Violent collisions can reveal hexadecapole deformation of nuclei

A new observable in heavy ion collision experiments was identified to be sensitive to the hexadecapole deformation of the colliding nuclei.Such deformation is difficult to measure in traditional nuclear electric transition measurements,as it is often overwhelmed by the nuclear quadrupole deformation.This opens the door to gain new insight into nuclear structure with experiments that were designed to study hot and dense nuclear matter.

Investigating the elliptic anisotropy of identified particles in p-Pb collisions with a multi-phase transport model

The elliptic azimuthal anisotropy coefficient(v_(2))of the identified particles at midrapidity(|η|<0.8)was investigated in p-Pb collisions at√s_(NN)=5.02 TeV using a multi-phase transport model(AMPT).The calculations of differential v_(2)based on the advanced flow extraction method of light flavor hadrons(pions,kaons,protons,andΛ)in small collision systems were extended to a wider transverse momentum(p_(T))range of up to 8 GeV/c for the first time.The string-melting version of the AMPT model provides a good description of the measured p_(T)-differential v_(2)of the mesons but exhibits a slight deviation from the baryon v_(2).In addition,we observed the features of mass ordering at low p_(T)and the approximate number-of-constituentquark(NCQ)scaling at intermediate p_(T).Moreover,we demonstrate that hadronic rescattering does not have a significant impact on v_(2)in p-Pb collisions for different centrality selections,whereas partonic scattering dominates in generating the elliptic anisotropy of the final particles.This study provides further insight into the origin of collective-like behavior in small collision systems and has referential value for future measurements of azimuthal anisotropy.

Electromagnetic fields in ultra-peripheral relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Ultra-peripheral heavy-ion collisions(UPCs)offer unique opportunities to study processes under strong electromagnetic fields.In these collisions,highly charged fast-moving ions carry strong electromagnetic fields that can be effectively treated as photon fluxes.The exchange of photons can induce photonuclear and two-photon interactions and excite ions.This excitation of the ions results in Coulomb dissociation with the emission of photons,neutrons,and other particles.Additionally,the electromagnetic fields generated by the ions can be sufficiently strong to enforce mutual interactions between the two colliding ions.Consequently,the two colliding ions experience an electromagnetic force that pushes them in opposite directions,causing a back-to-back correlation in the emitted neutrons.Using a Monte Carlo simulation,we qualitatively demonstrate that the above electromagnetic effect is large enough to be observed in UPCs,which would provide a clear means to study strong electromagnetic fields and their effects.

Production of the X(4014)as the Spin-2 Partner of X(3872)in e^(+)e^(-)Collisions

In 2021,the Belle collaboration reported the first observation of a new structure in theψ(2S)γfinal state produced in the two-photon fusion process.In the hadronic molecule picture,this new structure can be associatedwith the shallow isoscalar D*D* bound state and as such is an excellent candidate for the spin-2 partner of the X(3872)with the quantum numbers J^(PC)=2^(++)conventionally named X_(2).

Impact of initial fluctuations and nuclear deformations in isobar collisions

Relativistic isobar^(96)_(44)Ru+^(96)_(44)Ru and^(96)_(40)Zr+^(96)_(40)Zrcollisions have revealed intricate differences in their nuclear size and shape,inspiring unconventional studies of nuclear structure using relativistic heavy ion collisions.In this study,we investigate the relative differences in the mean multiplicityR_(<Nch>)and the secondR_(ε2)and third-order eccentricityR_(ε3)between isobar collisions using initial state Glauber models.It is found that initial fluctuations and nuclear deformations have negligible effects on R_(<Nch>)in most central collisions,while both are important for the R_(ε2)and R_(ε3),the degree of which is sensitive to the underlying nucleonic or sub-nucleonic degree of freedom.These features,compared to real data,may probe the particle production mechanism and the physics underlying nuclear structure.

Cosmological Redshift Caused by Head-On Collisions with CMB Photons, Not by Expansion of Space

The Big Bang model was first proposed in 1931 by Georges Lemaitre. Lemaitre and Hubble discovered a linear correlation between distances to galaxies and their redshifts. The correlation between redshifts and distances arises in all expanding models of universe as the cosmological redshift is commonly attributed to stretching of wavelengths of photons propagating through the expanding space. Fritz Zwicky suggested that the cosmological redshift could be caused by the interaction of propagating light photons with certain inherent features of the cosmos to lose a fraction of their energy. However, Zwicky did not provide any physical mechanism to support his tired light hypothesis. In this paper, we have developed the mechanism of producing cosmological redshift through head-on collision between light and CMB photons. The process of repeated energy loss of visual photons through n head-on collisions with CMB photons, constitutes a primary mechanism for producing the Cosmological redshift z. While this process results in steady reduction in the energy of visual photons, it also results in continuous increase in the number of photons in the CMB. After a head-on collision with a CMB photon, the incoming light photon, with reduced energy, keeps moving on its original path without any deflection or scattering in any way. After propagation through very large distances in the intergalactic space, all light photons will tend to lose bulk of their energy and fall into the invisible region of the spectrum. Thus, this mechanism of producing cosmological redshift through gradual energy depletion, also explains the Olbers’s paradox.

Transverse momentum balance of dijets in Xe+Xe collisions at the LHC

We present a theoretical study of the medium modifications of the p_(T)balance (x_(J)) of dijets in Xe+Xe collisions at■.The initial production of dijets was carried out using the POWHEG+PYTHIA8 prescription,which matches the next-toleading-order (NLO) QCD matrix elements with the parton shower (PS) effect.The SHELL model described the in-medium evolution of nucleus–nucleus collisions using a transport approach.The theoretical results of the dijet xJin the Xe+Xe collisions exhibit more imbalanced distributions than those in the p+p collisions,consistent with recently reported ATLAS data.By utilizing the Interleaved Flavor Neutralisation,an infrared-and-collinear-safe jet flavor algorithm,to identify the flavor of the reconstructed jets,we classify dijets processes into three categories:gluon–gluon (gg),quark–gluon (qg),and quark–quark (qq),and investigated the respective medium modification patterns and fraction changes of the gg,qg,and qq components of the dijet sample in Xe+Xe collisions.It is shown that the increased fraction of qg component at a small x_(J)contributes to the imbalance of the dijet;in particular,the q_(1)g_(2)(quark-jet-leading) dijets experience more significant asymmetric energy loss than the g_(1)q_(2)(gluon-jet-leading) dijets traversing the QGP.By comparing the■of inclusive,■ dijets in Xe+Xe collisions,we observe■.Moreover,ρ_(Xe),P_(b),the ratios of the nuclear modification factors of dijets in Xe+Xe to those in Pb+Pb,were calculated,which indicates that the yield suppression of dijets in Pb+Pb is more pronounced than that in Xe+Xe owing to the larger radius of the lead nucleus.

Properties of collective flow and pion production in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions with a relativistic quantum molecular dynamics model

The relativistic mean-field approach was implemented in the Lanzhou quantum molecular dynamics transport model(LQMD.RMF). Using the LQMD.RMF, the properties of collective flow and pion production were investigated systematically for nuclear reactions with various isospin asymmetries. The directed and elliptic flows of the LQMD.RMF are able to describe the experimental data of STAR Collaboration. The directed flow difference between free neutrons and protons was associated with the stiffness of the symmetry energy, that is, a softer symmetry energy led to a larger flow difference. For various collision energies, the ratio between the π^(-) and π^(+) yields increased with a decrease in the slope parameter of the symmetry energy. When the collision energy was 270 MeV/nucleon, the single ratio of the pion transverse momentum spectra also increased with decreasing slope parameter of the symmetry energy in both nearly symmetric and neutron-rich systems.However, it is difficult to constrain the stiffness of the symmetry energy with the double ratio because of the lack of threshold energy correction on the pion production.

The study of intelligent algorithm in particle identification of heavy-ion collisions at low and intermediate energies

Traditional particle identification methods face timeconsuming,experience-dependent,and poor repeatability challenges in heavy-ion collisions at low and intermediate energies.Researchers urgently need solutions to the dilemma of traditional particle identification methods.This study explores the possibility of applying intelligent learning algorithms to the particle identification of heavy-ion collisions at low and intermediate energies.Multiple intelligent algorithms,including XgBoost and TabNet,were selected to test datasets from the neutron ion multi-detector for reaction-oriented dynamics(NIMROD-ISiS)and Geant4 simulation.Tree-based machine learning algorithms and deep learning algorithms e.g.TabNet show excellent performance and generalization ability.Adding additional data features besides energy deposition can improve the algorithm’s performance when the data distribution is nonuniform.Intelligent learning algorithms can be applied to solve the particle identification problem in heavy-ion collisions at low and intermediate energies.

Electron capture and excitation in intermediate-energy He^(2+)–H(1s,2s)collisions

The semiclassical non-perturbative atomic orbital close-coupling approach has been employed to study the electron capture and excitation processes in He^(2+)-H(1s)and He^(2+)-H(2s)collision systems.In order to ensure the accuracy of our calculated cross sections,a large number of high excited states and pseudostates are included in the expansion basis sets which are centered on the target and projectile,respectively.The total and partial charge transfer and excitation cross sections are obtained for a wide-energy domain ranging from 1 keV/amu to 200 keV/amu.The present calculations are also compared with the results from other theoretical methods.These cross section data are useful for the investigation of astrophysics and laboratory plasma.

Precision Tests of the Nonlinear Mode Coupling of Anisotropic Flow via High-Energy Collisions of Isobars

Valuable information on dynamics of expanding fluids can be inferred from the response of such systems to perturbations in their initial geometry.We apply this technique in high-energy^(96)Ru+^(96)Ru and^(96)Zr+^(96)Zr collisions to scrutinize the expansion dynamics of the quark-gluon plasma,where the initial geometry perturbations are sourced by the differences in deformations and radial profiles between^(96)Ru and^(96)Zr,and the collective response is captured by the change in anisotropic flow Vn between the two collision systems.Using a transport model,we analyze how the nonlinear coupling between lower-order flow harmonics V_(2)and V_(3)to the higher-order flow harmonics V_(4)and V_(5),expected to scale as V_(4)NL= χ_(4)V_(2)2and V_(5)NL= χ_(5)V_(2)V_(3),gets modified as one moves from^(96)Ru+^(96)Ru to^(96)Zr+^(96)Zr systems.We find that these scaling relations are valid to high precision:variations of order 20% in V_(4)NLand V_(5)NLdue to differences in quadrupole deformation,octupole deformation,and nuclear skin modify χ_(4)and χ_(5)by about 1–2%.Percent-level deviations are however larger than the expected experimental uncertainties and could be measured.Therefore,collisions of isobars with different nuclear structures are a unique tool to isolate subtle nonlinear effects in the expansion of the quark-gluon plasma that would be otherwise impossible to access in a single collision system.

Production of neutron-rich actinide isotopes in isobaric collisions via multinucleon transfer reactions

We systematically calculated the multinucleon transfer reactions of ^(208)Os,^(208)Pt,^(208)Hg,^(208)Pb,^(208)Po,^(208)Rn,^(208)Ra,and ^(132,136) Xe when bombarded on ^(232) Th and ^(248) Cm at Coulomb barrier energies within the dinuclear system model.These results are in good agreement with the available experimental data.The influence of Coulomb and shell effects on actinide production in these reactions has been rigorously studied.We calculated and analyzed the potential energy surface (PES) and total kinetic energy (TKE) mass distributions for the reactions involving ^(208)Hg,^(208)Pb,and ^(208) Po with ^(248) Cm and ^(232)Th.The PES and TKE spectra shed light on the fragment formation mechanisms in multinucleon transfer reactions,with clear indications of isospin and shell effects.The production cross sections for multinucleon transfer products show a strong dependence on isobar projectiles with a mass number A=208.Isobar projectiles with high N/Z ratios are advantageous for generating neutron-rich target-like fragments.Conversely,products induced by isobar projectiles with larger charge numbers tend to shift toward proton-rich regions.The intertwining of the Coulomb potential and shell effect is evident in the production cross sections of actinide isotopes.Drawing from reactions induced by radioactive projectiles,we anticipate the discovery of several new actinide isotopes near the nuclear drip lines,extending our reach into the superheavy nuclei domain.

Effects of sequential decay on collective flows and nuclear stopping power in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies

In this study, the rapidity distribution, collective flows, and nuclear stopping power in ^(197)Au+^(197)Au collisions at intermediate energies were investigated using the ultrarelativistic quantum molecular dynamics(UrQMD) model with GEMINI++ code. The UrQMD model was adopted to simulate the dynamic evolution of heavy-ion collisions, whereas the GEMINI++ code was used to simulate the decay of primary fragments produced by UrQMD. The calculated results were compared with the INDRA and FOPI experimental data. It was found that the rapidity distribution, collective flows, and nuclear stopping power were affected to a certain extent by the decay of primary fragments, especially at lower beam energies. Furthermore, the experimental data of the collective flows and nuclear stopping power at the investigated beam energies were better reproduced when the sequential decay effect was included.

Pseudo-rapidity distributions of charged particles in asymmetric collisions using Tsallis thermodynamics

The pseudo-rapidity distributions of the charged particles produced in the asymmetric collision systems p+Al,p+Au and ^(3)He+Au at√S_(NN)=200 GeV GeV are evaluated in the framework of a fireball model with Tsallis thermodynamics.The fireball model assumes that the experimentally measured particles are produced by fireballs following the Tsallis distribution and it can effectively describe the experimental data.Our results as well as previous results for d+Au collisions at√S_(NN)=200 GeV GeV and p+Pb collisions at√S_(NN)=5.02 TeV TeV validate that the fireball model based on Tsallis thermodynamics can provide a universal framework for pseudo-rapidity distribution of the charged particles produced in asymmetric collision systems.We predict the centrality dependence of the total charged particle multiplicity in the p+Al,p+Au and 3He+Au collisions.Additionally,the dependences of the fireball model parameters(y_(0a),y_(0A),σ_(a) and σ_(A))on the centrality and system size are studied.

Proton-Proton Collisions in View of Thermo-Statistical Approach

The data of charged particles produced in proton-proton collisions extracted from Durham particle data group at energy ranges √s = 6.3 - 17 GeV and at 0.9 - 7 TeV are investigated in the framework of Tsallis thermo-statistics and the Vlasov time dynamics. The analysis can describe the experimental data well all-over the considered energies and rapidity intervals. The variation of the collision parameters (chemical potential, entropy index and the time of evolution) is studied and discussed as a function of the final state temperature. According to the obtained result, a scenario, and a script of the time evolution for the particle production is simulated by the pp collision.

Thermodynamic properties at the kinetic freeze-out in the Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions at the RHIC using the Tsallis distribution

The thermodynamic properties of charged particles,such as the energy density,pressure,entropy density,particle density,and squared speed of sound at the kinetic freeze-out in the Au+Au collisions from the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC)beam energy scan program √S_(NN) and in the Cu+Cu collisions at √S_(NN),200 GeV are studied using the thermodynamically consistent Tsallis distribution.The energy density,pressure,and particle density decrease monotonically with the collision energy for the same collision centrality;These properties also decrease monotonically from the central to peripheral collisions at the same collision energy.While the scaled energy densityε∕T^(4) and scaled entropy density s∕T^(3) demonstrate the opposite trend with the collision energy for the same collision centrality.There is a correlation betweenε∕T^(4) and s∕T^(3) at the same centrality.In addition,the squared speed of sound was calculated to determine that all the collision energies share nearly the same value at different collision centralities.

Production of χc and ηc in Ultra-Peripheral Collisions with Two-Photon Processes

We calculate the production of χc and ηc by the two-photon process in ultra-peripheral heavy ion collisions at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies. The differential cross section of transverse momentum distribution and rapidity distribution for (H = χc and ηc), are estimated by using the equivalent photon flux in the impact parameter space. The numerical results indicate that the study of χc and ηc in ultra-peripheral heavy ion collisions are feasible at RHIC and LHC energies.

Collisionless shock acceleration of protons in a plasma slab produced in a gas jet by the collision of two laser-driven hydrodynamic shockwaves

We have recently proposed a new technique of plasma tailoring by laser-driven hydrodynamic shockwaves generated on both sides of a gas jet[Marquès et al.,Phys.Plasmas 28,023103(2021)].In a continuation of this numerical work,we study experimentally the influence of the tailoring on proton acceleration driven by a high-intensity picosecond laser in three cases:without tailoring,by tailoring only the entrance side of the picosecond laser,and by tailoring both sides of the gas jet.Without tailoring,the acceleration is transverse to the laser axis,with a low-energy exponential spectrum,produced by Coulomb explosion.When the front side of the gas jet is tailored,a forward acceleration appears,which is significantly enhanced when both the front and back sides of the plasma are tailored.This forward acceleration produces higher-energy protons,with a peaked spectrum,and is in good agreement with the mechanism of collisionless shock acceleration(CSA).The spatiotemporal evolution of the plasma profile is characterized by optical shadowgraphy of a probe beam.The refraction and absorption of this beam are simulated by post-processing 3D hydrodynamic simulations of the plasma tailoring.Comparison with the experimental results allows estimation of the thickness and near-critical density of the plasma slab produced by tailoring both sides of the gas jet.These parameters are in good agreement with those required for CSA.

A wealth distribution model with a non-Maxwellian collision kernel

A non-Maxwellian collision kernel is employed to study the evolution of wealth distribution in a multi-agent society.The collision kernel divides agents into two different groups under certain conditions. Applying the kinetic theory of rarefied gases, we construct a two-group kinetic model for the evolution of wealth distribution. Under the continuous trading limit, the Fokker–Planck equation is derived and its steady-state solution is obtained. For the non-Maxwellian collision kernel, we find a suitable redistribution operator to match the taxation. Our results illustrate that taxation and redistribution have the property to change the Pareto index.

MD Simulation of Diffusion Behaviors in Collision Welding Processes of Al-Cu, Al-Al, Cu-Cu

To investigate the effects of material combinations and velocity conditions on atomic diffusion behavior near collision interfaces,this study simulates the atomic diffusion behavior near collision interfaces in Cu-Al,Al-Al and Cu-Cu combinations fabricated through collision welding using molecular dynamic(MD)simulation.The atomic diffusion behaviors are compared between similar metal combinations(Al-Al,Cu-Cu)and dissimilar metal combinations(Al-Cu).By combining the simulation results and classical diffusion theory,the diffusion coefficients for similar and dissimilar metal material combinations under different velocity conditions are obtained.The effects of material combinations and collision velocity on diffusion behaviors are also discussed.The diffusion behaviors of dissimilar material combinations strongly depend on the transverse velocity,whereas those of the similar material combinations are more dependent on the longitudinal velocity.These findings can provide guidance for optimizing welding parameters.