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The origin of transverse flow at the SPS

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 15:17:34 +0200

We study the transverse expansion in central Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. Strong collective motion of hadrons can be created. This flow is mainly due to meson baryon rescattering. It allows to study the angular distribution of intermediate mass meson baryon interactions.

Azimuthal correlations of pions in relativistic heavy ion collisions at 1 GeV/nucl.

Steffen A. Bass; Christoph Hartnack; Horst Stöcker; Walter Greiner — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 16:39:55 +0100

Triple differential cross sections of pions in heavy ion collisions at 1 GeV/nucl. are studied with the IQMD model. After discussing general properties of resonance and pion production we focus on azimuthal correlations: At projectile- and target-rapidities we observe an anticorrelation in the in-plane transverse momentum between pions and protons. At c.m.-rapidity, however, we find that high pt pions are being preferentially emitted perpendicular to the event-plane. We investigate the causes of those correlations and their sensitivity on the density and momentum dependence of the real and imaginary part of the nucleon and pion optical potential.

Neural networks for impact parameter determination

Steffen A. Bass; A. Bischoff; Joachim A. Maruhn; Horst Stöcker; Walter Greiner — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 10:34:14 +0100

Abstract: An accurate impact parameter determination in a heavy ion collision is crucial for almost all further analysis. The capabilities of an artificial neural network are investigated to that respect. A novel input generation for the network is proposed, namely the transverse and longitudinal momentum distribution of all outgoing (or actually detectable) particles. The neural network approach yields an improvement in performance of a factor of two as compared to classical techniques. To achieve this improvement simple network architectures and a 5 × 5 input grid in (pt, pz) space are suffcient.

Nucleus-nucleus collisions at highest energies

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 10:08:06 +0100

The microscopic phasespace approach URQMD is used to investigate the stopping power and particle production in heavy systems at SPS and RHIC energies. We find no gap in the baryon rapidity distribution even at RHIC. For CERN energies URQMD shows a pile up of baryons and a supression of multi-nucleon clusters at midrapidity.

Modelling the many-body dynamics of heavy ion collisions

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 10:10:35 +0100

Basic problems of the semiclassical microscopic modelling of strongly interacting systems are discussed within the framework of Quantum Molecular Dynamics (QMD). This model allows to study the influence of several types of nucleonic interactions on a large variety of observables and phenomena occur- ring in heavy ion collisions at relativistic energies. It is shown that the same predictions can be obtained with several numerically completely di erent and independently written programs as far as the same model parameters are employed and the same basic approximations are made. Many observ- ables are robust against variations of the details of the model assumptions used. Some of the physical results, however, depend also on rather technical parameters like the preparation of the initial configuration in phase space. This crucial problem is connected with the description of the ground state of single nuclei, which di ers among the various approaches. An outlook to an improved molecular dynamics scheme for heavy ion collisions is given.

A Microscopic calculation of secondary Drell-Yan production in heavy ion collisions

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 09:42:26 +0100

A study of secondary Drell-Yan production in nuclear collisions is presented for SPS energies. In addition to the lepton pairs produced in the initial collisions of the projectile and target nucleons, we consider the potentially high dilepton yield from hard valence antiquarks in produced mesons and antibaryons. We calculate the secondary Drell-Yan contributions taking the collision spectrum of hadrons from the microscopic model URQMD. The con- tributions from meson-baryon interactions, small in hadron-nucleus interac- tions, are found to be substantial in nucleus-nucleus collisions at low dilepton masses. Preresonance collisions of partons may further increase the yields.

Intermediate mass excess of dilepton production in heavy ion collisions at BEVALAC energies

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 11:08:17 +0100

Dielectron mass spectra are examined for various nuclear reactions recently measured by the DLS collaboration. A detailed description is given of all dilepton channels included in the transport model UrQMD 1.0, i.e. Dalitz decays of π, η, ω, ή mesons and of the (1232) resonance, direct decays of vector mesons and pn bremsstrahlung. The microscopic calculations reproduce data for light systems fairly well, but tend to underestimate the data in pp at high energies and in pd at low energies. These conventional sources, however, cannot explain the recently reported enhancement for nucleus-nucleus collisions in the mass region 0.15GeV ≤ Me+e- ≤ 0.6GeV. Chiral scaling and ω meson broadening in the medium are investigated as a source of this mass excess. They also cannot explain the recent DLS data.

Fluctuations and inhomogenities of energy density and isospin in Pb + Pb at the SPS

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:51:45 +0100

The main goal of heavy ion physics in the last fifteen years has been the search for the quark-gluon-plasma(QGP). Until now, unambigous experimental evidence for the QGP is missing.

Intermediate mass dileptons from secondary Drell-Yan processes

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:48:35 +0100

Recent reports on enhancements of intermediate and hight mass muon pairs producedin heavy ion collisions have attracted much attention.

Direct photons in Pb+Pb at CERN-SPS from microscopic transport theory

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 11:52:03 +0100

Direct photon production in central Pb+Pb collisions at CERN-SPS energy is calculated within the relativistic microscopic transport model UrQMD, and within distinctly di erent versions of relativistic hydrodynamics. We find that in UrQMD the local momentum distributions of the secondaries are strongly elongated along the beam axis initially. Therefore, the preequilibrium contribution dominates the photon spectrum at transverse momenta above H 1.5 GeV. The hydrodynamics prediction of a strong correlation between the temperature and radial expansion velocities on the one hand and the slope of the transverse momentum distribution of direct photons on the other hand thus is not recovered in UrQMD. The rapidity distribution of direct photons in UrQMD reveals that the initial conditions for the longitudinal expansion of the photon source (the meson fluid ) resemble rather boostinvariance than Landau-like flow.

Can momentum correlations proof kinetic equilibration in heavy ion collisions at 160/A-GeV?

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 13:32:36 +0100

We perform an event-by-event analysis of the transverse momentum distribution of final state particles in central Pb(160AGeV)+Pb collisions within a microscopic non-equilibrium transport model (UrQMD). Strong influence of rescattering is found. The extracted momentum distributions show less fluctuations in A+A collisions than in p+p reactions. This is in contrast to simplified p+p extrapolations and random walk models.

Excitation function of energy density and partonic degrees of freedom in relativistic heavy ion collisions

Fri, 09 Dec 2005 10:24:09 +0100

We estimate the energy density epsilon pile-up at mid-rapidity in central Pb+Pb collisions from 2 200 GeV/nucleon. epsilon is decomposed into hadronic and partonic contributions. A detailed analysis of the collision dynamics in the framework of a microscopic transport model shows the importance of partonic degrees of freedom and rescattering of leading (di)quarks in the early phase of the reaction for Elab 30 GeV/nucleon. In Pb+Pb collisions at 160 GeV/nucleon the energy density reaches up to 4 GeV/fm3, 95% of which are contained in partonic degrees of freedom.

Dissociation rates of J / psi's with comoving mesons : thermal versus nonequilibrium scenario.

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 11:05:37 +0100

We study J/psi dissociation processes in hadronic environments. The validity of a thermal meson gas ansatz is tested by confronting it with an alternative, nonequilibrium scenario. Heavy ion collisions are simulated in the frame- work of the microscopic transport model UrQMD, taking into account the production of charmonium states through hard parton-parton interactions and subsequent rescattering with hadrons. The thermal gas and microscopic transport scenarios are shown to be very dissimilar. Estimates of J/psi survival probabilities based on thermal models of comover interactions in heavy ion collisions are therefore not reliable.

Signatures of quark gluon plasma formation in high-energy heavy ion collisions : a critical review

Steffen A. Bass; Miklos Gyulassy; Horst Stöcker; Walter Greiner — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 10:53:29 +0100

Ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions offer the unique opportunity to probe highly excited dense nuclear matter under controlled laboratory conditions. The compelling driving force for such studies is the expectation that an entirely new form of matter may be created from such reactions. That form of matter, called the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP), is the QCD analogue of the plasma phase of ordinary atomic matter. However, unlike such ordinary plasmas, the deconfined quanta of a QGP are not directly observable because of the fundamental confining property of the physical QCD vacuum. What is observable are hadronic and leptonic residues of the transient QGP state. There is a large variety of such individual probes.

J/psi suppression in heavy ion collisions - interplay of hard and soft QCD processes

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 10:46:32 +0100

We study J/psi suppression in AB collisions assuming that the charmonium states evolve from small, color transparent configurations. Their interaction with nucleons and nonequilibrated, secondary hadrons is simulated us- ing the microscopic model UrQMD. The Drell-Yan lepton pair yield and the J/psi /Drell-Yan ratio are calculated as a function of the neutral transverse en- ergy in Pb+Pb collisions at 160 GeV and found to be in reasonable agreement with existing data.

Equilibrium and nonequilibrium effects in nucleus nucleus collisions

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 13:22:18 +0100

Abstract: Local thermal and chemical equilibration is studied for central AqA collisions at 10.7 160 AGeV in the Ultrarelativis- . tic Quantum Molecular Dynamics model UrQMD . The UrQMD model exhibits strong deviations from local equilibrium at the high density hadron string phase formed during the early stage of the collision. Equilibration of the hadron resonance matter is established in the central cell of volume Vs125 fm3 at later stages, tG10 fmrc, of the resulting quasi-isentropic expansion. The thermodynamical functions in the cell and their time evolution are presented. Deviations of the UrQMD quasi-equilibrium state from the statistical mechanics equilibrium are found. They increase with energy per baryon and lead to a strong enhancement of the pion number density as compared to statistical mechanics estimates at SPS energies. PACS: 25.75.-q; 24.10.Lx; 24.10.Pa; 64.30.qt

Critical review of quark gluon plasma signatures

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 10:33:38 +0100

Noneequilibrium models (three-fluid hydrodynamics and UrQMD) use to discuss the uniqueness of often proposed experimental signatures for quark matter formation in relativistic heavy ion collisions. It is demonstrated that these two models - although they do treat the most interesting early phase of the collisions quite differently(thermalizing QGP vs. coherent color fields with virtual particles) - both yields a reasonable agreement with a large variety of the available heavy ion data.

Dissociation of expanding c anti-c states in heavy ion collisions

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 09:42:32 +0100

We study J/psi suppression in AB collisions assuming that the charmonium states evolve from small, color transparent configurations. Their interaction with nucleons and nonequilibrated, secondary hadrons is simulated using the microscopic model UrQMD. The Drell-Yan lepton pair yield and the J/psi Drell-Yan ratio are calculated as a function of the neutral transverse energy in Pb+Pb collisions at 160 GeV and found to be in reasonable agreement with existing data.

Direct emission of multiple strange baryons in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions from the phase boundary

Adrian Dumitru; Steffen A. Bass; Marcus Bleicher; Horst Stöcker; Walter Greiner — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 11:29:47 +0100

We discuss a model for the space-time evolution of ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions which employs relativistic hydrodynamics within one region of the forward light-cone, and microscopic transport theory (i.e. UrQMD) in the complement. Our initial condition consists of a quark-gluon plasma which expands hydrodynamically and hadronizes. After hadronization the solution eventually changes from expansion in local equilibrium to free streaming, as determined selfconsistently by the interaction rates between the hadrons and the local expansion rate. We show that in such a scenario the inverse slopes of the mT -spectra of multiple strange baryons ( Xi,Omega) are practically una ected by the purely hadronic stage of the reaction, while the flow of p's and Lambda's increases. Moreover, we find that the rather soft transverse expansion at RHIC energies (due to a first-order phase transition) is not washed out by strong rescattering in the hadronic stage. The earlier kinetic freeze-out as compared to SPS-energies results in similar inverse slopes (of the mT -spectra of the hadrons in the final state) at RHIC and SPS energies.

Analysis of reaction dynamics at RHIC in a combined parton/hadron transport approach

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 13:45:48 +0100

We introduce a transport approach which combines partonic and hadronic degrees of freedom on an equal footing and discuss the resulting reaction dynamics. The initial parton dynamics is modeled in the framework of the parton cascade model, hadronization is performed via a cluster hadronization model and configuration space coalescence, and the hadronic phase is described by a microscopic hadronic transport approach. The resulting reaction dynamics indicates a strong influence of hadronic rescattering on the space-time pattern of hadronic freeze-out and on the shape of transverse mass spectra. Freeze-out times and transverse radii increase by factors of 2 3 depending on the hadron species.

Hadronic freeze-out following a first order hadronization phase transition in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 13:41:48 +0100

We analyze the hadronic freeze-out in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions at RHIC in a transport approach which combines hydrodynamics for the early, dense, deconfined stage of the reaction with a microscopic non-equilibrium model for the later hadronic stage at which the hydrodynamic equilibrium assumptions are not valid. With this ansatz we are able to self-consistently calculate the freeze-out of the system and determine space-time hypersurfaces for individual hadron species. The space-time domains of the freeze-out for several hadron species are found to be actually four-dimensional, and di er drastically for the individual hadrons species. Freeze-out radii distributions are similar in width for most hadron species, even though the is found to be emitted rather close to the phase boundary and shows the smallest freeze- out radii and times among all baryon species. The total lifetime of the system does not change by more than 10% when going from SPS to RHIC energies.

Modeling J /Psi production and absorption in a microscopic nonequilibrium approach

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 10:49:23 +0100

Charmonium production and absorption in heavy ion collisions is studied with the Ultrarelativisitic Quantum Molecular Dynamics model. We compare the scenario of universal and time independent color-octet dissociation cross sections with one of distinct color-singlet J/psi, psi 2 and CHIc states, evolving from small, color transparent configurations to their asymptotic sizes. The measured J/psi production cross sections in pA and AB collisions at SPS energies are consistent with both purely hadronic scenarios. The predicted rapidity dependence of J/psi suppression can be used to discriminate between the two experimentally. The importance of interactions with secondary hadrons and the applicability of thermal reaction kinetics to J/psi absorption are in- vestigated. We discuss the e ect of nuclear stopping and the role of leading hadrons. The dependence of the 2/J/psi ratio on the model assumptions and the possible influence of refeeding processes is also studied.

Deuterons and space-momentum correlations in high energy nuclear collisions

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 10:14:29 +0100

Using a microscopic transport model together with a coalescence after-burner, we study the formation of deuterons in Au + Au central collisions at s = 200 AGeV . It is found that the deuteron transverse momentum distributions are strongly a ected by the nucleon space-momentum correlations, at the moment of freeze-out, which are mostly determined by the number of rescatterings. This feature is useful for studying collision dynamics at ultrarelativistic energies.

Relativistic hadron-hadron collisions in the ultra-relativistic quantum molecular dynamics model

Thu, 24 Nov 2005 10:50:57 +0100

Hadron-hadron collisions at high energies are investigated in the Ultra- relativistic-Quantum-Molecular-Dynamics approach. This microscopic trans- port model describes the phenomenology of hadronic interactions at low and intermediate energies ( s < 5 GeV) in terms of interactions between known hadrons and their resonances. At higher energies, s > 5 GeV, the excitation of color strings and their subsequent fragmentation into hadrons dominates the multiple production of particles in the UrQMD model. The model shows a fair overall agreement with a large body of experimental h-h data over a wide range of h-h center-of-mass energies. Hadronic reaction data with higher precision would be useful to support the use of the UrQMD model for relativistic heavy ion collisions.

Bremsstrahlung from a microscopic model of relativistic heavy ion collisions

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 10:24:42 +0100

We compute bremsstrahlung arising from the acceleration of individual charged baryons and mesons during the time evolution of high-energy Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider using a microscopic transport model. We elucidate the connection between bremsstrahlung and charge stop- ping by colliding artificial pure proton on pure neutron nuclei. From the inten- sity of low energy bremsstrahlung, the time scale and the degree of stopping could be accurately extracted without measuring any hadronic observables. PACS: 25.75.-q, 13.85.Qk