The strong electromagnetic fields in peripheral heavy ion collisions give rise to photon-photon and photon-nucleus interactions. I present a general survey of the photon-photon and photon-hadron physics accessible in these collisions. Among these processes I discuss the nuclear fragmentation through the excitation of giant resonances, the Coulomb dissociation method for application in nuclear astrophysics, and the production of particles.
A method to study event--by--event fluctuations of the `chemical' (particle type) composition of the final state of high energy collisions is proposed.}
The collision smearing of the nucleon momenta about their initial values during relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is investigated. To a certain degree, our model belongs to the transport type, and we investigate the evolution of the nucleon system created at a nucleus-nucleus collision. However, we parameterize this development by the number of collisions of every particle during evolution rather than by the time variable. It is assumed that the group of nucleons which leave the system after the same number of collisions can be joined in a particular statistical ensemble. The nucleon non…
The bremsstrahlung produced when heavy nuclei collide is estimated for central collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Soft photons can be used to infer the rapidity distribution of the outgoing charge. An experimental design is outlined.
Particle correlations are very actively studied in heavy-ion collisions at ultra-relativistic energies. Here, an attempt is made at determining a proper reference for such studies, by taking properly into account the multiparticle correlations induced by the conservation of total momentum in the collisions.
We study the scaled variances of multiplicity fluctuations in nucleus-nucleus collisions at SPS and RHIC energies within the HSD transport model. The HSD results are compared with proton-proton data and with predictions of the hadron-resonance gas statistical model. We find that the HSD scaled variances $ω_i$ for negatively, positively, and all charged hadrons in central nucleus-nucleus collisions remain close to the $ω_i$ values in proton-proton collisions and increase with collision energy as the corresponding multiplicities per participating nucleon. The statistical model predicts very diff…
In 2007 Mark I. Gorenstein celebrated his 60th birthday. This report is dedicated to Mark and it sketches the results obtained during the past ten years of our collaboration and friendship. They concern search for and study of the onset of deconfinement in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions.
In this work we study the charge-exchange reaction to Isobaric Analog State using two types of transition densities. We show that for projectiles that do not probe the interior of the nucleus but mostly the surface of this nucleus, distinct differences in the cross-section arise when the two types of transition densities are employed. We demonstrate this by considering the (3He,t) reaction.
This is a review of theoretical attempts to describe production of heavy quark bound states in nucleus-nucleus collisions, in particular, the relative suppression of $J/ψ$ and $ψ'$ production observed in these reactions. The review begins with a survey of experimental data for proton-induced reactions and their theoretical interpretation. The evidence for additional suppression in nucleus-nucleus collisions is discussed and various theoretical models of charmonium absorption by comoving matter are presented and analyzed. The review concludes with suggestions for future research that would help…
We propose a mechanism of thermalization of nucleons in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions. Our model belongs, to a certain degree, to the transport ones; we consider the evolution of the system, but we parametrize this development by the number of collisions of every particle in the system rather than by the time variable. We based on the assumption that the nucleon momentum transfer after several nucleon-nucleon (-hadron) collisions becomes a random quantity driven by a proper distribution.
Using a hadron-string cascade model, JPCIAE, we study the effect of nuclear deformation on J/Psi suppression in the collision of uranium nuclei at 200A GeV/c. We find that the J/Psi survival probability is much smaller if the major axes of both deformed nuclei are along the beam direction than if they are perpendicular to the beam direction.
In this paper is investigated the influence of net baryon density on baryon and meson yields in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions, based on the recombination model for hadronization. Unitarity condition is used as a constraint on the model. Three cases with different assumptions on the expansion of partonic system are considered and the baryon to meson ratio is calculated for those situations.
The rather complete data set of hadron yields from central Si + A collisions at the Brookhaven AGS is used to test whether the system at freeze-out is in thermal and hadro-chemical equilibrium. Rapidity and transverse momentum distributions are discussed with regards to the information they provide on hydrodynamic flow.
The description of hadron production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions in the statistical hadronization model is very good, over a broad range of collision energy. We outline this both for the light (u, d, s) and heavy (charm) quarks and discuss the connection it brings to the phase diagram of QCD.
We have used the event generator LUCIAE to analyse NA35 data of the $\bar p$ and $\barΛ$ yields, the ratio $\barΛ/\bar p$, and the transverse mass distributions of $\bar p$ and $\barΛ$ in pp and central sulphur-nucleus collisions at 200A GeV. The NA35 data could be reproduced reasonably if one assumes that the s quark pair suppression factor and concerns in nucleus-nucleus collisions are larger than the nucleon-nucleon collision. It seems to indicate that NA35 data might imply the reduction of strangeness suppression in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions comparing to the nucleon-nucl…
Particle number fluctuations and correlations in nucleus-nucleus collisions at SPS and RHIC energies are studied within the statistical hadron-resonance gas model in different statistical ensembles and in the Hadron-String-Dynamics (HSD) transport approach. Event-by-event fluctuations of the proton to pion and kaon to proton number ratios are calculated in the HSD model for the samples of most central collision events and compared with the available experimental data. The role of the experimental acceptance and centrality selection is discussed.
We present the status of the description of hadron production in central nucleus-nucleus collisions within the statistical model . The recent inclusion of very high-mass resonances and the sigma meson leads to an improved description of the data, in particular the energy dependence of the K+/pi+ ratio at SPS energies (``the horn''). The connection to the QCD phase diagram is discussed.
We use a Glauber-like approach to describe very energetic nucleus-nucleus collisions as a sequence of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. No free parameters are needed: all the information comes from simple parametrizations of nucleon-nucleon collision data. Produced mesons are assumed not to interact with each other or with the original baryons. Comparisons are made to published experimental measurements of baryon rapidity and transverse momentum distributions, negative hadron rapidity and transverse momentum distributions, average multiplicities of pions, kaons, hyperons, and antihyperons, an…
The energy transfer spectra have been calculated for the coherent $η$ meson production in the proton nucleus reaction. The elementary reaction occurring in the nucleus is considered as $ pN \to pN^*(1535) $; $ N^*(1535) \to Nη$. The $N^*(1535)$ excitation for the forward going proton and $η$ meson is occurred due to the $π^0$ and $η$ meson exchange interactions, other mesons do not contribute in this process. The cross sections are calculated for the $π^0$ and $η$ meson exchange interactions, and the effect of their interference on the cross section is also studied. The initial and final state…
The parton yield, (pseudo)rapidity distribution, and transverse momentum distribution in partonic matter assumed forming in the early stage of $pp$ and nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC energy ($\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV) and LHC energy ($\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=5.5 TeV for nucleus-nucleus, 5.5 and/or 14 TeV for $pp$) are comparatively investigated with parton and hadron cascade model PACIAE. It turned out that the different parton and anti-parton spectra approach to be similar with reaction energy increasing from RHIC to LHC. We have argued that if the partonic matter forming in Au+Au collisions at RHIC…
Production probabilities for strange clusters and strange matter in Au+Au collisions at AGS energy are obtained in the thermal fireball model. The only parameters of the model, the baryon chemical potential and temperature, were determined from a description of the rather complete set of hadron yields from Si+nucleus collisions at the AGS. For the production of light nuclear fragments and strange clusters the results are similar to recent coalescence model calculations. Strange matter production with baryon number larger than 10 is predicted to be much smaller than any current experimental sen…
The cross sections for producing K$^-$ mesons in nucleon-hyperon elementary processes are estimated assuming one-pion exchange and using the experimentally known pion-hyperon cross sections. The results are implemented in a transport model which is applied to calculation of proton-nucleus collisions. In significant difference to earlier estimates for heavy-ion collisions the inclusion of the nucleon-hyperon cross section roughly doubles the K$^-$ production in near-threshold proton-nucleus collisions.
We discuss the effects of initial collision geometry and centrality bin definition on correlation and fluctuation observables in nucleus-nucleus collisions. We focus on the forward-backward correlation coefficient recently measured by the STAR Collaboration in Au+Au collisions at RHIC. Our study is carried out within two models: the Glauber Monte Carlo code with a `toy' wounded nucleon model and the hadron-string dynamics (HSD) transport approach. We show that strong correlations can arise due to averaging over events in one centrality bin. We, furthermore, argue that a study of the dependence…
The predictions of event anisotropy parameters from transport model RQMD are compared with the recent experimental measurements for 158$A$ GeV Pb+Pb collisions. Using the same model, we study the time evolution of event anisotropy at 2$A$ GeV and 158$A$ GeV for several colliding systems. For the first time, both momentum and configuration space information are studied using the Fourier analysis of the azimuthal angular distribution. We find that, in the model, the initial geometry of the collision plays a dominant role in determining the anisotropy parameters.
We present a scattering model for nuclei with similar masses. In this three-body model, the projectile has a core+valence structure, whereas the target is identical to the core nucleus. The three-body wave functions must be symmetrized for the exchange of the cores. This property gives rise to non-local potentials, which are computed without approximation. The present model is an extension of the Continuum Discretized Coupled Channel (CDCC) formalism, with an additional treatment of core exchange. We solve the coupled-channel system, including non-local terms, by the $R$-matrix method using La…
The production of antiprotons in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus reactions is calculated within the relativistic BUU approach employing proper selfenergies for the baryons and antiprotons and treating the p-bar annihilation nonperturbatively. The differential cross section for the antiprotons is found to be very sensitive to the p-bar selfenergy adopted. A detailed comparison with the available experimental data for p-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus reactions shows that the antiproton feels a moderately attractive mean-field at normal nuclear matter density which is in line with a dispersive po…
Coherent vector meson production in peripheral nucleus-nucleus collisions is discussed. These interactions may occur for impact parameters much larger than the sum of the nuclear radii. Since the vector meson production is always localized to one of the nuclei, the system acts as a two-source interferometer in the transverse plane. By tagging the outgoing nuclei for Coulomb dissociation it is possible to obtain a measure of the impact parameter and thus the source separation in the interferometer. This is of particular interest since the life-time of the vector mesons are generally much shorte…
We show that the coherent oscillations of the e.m. field induced by the collective quantum fluctuations of the nuclear matter field associated with the giant resonances, with frequencies $ω_{A}\simeq 78A^{-{1/3}}$ MeV, give rise to a significant $(e^+e^-)$ pair production in high energy Heavy Ion collisions. The approximate parameterless calculation of such yield is in good agreement with recent experimental observations.
Event-by-event fluctuations of the kaon to pion number ratio in nucleus-nucleus collisions are studied within the statistical hadron-resonance gas model (SM) for different statistical ensembles and in the Hadron-String-Dynamics (HSD) transport approach. We find that the HSD model can qualitatively reproduce the measured excitation function for the $K/π$ ratio fluctuations in central Au+Au (or Pb+Pb) collisions from low SPS up to top RHIC energies. Substantial differences in the HSD and SM results are found for the fluctuations and correlations of the kaon and pion numbers. These predictions im…
We present a detailed study of chemical freeze-out in nucleus-nucleus collisions at beam energies of 11.6, 30, 40, 80 and 158A GeV. By analyzing hadronic multiplicities within the statistical hadronization approach, we have studied the chemical equilibration of the system as a function of center of mass energy and of the parameters of the source. Additionally, we have tested and compared different versions of the statistical model, with special emphasis on possible explanations of the observed strangeness hadronic phase space under-saturation.
Dilepton production in proton- and nucleus-induced reactions is studied in relativistic transport model using initial conditions determined by the string dynamics from RQMD. It is found that both the CERES and HELIOS-3 data for dilepton spectra in proton-nucleus reactions can be well described by the `conventional' mechanism of Dalitz decay and direct vector meson decay. However, to provide a quantitative explanation of the observed dilepton spectra in central S+Au and S+W collisions requires contributions other than these direct decays. Introducing a decrease of vector meson masses in hot and…
Using Monte Carlo generators of the PYTHIA model for hadron-hadron collisions and a multi-phase transport (AMPT) model for nucleus-nucleus collisions, the longitudinal boost-invariance of charge balance function and its transverse momentum dependence are carefully studied. It shows that the charge balance function is boost-invariant in both {\it p}+{\it p} and Au+Au collisions in these two models, consistent with experimental data. The balance function properly scaled by the width of the pseudorapidity window is independent of the position or the size of the window and is corresponding to the …
Using a hadron and string cascade model, JPCIAE, we investigated the dependence of event-by-event charge fluctuation on the energy, centrality, window size, resonance decay, and the final state interaction for $Pb+Pb$ collisions at SPS and LHC energies and $Au+Au$ collisions at RHIC energies. The JPCIAE results of charge fluctuation as a function of the rapidity window size in $Pb+Pb$ collisions at SPS energies were compared with the preliminary NA49 data. Comparisons with STAR and PHENIX data of $Au+Au$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{nn}}$=130 GeV were also given. It seems that the final state inter…
Charmonium productions in $p-p$ and $A-B$ collisions have been estimated within the ambit of colour evaporation model (CEM). The model parameters have been fixed by fitting the theoretical results with CDF data. The method is then applied to RHIC and LHC energies to obtain the transverse momentum distributions of $J/ψ$, $ψ^{\prime}$ and $χ_c$. Suppression due to Debye screening in a quark gluon plasma (QGP) is estimated at various centrality cuts. The final $p_T$ distributions of various resonances are then predicted convoluting with the survival probability.
Investigations have shown that the collective motion not only appears in nucleus-nucleus but also in p-p collisions. The best tool for depicting such collective motion is relativistic hydrodynamics. In this paper, the collective motion is assumed obeying the hydro model which integrates the features of Landau and Hwa-Bjorken theory and is one of a very few analytically solvable models. The fluid is then supposed freezing out into charged particles from a time-like hypersurface with a fixed time of t_FO . The researches of present paper show that this part of charged particles together with lea…
We investigate parity violation in neutron-nucleus collisions at very low energy region $(E \leq 100 \ev)$, including resonance states. We use the coupled channel formalism for resonances with radiative emission. The parity mixing between resonances with opposite parities is taken into account. Finally, our theory is applied to $n-^{139}$La collision and relevant remarks are given.
Dynamics of spectator matter break-up in non-central collisions of $^{197}$Au+ $^{197}$Au at 1000 AMeV are explored within framework of quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) model. The phase space of nucleons bound in intermediate mass fragments are studied using two clusterization subroutines. Backtracking the origin of fragments to the time of initial contact between colliding nuclei indicates that \textit{simulated annealing clusterization algorithm} (SACA) results into significant yield of projectile-like and target-like fragments. Simplest clusterization approach based on spatial correlation t…
I discuss strangeness production in nucleus-nucleus reactions at ultrarelativistic energies (up to 200 AGeV). In these reactions matter may be created with densities and temperatures in the transition region between quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and hadron gas. Strange anti-baryon enhancement at 200 AGeV and probably even more so at 10 AGeV signals importance of interactions beyond hadron gas dynamics. The systematics of strangeness production indicates that energy and baryon density are key variables while the size of the production volume plays no visible role. Analysis of strangeness appears use…
The experimental data of the antideuteron production in proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions are analyzed within a simple model based on the diagrammatic approach to the coalescence model. This model is shown to be able to reproduce most of existing data without any additional parameter.
We apply the ``zone of reactions'' as a tool in studying the interacting system formed in a collision of relativistic nuclei. With the use of the intensity of collisions of particles (the number of collisions in unit volume per unit time), we study the space-time structure of a fireball. In this approach, three basic regions for the evolution of a system are separated by the scale of the intensity of collisions: the zone of a hot fireball, the zone of a cold fireball, and the zone of residual interaction. It is shown that the conception of a zone of reactions can be used for the determination …
High-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions are studied in multi-chain model with successive collision. Analytic forms for single-particle distribution are derived.
We show that we can reach a global and coherent description of bottomonium suppression in both proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The measured relative suppression of the excited bottomonium states as compared to their ground state allows us to constrain the scattering cross sections between the bottomonia and the comovers created during the collisions. Our result hints at a similar energy distribution of these comovers in the environment created by proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions. Along the way of our study, we also update our knowledge for the bo…
We show that a special choice of light-cone gauge can greatly simplify the calculation of the classical color field created in the initial stages of nucleus-nucleus collisions. Within this gauge, we can in particular construct explicitly the conserved color current and calculate exactly the gauge field immediately after the collision. This field is used as a boundary condition in an iterative solution of the Yang-Mills equations in the forward light-cone. In leading order, which corresponds to a linearization of the Yang-Mills equation in the forward light-cone, we obtain a simple formula for …
It is recently discovered that at high multiplicy, the proton-nucleus ($pA$) collisions give rise to two particle correlations that are strikingly similar to those of nucleus-nucleus ($AA$) collisions at the same multiplicity, although the system size is smaller in $pA$. Using an independent cluster model and a simple conformal scaling argument, where the ratio of the mean free path to the system size stays constant at fixed multiplicity, we argue that flow in $pA$ emerges as a collective response to the fluctuations in the position of clusters, just like in $AA$ collisions. With several physi…
We show that we can reproduce all the features of bottomonium suppression in both proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at LHC energies in a comover-interaction picture. For each collisions system, we use the measured {\it relative} suppression of the excited $Υ$(2S) and $Υ$(3S) states to $Υ$(1S) by ATLAS and CMS to parametrise the scattering cross sections of all $S$- and $P$-wave bottomonia with the comoving particles created during the collisions. In addition to a single nonpertubative parameter, these cross sections depend on the momentum distribution of these comovers which we fou…
This talk is a brief overview of the present status of our understanding of nucleus-nucleus collisions at high energy and the search for signals of the quark-gluon plasma.
An outlook on physics at the high energy frontier of nucleus-nucleus collisions is presented, on the basis of the new results presented at Quark Matter 2011 by the LHC and RHIC experiments.
Event-by-event multiplicity fluctuations in nucleus-nucleus collisions are studied within the HSD and UrQMD transport models. The scaled variances of negative, positive, and all charged hadrons in Pb+Pb at 158 AGeV are analyzed in comparison to the data from the NA49 Collaboration. We find a dominant role of the fluctuations in the nucleon participant number for the final hadron multiplicity fluctuations. This fact can be used to check different scenarios of nucleus-nucleus collisions by measuring the final multiplicity fluctuations as a function of collision centrality. The analysis reveals s…
Predictions on fluctuations of hadron production properties in central heavy ion collisions are presented. They are based on the Statistical Model of the Early Stage and extend previously published results by considering the strongly intensive measures of fluctuations. In several of the considered cases a significant change in collision energy dependence of calculated quantities as a result of the phase transition is predicted. This provides an opportunity to observe new signals of the onset of deconfinement in heavy ion collisions experiments.
The extension of the factorization theorems of perturbative QCD to power corrections associated with re-scattering in nuclear collisions is reviewed. The importance of hadron-nucleus collisions is discussed.
The parton and hadron cascade model PACIAE is used to investigate strange particle production in Au + Au collisions at GeV in different centralities and at 39, 11.5 and 7.7 GeV in the most central collision, respectively. It is shown that the transverse momentum distributions of strange particles by the PACIAE model fit the RHIC Beam Energy Scan experimental results well.
We define a set of model-independent observables which generally characterize the azimuthal dependence of two-particle correlations in nucleus-nucleus collisions. We explain how they can be analyzed, and show to what extent such analyses are model dependent. We discuss specific applications to the anisotropic flow of decaying particles, azimuthally sensitive HBT, and correlations between particles at large transverse momentum. A quantitative prediction is made for jet quenching with respect to the reaction plane.
In a recent Letter, Geiger presents calculations of the dilepton emission from the early stage of ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions using the parton cascade model (PCM). He shows that the $M_\perp$ scaling is not observed. In this Comment, we point out that this is largely due to a defect in the PCM.
The influence of the underlying nucleon-nucleon collision geometry on evaluations of the nuclear overlap function ($T_{AB}$) and number of binary collisions ($N_{coll}$) is studied. A narrowing of the spatial distribution of the hard-partons with large light-cone fraction $x$ in nucleons leads to a downward correction for $N_{coll}$ and $T_{AB}$, which in turn, results in an upward correction for the nuclear modification factor $R_{AB}$. The size of this correction is estimated for several experimentally motivated nucleon-nucleon overlap functions for hard-partons. It is found to be significan…
In proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collision experiments, one determines the centrality of a collision according to the multiplicity or energy deposited in a detector. This serves as a proxy for the true collision centrality, as defined by the impact parameter. We show that the probability distribution of impact parameter in a given bin of experiment-defined centrality can be reconstructed without assuming any specific model for the collision dynamics, in both proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus systems. The reconstruction is reliable up to about 10\% centrality, and is more accurate for nuc…
In p-p collisions the average transverse momentum is known to be correlated with the multiplicity of produced particles. The correlation is shown to survive in a superposition model of nucleus-nucleus collisions. When properly parameterized, the correlation strength appears to be independent of the collision centrality - it is the same in p-p and central A-A collisions. However, the correlation is strongly suppressed by the centrality fluctuations.
We argue that a decrease of the chiral scalar meson mass is responsible for re-creation of $Ψ'$ from $J/Ψ$ in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions. This causes the charmonium yields to freeze out at temperatures close to the chiral symmetry restoration temperature $T_c$. As a result $Ψ'/Ψ$ may serve as a thermometer for $T_c$ itself. Results in a detailed reaction model support the conjecture. They show good agreement with recent data of NA38 and NA50 for $J/Ψ$ and $Ψ'$ production in S on U and Pb on Pb collisions.
We study the A+B -> l+ l- + jet +X process in nucleus-nucleus collisions at relativistic energies. The dilepton as well as the jet will pass through the matter produced in such collisions. The recoiling dilepton will carry information about the kinematical features of the jet, and will thus prove to be a very effective tool in isolating in-medium effects such as energy-loss and fragmentation function modifications. We estimate the contributions due to correlated charm and bottom decay and we identify a window where they are small as compared to pairs from the NLO Drell-Yan process.
We discuss properties of the specific strongly interacting transient collective state of matter in hadron and nuclei reactions and emphasize similarity in their dynamics. We consider elliptic flow introduced for description of nucleus collisions and discuss its possible behavior in hadronic reactions.
PACIAE, a parton and hadron cascade model, is utilized to systematically investigate strange particle production and strangeness enhancement in Au+Au collision and in Pb+Pb collision with the 200GeV at RHIC and 2.76TeV at LHC, respectively. The experimental results at different centrality, which come from the STAR collaboration and the ALICE collaboration, are well described by the PACIAE model. This may represent the importance of the parton and hadron rescatterings, as well as the reduction mechanism of strange quark suppression, added in the PACIAE model.
