The effects of initial state fluctuations on elliptic flow are investigated within a (3+1)d Boltzmann + hydrodynamics transport approach. The spatial eccentricity ($ε_{\rm RP}$ and $ε_{\rm part}$) is calculated for initial conditions generated by a hadronic transport approach (UrQMD). Elliptic flow results as a function of impact parameter, beam energy and transverse momentum for two different equations of state and for averaged initial conditions or a full event-by-event setup are presented. These investigations allow the conclusion that in mid-central ($b=5-9$ fm) heavy ion collisions the final elliptic flow is independent of the initial state fluctuations and the equation of state. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that most of the $v_2$ is build up during the hydrodynamic stage of the evolution. Therefore, the use of averaged initial profiles does not contribute to the uncertainties of the extraction of transport properties of hot and dense QCD matter based on viscous hydrodynamic calculations.
We propose a new parametrization of the distribution of the initial eccentricity in a nucleus-nucleus collision at a fixed centrality, which we name the Elliptic Power distribution. It is a two-parameter distribution, where one of the parameters corresponds to the intrinsic eccentricity, while the other parameter controls the magnitude of eccentricity fluctuations. Unlike the previously used Bessel- Gaussian distribution, which becomes worse for more peripheral collisions, the new Elliptic Power distribution fits several Monte Carlo models of the initial state for all centralities.
High-multiplicity proton-proton collisions at the LHC may exhibit collective phenomena such as elliptic flow. We study this issue using DIPSY, a brand-new Monte Carlo event generator which features almost-NLO BFKL dynamics and describes the transverse shape of the proton including all fluctuations. We predict the eccentricity of the collision as a function of the multiplicity and estimate the magnitude of elliptic flow. We suggest that flow can be signaled by a sign change in the four-particle azimuthal correlation.
To reduce the effect of the fluctuations of initial geometrical shape, elliptic flow are studied at fixed centrality in Au+Au collision at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$=200GeV. It is observed with the participant increasing, elliptic flow has an increase and a decrease at different fixed impact parameter, but not a trivial fluctuation. It is analyzed that the initial space anisotropy dominates the participant dependence of elliptic flow in near-central collisions(b=5fm) and mid-central collisions(b=8fm), while the interaction between particles can mainly answer for the behavior of elliptic flow in perip…
We study the relation between elliptic flow, $v_2$ and the initial eccentricity, $\varepsilon_2$, in heavy-ion collisions, using hydrodynamic simulations. Significant deviations from linear eccentricity scaling are seen in more peripheral collisions. We identify the mechanism responsible for these deviations as a cubic response, which we argue is a generic property of the hydrodynamic response to the initial density profile. The cubic response increases elliptic flow fluctuations, thereby improving agreement of initial condition models with experimental data.
Sources of event-by-event elliptic flow fluctuations in relativistic heavy-ion collisions are investigated in a multiphase transport model. Besides the well-known initial eccentricity fluctuations, several other sources of dynamical fluctuations are identified. One is fluctuations in initial parton configurations at a given eccentricity. Second is quantum fluctuations in parton interactions during system evolution. Third is fluctuations caused by hadronization and final-state hadronic scatterings. The magnitudes of these fluctuations are investigated relative to eccentricity fluctuations and a…
Fluctuations in nucleon positions can affect the spatial eccentricity of the overlap zone in nucleus-nucleus collisions. We show that elliptic flow should be scaled by different eccentricities depending on which method is used for the flow analysis. These eccentricities are estimated semi-analytically. When $v_2$ is analyzed from 4-particle cumulants, or using the event plane from directed flow in a zero-degree calorimeter, the result is shown to be insensitive to eccentricity fluctuations.
In the Israel-Stewart's theory of dissipative hydrodynamics, we study the scaling properties elliptic flow in Au+Au collisions. Initial energy density of the fluid was fixed to reproduce STAR data on $ϕ$ meson multiplicity in 0-5% Au+Au collisions, such that irrespective of fluid viscosity, entropy at the freeze-out is similar in ideal or in viscous evolution. Initial eccentricity or constituent quark number scaling is only approximate in ideal or minimally viscous ($η/s=1/4π$) fluid. Eccentricity scaling become nearly exact in more viscous fluid ($η/s \geq$0.12). However, in more viscous flui…
Elliptic flow is a hallmark of collectivity in hadronic collisions. Its measurement relies on analysis techniques which require high event multiplicity and could be applied so far to heavy ion collisions only. Here, we delineate the conditions under which elliptic flow becomes measurable in the samples of high-multiplicity ($dN_{\rm ch}/dy \geq 50$) p-p collisions, which will soon be collected at the LHC. We observe that fluctuations in the p-p interaction region can result in a sizable spatial eccentricity even for the most central p-p collisions. Under relatively mild assumptions on the natu…
We study effects of eccentricity fluctuations on the elliptic flow coefficient v_2 at mid-rapidity in both Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt{s_NN}=200 GeV by using a hybrid model that combines ideal hydrodynamics for space-time evolution of the quark gluon plasma phase and a hadronic transport model for the hadronic matter. For initial conditions in hydrodynamic simulations, both the Glauber model and the color glass condensate model are employed to demonstrate the effect of initial eccentricity fluctuations originating from the nucleon position inside a colliding nucleus. The effect of eccen…
The specific shear viscosity (eta/s)_QGP of a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) at temperatures T_c < T < 2T_c is extracted from the centrality dependence of the eccentricity-scaled elliptic flow measured in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Coupling viscous fluid dynamics for the QGP with a microscopic transport model for hadronic freeze-out we find that the eccentricity-scaled elliptic flow is a universal function of charged multiplicity per unit overlap area, (1/S)(dN_ch/dy), that depends only on the viscosity but not on the model used for computing the initial fireball eccentricity. Comparin…
We discuss a specific model of elliptic flow fluctuations due to Gaussian fluctuations in the initial spatial $x$ and $y$ eccentricity components $\left\{\mean{(σ_y^2-σ_x^2)/(σ_x^2+σ_y^2)}, \mean{2σ_{xy}/(σ_x^2+σ_y^2)} \right\}$. We find that in this model $\vfour$, elliptic flow determined from 4-particle cumulants, exactly equals the average flow value in the reaction plane coordinate system, $\mean{v_{RP}}$, the relation which, in an approximate form, was found earlier by Bhalerao and Ollitrault in a more general analysis, but under the same assumption that $v_2$ is proportional to the init…
We present a study of the elliptic (v2) and triangular (v3) flow and their corresponding eccentricity fluctuations for asymmetric (Au+Ag, Au+Cu and Au+Si) collisions at \sqrt_NN = 200 GeV. These are compared to the corresponding results from symmetric (Au+Au and Cu+Cu) collisions at the same energy. The study which is carried out using a multi-phase transport (AMPT) model shows that triangularity (ε_3), fluctuations in triangularity and v3 do not show much variation for the different colliding ion sizes studied. However the eccentricity (ε_2), fluctuations in eccentricity and v2 shows a strong…
Recent estimates that Color Glass Condensate initial conditions may generate a larger initial eccentricity for noncentral relativistic heavy ion collisions (relative to the initial eccentricity assumed in earlier hydrodynamic calculations) have raised the possibility of a higher bound on the viscosity of the Quark Gluon Plasma. We show that this large initial eccentricity results in part from a definition of the saturation scale as proportional to the number of nucleons participating in the collision. A saturation scale proportional to the nuclear thickness function (and therefore independent …
Using viscous relativistic hydrodynamics we show that systematic studies of the impact parameter dependence of the eccentricity scaled elliptic flow can distinguish between different models for the calculation of the initial source eccentricity. This removes the largest present uncertainty in the extraction of the specific viscosity of the matter created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions from precise elliptic flow measurements.
We study the development of heavy-flavor flow harmonics in high-energy nuclear collisions. The elliptic and triangular flow of heavy-flavor hadrons, arising from the finite impact parameter of the two nuclei and from event-by-event fluctuations of the initial geometry, is analyzed in detail, considering the contribution from particles decoupling from the fireball at various times. We also study the dependence of the flow harmonics on the event-shape fluctuations, considering events belonging to the same centrality class but characterized by very different eccentricities (or vice-versa).
A detailed study of elliptical and triangular eccentricities in the initial state of relativistic heavy ion collisions is presented. A model of randomly distributed sources of energy density in the transverse plane based on the effective theory of Color Glass Condensate is used. This model describes well the ALICE and ATLAS data for Pb+Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair in a wide range of centralities, if the second $v_2$ and third $v_3$ harmonics of the anisotropic flow are simply implied to be proportional to the eccentricities $\varepsilon_2$ and $\varepsilon_3…
A simple geometrical model with event-by-event fluctuations is suggested to study elliptical and triangular eccentricities in the initial state of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. This model describes rather well the ALICE and ATLAS data for Pb+Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5.02$~TeV per nucleon pair, assuming that the second, $v_2$, and third, $v_3$, harmonics of the anisotropic flow are simply linearly proportional to the eccentricities $\varepsilon_2$ and $\varepsilon_3$, respectively. We show that the eccentricity $\varepsilon_3$ has a pure fluctuation origin an…
In heavy-ion collisions, the harmonic flow $V_n$ of final-state particles are driven by the eccentricity vector ${\mathcal{E}}_n$ that describe the shape of the initial fireball projected in the transverse plane. It is realized recently that the structure and shape of the fireball, and consequently the ${\mathcal{E}}_n$, fluctuate in pseudorapidity $η$ in a single event, ${\mathcal{E}}_n(η)$. This leads to eccentricity decorrelation between different $η$, driving the longitudinal flow decorrelations observed in the experiments. Using a Glauber model with a paramerterized longitudinal structure…
In this brief note, we determine the fluctuations of the initial eccentricity in heavy-ion collisions caused by fluctuations of the nucleon configurations. This is done via a Monte-Carlo implementation of a Color Glass Condensate $k_t$-factorization approach. The eccentricity fluctuations are found to nearly saturate elliptic flow fluctuations measured recently at RHIC. Extrapolations to LHC energies are shown.
We introduce a modified form of the Kharzeev-Levin-Nardi (KLN) approach for nuclear collisions. The new ansatz for the unintegrated gluon distribution function preserves factorization, and the saturation scale is bound from below by that for a single nucleon. It also reproduces the correct scaling with the number of collisions at high transverse momentum. The corresponding Monte Carlo implementation allows us to account for fluctuations of the hard sources (nucleons) in the transverse plane. We compute various definitions of the eccentricity within the new approach, which are relevant for the …
We study effects of eccentricity fluctuations on the elliptic flow coefficient v_2 at mid-rapidity in both Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV by using a hybrid model that combines ideal hydrodynamics for space-time evolution of the quark gluon plasma phase and a hadronic transport model for the hadronic matter. We find that the effect of eccentricity fluctuation is modest in semicentral Au+Au collisions but significantly enhances v_2 in Cu+Cu collisions.
The magnitude of anisotropic flow in a nucleus-nucleus collision is determined by the energy density field, $ρ(x,y,z)$, created right after the collision occurs. Specifically, elliptic flow, $v_2$, and triangular flow, $v_3$, are proportional to the anisotropy coefficients $\varepsilon_2$ and $\varepsilon_3$, which are functionals of $ρ$. We express the mean and the variance of $\varepsilon_2$ and $\varepsilon_3$ as a function of the 1- and 2-point functions of $ρ$. These results generalize results obtained previously, that were valid only for central collisions, or only for identical point-li…
A potential experimental probe, forward-backward elliptic anisotropy correlation ($C_{FB} $), has been proposed by Liao and Koch to distinguish the jet and true elliptic flow contribution to the measured elliptic flow ($v_2$) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Jet and flow fluctuation contribution to elliptic flow is investigated within the framework of a multi-phase transport model using the $C_{FB} $ probe. We found that the $C_{FB} $ correlation is remarkably different and is about two times of that proposed by Liao and Koch. It originates from the correlation between fluctuation of forw…
Using event-by-event hydrodynamic calculations, we find that the fluctuations of the elliptic flow ($v_2$) in the reaction plane have a negative skew. We compare the skewness of $v_2$ fluctuations to that of initial eccentricity fluctuations. We show that skewness is the main effect lifting the degeneracy between higher-order cumulants, with negative skew corresponding to the hierarchy $v_2\{4\}>v_2\{6\}$ observed in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC. We describe how the skewness can be measured experimentally and show that hydrodynamics naturally reproduces its magnitude and centrality dependence.
There is a well-established relation between the spatial asymmetry in the initial stage of a heavy-ion collision and the final momentum anisotropy, which allows for a separation of effects from initial conditions vs. later evolution and has proved exceptionally powerful. However, until recently it has only been studied in two dimensions -- either through boost-invariant simulations or studying only quantities at mid-rapidity. We explore an extension to 3 dimensions, in order to determine whether a similar understanding can be obtained for the rapidity dependence of the collision system. In par…
We discuss how the different estimates of elliptic flow are influenced by flow fluctuations and nonflow effects. It is explained why the event-plane method yields estimates between the two-particle correlation methods and the multiparticle correlation methods. It is argued that nonflow effects and fluctuations cannot be disentangled without other assumptions. However, we provide equations where, with reasonable assumptions about fluctuations and nonflow, all measured values of elliptic flow converge to a unique mean v_{2,PP} elliptic flow in the participant plane and, with a Gaussian assumptio…
Non-trivial geometrical effects in relativistic central collisions of deformed nuclei are studied using a simple version of optical Glauber model. For very small impact parameters large centrality and eccentricity fluctuations are observed. In very high multiplicity collisions of oblate nuclei (e.g. Au and Cu) significant fraction of events with elliptic flow strength v_2 dependent on oblateness beta_2 is predicted.
In high energy heavy ion collisions and interacting cold atom systems, large elliptic flow anisotropies have been observed. For the large opacity ($ρσL\sim 10^{3}$) of the latter hydrodynamics is a natural consequence, but for the small opacity ($ρσL\sim 1$) of the former hydrodynamic description is questionable. To shed light onto the situation, we simulate the expansion of a low density Argon ion (or atom) system, initially trapped in an elliptical region, under the Coulomb interaction (or elastic scattering). Significant elliptic anisotropy is found in both cases, and the anisotropy depends…
It is shown that the recently developed hybrid code VISHNU, which couples a relativistic viscous fluid dynamical description of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) with a microscopic Boltzmann cascade for the late hadronic rescattering stage, yields an excellent description of charged and identified hadron spectra and elliptic flow measured in 200 A GeV Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC). Using initial conditions that incorporate event-by-event fluctuations in the initial shape and orientation of the collision fireball and values eta/s for the specific shear viscosity of t…
Predictions are made for elliptic flow in collisions of polarized deuterons with a heavy nucleus. It is shown that the eccentricity of the initial fireball, evaluated with respect to the deuteron polarization axis perpendicular to the beam direction, has a substantial magnitude for collisions of highest multiplicity. Within the Glauber approach we obtain $\sim 7\%$ for the deuteron states with spin projection 0, and $\sim -3 \%$ for spin projection $\pm 1$. We propose to measure the elliptic flow coefficient as the second order harmonic coefficient in the azimuthal distribution of produced cha…
Initial eccentricity of the interacting volume of QCD matter created in collisions of prolate and oblate nuclei is studied using optical Glauber simulation. Collisions of prolate 165-Ho + 165-Ho nuclei and Au+Au nuclei are investigated (assuming oblate ground-state deformation for 197-Au nucleus). Qualitative predictions are obtained for RHIC energies.
Heavy-ion collisions create deformed quark-gluon plasma (QGP) fireballs which explode anisotropically. The viscosity of the fireball matter determines its ability to convert the initial spatial deformation into momentum anisotropies that can be measured in the final hadron spectra. A quantitatively precise empirical extraction of the QGP viscosity thus requires a good understanding of the initial fireball deformation. This deformation fluctuates from event to event, and so does the finally observed momentum anisotropy. We present a harmonic decomposition of the initial fluctuations in shape an…
The integrated HydroKinetic Model (iHKM) is applied to analyse the results of direct photon spectra and elliptic flow measurements in 200A GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC for the three centrality bins. We detect the strong centrality dependence of photon elliptic flow as $v_2(p_T)$-coefficient increases towards peripheral collisions. The photon production in the model is accumulated from the different sources along with the process of relativistic heavy ion collision developing. Those include the primary hard photons from the parton collisions at very early stage of the process, the photons gener…
We develop a framework for event-by-event ideal hydrodynamics to study the differential elliptic flow which is measured at different centralities in Au+Au collisions at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Fluctuating initial energy density profiles, which here are the event-by-event analogues of the eWN profiles, are created using a Monte Carlo Glauber model. Using the same event plane method for obtaining $v_2$ as in the data analysis, we can reproduce both the measured centrality dependence and the $p_T$ shape of charged-particle elliptic flow up to $p_T\sim2$~GeV. We also consider the r…
Elliptic flow in heavy-ion collisions at incident energies $E_{lab}\simeq$ (1--160)A GeV is analyzed within the model of 3-fluid dynamics (3FD). We show that a simple correction factor, taking into account dissipative affects, allows us to adjust the 3FD results to experimental data. This single-parameter fit results in a good reproduction of the elliptic flow as a function of the incident energy, centrality of the collision and rapidity. The experimental scaling of pion eccentricity-scaled elliptic flow versus charged-hadron-multiplicity density per unit transverse area turns out to be also r…
In this paper, we investigate various ways of defining the initial source eccentricity using the Monte Carlo Glauber (MCG) approach. In particular, we examine the participant eccentricity, which quantifies the eccentricity of the initial source shape by the major axes of the ellipse formed by the interaction points of the participating nucleons. We show that reasonable variation of the density parameters in the Glauber calculation, as well as variations in how matter production is modeled, do not significantly modify the already established behavior of the participant eccentricity as a functio…
With the new viscous hydrodynamic + hadron cascade hybrid code VISHNU, a rather precise (O(25%)) extraction of the QGP shear viscosity (eta/s)_QGP from heavy-ion elliptic flow data is possible if the initial eccentricity of the collision fireball is known with <5% accuracy. At this point, eccentricities from initial state models differ by up to 20%, leading to an O(100%) uncertainty for (eta/s)_QGP. It is shown that a simultaneous comparison of elliptic and triangular flow, v_2 and v_3, puts strong constraints on initial state models and can largely eliminate the present uncertainty in (eta/s)…
The spatial configuration of initial partons in high-multiplicity proton-proton scatterings at 14 TeV is assumed as three randomly positioned "hot spots". The parton momentum distribution in the hot spots is calculated by HIJING2.0 with some modifications. This initial condition causes not only large eccentricity $ε_2$ but also triangularity $ε_3$ and the correlation of $ε_2-ε_3$ event-plane angles. The final elliptic flow $v_2$, triangular flow $v_3$, and the correlation of $v_2-v_3$ event-plane angles are calculated by using the parton cascade model BAMPS to simulate the space-time parton ev…
We consider a holographic dual of hydrodynamics of N=4 SYM plasma that undergoes non-isotropic three-dimensional expansion relevant to RHIC fireball. Our model is a natural extension of the Bjorken's one-dimensional expansion, and it describes an elliptic flow whose v2 and eccentricity are given in terms of anisotropy parameters. Holographic renormalization shows that absence of conformal anomaly in the SYM theory constrains our local rest frame to be a Kasner spacetime. We show that the Kasner spcetime provides a simple description of the anisotropically expanding fluid within a well-controle…
Using a (2+1)-d viscous hydrodynamical model, we study the dependence of flow observables on the collision energy ranging from sqrt(s)=7.7 A GeV at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) to sqrt(s)=2760 A GeV at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). With a realistic equation of state, Glauber model initial conditions and a small specific shear viscosity eta/s = 0.08, the differential charged hadron elliptic flow v_2^{ch}(p_T,sqrt(s)) is found to exhibit a very broad maximum as a function of sqrt(s) around top RHIC energy, rendering it almost independent of collision energy for 39 < sqrt(s) < 27…
In this talk I concentrate on two topics closely related to the understanding of the energy and the system size dependence of the elliptic flow: determination of the elliptic flow ($v_2$) ``free'' from the effects of non-flow and flow fluctuations, and the role of fluctuations in the initial eccentricity of the overlap region. I introduce a new approach for the analysis of the distribution in flow vector, $dP/dq_n$, namely, I propose to use the Bessel Transform of this ditribution. I show that the Bessel Transform method is similar to the Lee-Yang Zeroes method, and is very transparent in its …
The fourth harmonic of the azimuthal distribution of particles $v_4$ has been measured for Au-Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The centrality dependence of $v_4$ does not agree with the prediction from hydrodynamics. In particular, the ratio $v_4/(v_2)^2$, where $v_2$ denotes the second harmonic of the azimuthal distribution of particles, is significantly larger than predicted by hydrodynamics. We argue that this discrepancy is mostly due to elliptic flow ($v_2$) fluctuations. We evaluate these fluctuations on the basis of a Monte Carlo Glauber calculation. The effe…
We show that the centrality and system-size dependence of elliptic flow measured at RHIC are fully described by a simple model based on eccentricity scaling and incomplete thermalization. We argue that the elliptic flow is at least 25% below the (ideal) ``hydrodynamic limit'', even for the most central Au-Au collisions. This lack of perfect equilibration allows for estimates of the effective parton cross section in the Quark-Gluon Plasma and of its viscosity to entropy density ratio. We also show how the initial conditions affect the transport coefficients and thermodynamic quantities extracte…
Recently the effect of nucleon shadowing on the Monte-Carlo Glauber initial condition was studied and its role on the centrality dependence of elliptic flow ($v_2$) and fluctuations in initial eccentricity for different colliding nuclei were explored. It was found that the results with shadowing effects are closer to the QCD based dynamical model as well as to the experimental data. Inspired by this outcome, in this work we study the transverse momentum ($p_T$) spectra and elliptic flow of thermal photons for Au+Au collisions at RHIC and Pb+Pb collisions at LHC by incorporating the shadowing e…
We investigate the robustness of the discovery of the perfect fluid through comparison of hydrodynamic calculations with the elliptic flow coefficient v_2 at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV. Employing the Glauber model for initial entropy density distributions, the centrality dependence of v_2 is reasonably reproduced by using an ideal fluid description of the early QGP stage followed by a hadronic cascade in the late hadronic stage. On the other hand, initial conditions based on the Colour Glass Condensate model are found to generate larger elliptic flow due to larger …
We study the pseudorapidity dependent hydrodynamic response in heavy-ion collisions. A differential hydrodynamic relation is obtained for elliptic flow. Using event-by-event simulations of 3+1D MUSIC, with initial conditions generated via a multi-phase transport (AMPT) model, the differential response relation is verified. Based on the response relation, we find that the two-point correlation of elliptic flow in pseudorapidity are separated into the fluid response and the two-point correlation of initial eccentricity.
A new framework for evaluating hydrodynamic models of relativistic heavy ion collisions has been developed. This framework, a Comprehesive Heavy Ion Model Evaluation and Reporting Algorithm (CHIMERA) has been implemented by augmenting UVH 2+1D viscous hydrodynamic model with eccentricity fluctuations, pre-equilibrium flow, and the Ultra-relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamic (UrQMD) hadronic cascade. A range of initial temperatures and shear viscosity to entropy ratios were evaluated for four initial profiles, $N_{part}$ and $N_{coll}$ scaling with and without pre-equilibrium flow. The model r…
Centrality and system geometry dependence of azimuthal anisotropy of charged hadrons measured in terms of the elliptic flow parameter are investigated using Au+Au event samples at incident beam energy $20$A GeV and $40$A GeV generated by Ultrarelativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics and A Multiphase Transport models. The Monte Carlo Glauber model is employed to estimate the eccentricity of the overlapping zone at an early stage of the collisions. Anisotropies present both in the particle multiplicity distribution and in the kinetic radial expansion are examined by using standard statistical and…
We apply the parton recombination approach to study the energy dependence of the elliptic flow, v_2 in heavy ion collisions from AGS to LHC energies. The relevant input quantities ($T, μ_B, η_T$) at the various center of mass energies are obtained from fits to the available data. The model yields a good description of the integrated v_2 data for charged particles at midrapidity from AGS to RHIC energies. In stark contrast to the current expectations, we observe a decrease of the integrated v_2 values above the highest RHIC energy. Thus, we predict a decrease of v_2 at LHC energies compared to …
We investigate the role of the central two-body nucleon-nucleon correlations on typical quantities observed in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Basic correlation measures, such as the fluctuations of the participant eccentricity, initial size fluctuations, or the fluctuations of the number of sources producing particles, are sensitive at the level 10-20% to the inclusion of the two-body correlations. However, the realistic correlation function gives virtually indistinguishable results from the {\em hard-core repulsion} with the expulsion distance set to $\sim 0.9$ fm. In the second part of t…
Predictions of elliptic flow ($v_2$) and nuclear modification factor ($R_{AA}$) are provided as a function of centrality in U + U collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV. Since the $^{238}$U nucleus is naturally deformed, one could adjust the properties of the fireball, density and duration of the hot and dense system, for example, in high energy nuclear collisions by carefully selecting the colliding geometry. Within our Monte Carlo Glauber based approach, the $v_2$ with respect to the reaction plane $v_2^{RP}$ in U + U collisions is consistent with that in Au + Au collisions, while the $v…
