimensions, we study the collision-energy dependence of radial and elliptic flow, of the emitted hadron spectra, and of the transverse momentum dependence of several hadronic particle ratios, covering the range from Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) to Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies. These calculations establish an ideal-fluid dynamic baseline that can be used to assess non-equilibrium features manifest in future LHC heavy-ion experiments. Contrary to earlier suggestions we find that a saturation and even decrease of the differential elliptic flow v ₂(p _T) with increasing collision energy cannot be unambiguously associated with the QCD phase transition.     

Can CP violation be observed in heavy-ion collisions?

We demonstrate that, at least at present, there is no convincing way to detect CP violation in heavy-ion collisions.     

Diffusion or bounce back in relativistic heavy-ion collisions?

The time evolution of pseudorapidity distributions of produced charged hadrons in d + Au collisions at = 200 GeV is investigated. Results of a nonequilibrium statistical relativistic diffusion model with three sources are compared with a macroscopic “bounce-back” model that does not allow for statistical equilibration at large times, but instead leads to motion reversal. When compared to the data, the results of the diffusion approach are more precise, thus emphasizing that the system is observed to be on its way to thermal equilibrium.     

Hypertriton and light nuclei production at Λ-production subthreshold energy in heavy-ion collisions

High-energy heavy-ion collisions produce abundant hyperons and nucleons. A dynamical coalescence model coupled with the ART model is employed to study the production probabilities of light clusters, deuteron (d), triton (t), helion (³He), and hypertriton (_Λ³H) at subthreshold energy of Λ production (≈ 1 GeV per nucleon). We study the dependence on the reaction system size of the coalescence penalty factor per additional nucleon and entropy per nucleon. The Strangeness Population Factor (S₃ / (³He × (Λ/p))) shows an extra suppression of hypertriton comparing to light clusters of the same mass number. This model predicts a hypertriton production cross-section of a few μb in ³⁶Ar+³⁶Ar, ⁴⁰Ca+⁴⁰Ca and ⁵⁶Ni+⁵⁶Ni in 1 A GeV reactions. The production rate is as high as a few hypertritons per million collisions, which shows that the fixed-target heavy-ion collisions at CSR (Lanzhou/China) at Λ subthreshold energy are suitable for breaking new ground in hypernuclear physics.     

Hypertriton and light nuclei production at Λ-production subthreshold energy in heavy-ion collisions

High-energy heavy-ion collisions produce abundant hyperons and nucleons. A dynamical coalescence model coupled with the ART model is employed to study the production probabilities of light clusters, deuteron (d), triton (t), helion (³He), and hypertriton (_Λ³H) at subthreshold energy of Λ production (≈ 1 GeV per nucleon). We study the dependence on the reaction system size of the coalescence penalty factor per additional nucleon and entropy per nucleon. The Strangeness Population Factor (S₃ / (³He × (Λ/p))) shows an extra suppression of hypertriton comparing to light clusters of the same mass number. This model predicts a hypertriton production cross-section of a few μb in ³⁶Ar+³⁶Ar, ⁴⁰Ca+⁴⁰Ca and ⁵⁶Ni+⁵⁶Ni in 1 A GeV reactions. The production rate is as high as a few hypertritons per million collisions, which shows that the fixed-target heavy-ion collisions at CSR (Lanzhou/China) at Λ subthreshold energy are suitable for breaking new ground in hypernuclear physics.     

Spatial anisotropy: a method to study anisotropic flow in heavy ion collisions

We introduce a method to study anisotropic flow parameter v_n as a collective probe to Quark Gluon Plasma in relativistic heavy ion collisions. The emphasis is put on the use of the Fourier expansion of initial spatial azimuthal distributions of participant nucleons in the overlapped region. The coefficients ε_n of Fourier expansion are called the spatial anisotropy parameter for the n-th harmonic. We propose that collective dynamics can be studied by v_n/ε_n. In this paper, we will discuss in particular the second (n=2) and the fourth (n=4) harmonics.     

Physicists probing active media: What is the measure of success?

I present a critical review of this issue integrating the aims of continuous and agent-based theories and experiment.     

Why is the null HBT result at RHIC so interesting?

Pion interferometry (HBT of A+A) data have posed a thorn in the theoretical interpretation of AA collisions at RHIC (√s=130 AGeV). How can R _out≈R _side≈R _long and remain so between AGS and RHIC? Where is the QGP Stall? Can elephants hide along the x ₀ ⁺ dimension? We rummage old hydrodynamic scenarios and uncover some previously ignored NULL solutions.     

Upper limit for thermal direct photon production in heavy-ion collisions at 60 and 200A·GeV

The production of direct photons has been investigated in reactions ofp and¹⁶O projectiles at 60 and 200A·GeV with C and Au nuclei. Photon and ⁰ spectra have been measured in the pseudorapidity range 1.52.1 for the transverse momentum region 0.4 GeV/cp _T 2.8 GeV/c employing the lead-glass spectrometer SAPHIR. An upper limit of 15% at the 90% confidence level for the direct photon signal relative to the neutral pion production is obtained from the comparison of measured photon spectra with Monte Carlo simulations of the hadronic background based on the reconstructed yield of ⁰ and mesons. Consequences for a possible phase transition to a quark-gluon plasma are discussed.     

Perturbative thermalisation in nuclear collisions at very high energies?

According to lowest order perturbation theory more than one hundred gluons and quarks with p_T > p₀ ≈2 GeV are produced per unit rapidity within a time of 0.1 fm in an average collision of two large nuclei at a CMS energy/particle in the few 100 GeV range. We show, including longitudinal expansion and QCD branching, that before a time of about 0.4 fm each of these will experience more than one collision with one of the other gluons and quarks. Without any assumptions concerning soft QCD one thus concludes that the quark-gluon subsystem is driven towards thermalisation.     

Truncating expansions in bi-orthogonal bases: What is preserved?

In this work, we test the survival of topological information of an attractor under the truncations of a bi-orthogonal decomposition. We generate synthetic patterns which evolve dynamically in a desired way, and investigate the number of modes which should be kept in a truncation in order to be able to recover the information which we provided to the system. We show that a premature truncation of this kind of decomposition, based on existing energy criteria, leads to orbits that do not preserve the topological properties of the original signal.