Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

E. E. Zabrodin

Publications and source records attributed to E. E. Zabrodin.

49 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Local equilibrium in heavy-ion collisions: Microscopic analysis of a central cell versus infinite matter

We study the local equilibrium in the central $V = 125$ fm$^3$ cell in heavy-ion collisions at energies from 10.7 AGeV (AGS) to 160 AGeV (SPS) calculated in the microscopic transport model. In the present paper the hadron yields and energy spectra in the cell are compared with those of infinite nuclear matter, as calculated within the same model. The agreement between the spectra in the two systems is established for times $t \geq 10$ fm/$c$ in the central cell. The cell results do not deviate noticeably from the infinite matter calculations with rising incident energy, in contrast to the apparent discrepancy with predictions of the statistical model (SM) of an ideal hadron gas. The entropy of this state is found to be very close to the maximum entropy, while hadron abundances and energy spectra differ significantly from those of the SM.

nucl-th↗

Transition to resonance-rich matter in heavy ion collisions at RHIC energies

The equilibration of hot and dense nuclear matter produced in the central region in central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ AGeV is studied within the microscopic transport model UrQMD. The pressure here becomes isotropic at $t \approx 5$ fm/c. Within the next 15 fm/c the expansion of the matter proceeds almost isentropically with the entropy per baryon ratio $S/A \approx 150$. During this period the equation of state in the $(P,ε)$-plane has a very simple form, $P=0.15 ε$. Comparison with the statistical model (SM) of an ideal hadron gas reveals that the time of $\approx 20$ fm/$c$ may be too short to attain the fully equilibrated state. Particularly, the fractions of resonances are overpopulated in contrast to the SM values. The creation of such a long-lived resonance-rich state slows down the relaxation to chemical equilibrium and can be detected experimentally.

nucl-th↗

Transverse momentum dependence of directed particle flow at 160 AGeV

The transverse momentum ($p_t$) dependence of hadron flow at SPS energies is studied. In particular, the nucleon and pion flow in S+S and Pb+Pb collisions at 160 AGeV is investigated. For simulations the microscopic quark-gluon string model (QGSM) is applied. It is found that the directed flow of pions $v_1(y, Δp_t)$ changes sign from a negative slope in the low-$p_t$ region to a positive slope at $p_t \geq 0.6$ GeV/c as recently also observed experimentally. The change of the flow behaviour can be explained by early emission times for high-$p_t$ pions. We further found that a substantial amount of high-$p_t$ pions are produced in the very first primary NN collisions at the surface region of the touching nuclei. Thus, at SPS energies high-$p_t$ nucleons seem to be a better probe for the hot and dense early phase of nuclear collisions than high-$p_t$ pions. Both, in the light and in the heavy system the pion directed flow $v_1(p_t, Δy)$ exhibits large negative values when the transverse momentum approaches zero, as also seen experimentally in Pb+Pb collisions. It is found that this effect is caused by nuclear shadowing. The proton flow, in contrary, shows the typical linear increase with rising $p_t$.

nucl-th↗

Equation of state of resonance-rich matter in the central cell in heavy-ion collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=200 AGeV

The equilibration of hot and dense nuclear matter produced in the central cell of central Au+Au collisions at RHIC ($\sqrt{s}=200$ AGeV) energies is studied within a microscopic transport model. The pressure in the cell becomes isotropic at $t\approx 5$ fm/$c$ after beginning of the collision. Within the next 15 fm/$c$ the expansion of matter in the cell proceeds almost isentropically with the entropy per baryon ratio $S/A \approx 150$, and the equation of state in the $(P,ε)$ plane has a very simple form, $P=0.15ε$. Comparison with the statistical model of an ideal hadron gas indicates that the time $t \approx 20$ fm/c may be too short to reach the fully equilibrated state. Particularly, the creation of long-lived resonance-rich matter in the cell decelerates the relaxation to chemical equilibrium. This resonance-abundant state can be detected experimentally after the thermal freeze-out of particles.

hep-ph↗

Microscopic study of energy and centrality dependence of transverse collective flow in heavy-ion collisions

The centrality dependence of directed and elliptic flow in light and heavy systems of colliding nuclei is studied within two microscopic transport models at energies from 1 AGeV to 160 A GeV. The pion directed flow has negative slope in the midrapidity range irrespective of bombarding energy and mass number of the colliding ions. In contrast, the directed flow of nucleons vanishes and even develops antiflow in the midrapidity range in (semi)peripheral collisions at energies around 11.6 A GeV and higher. The origin of the disappearance of flow is linked to nuclear shadowing. Since the effect is stronger for a light system, it can be distinguished from the similar phenomenon caused by the quark-gluon plasma formation. In the latter case the disappearance of the flow due to the softening of the equation of state should be most pronounced in collisions of heavy ions. The centrality dependence of the elliptic flow shows that the maximum in the distribution is shifted to very peripheral events with rising incident energy, in accord with experimental data. This is an indication of the transition from baryonic to mesonic degrees of freedom in hot hadronic matter.

nucl-th↗

Global observables and secondary interactions in central Au+Au reactions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ AGeV

The Ultra-relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics model (UrQMD) is used to study global observables in central reactions of Au+Au at $\sqrt{s}=200$ AGeV (RHIC). Strong stopping governed by massive particle production is predicted if secondary interactions are taken into account. The underlying string dynamics and the early hadronic decoupling implies only small transverse expansion rates. However, rescattering with mesons is found to act as a source of pressure leading to additional flow of baryons and kaons, while cooling down pions.

hep-ph↗

Can shadowing mimic the QCD phase transition?

The directed flow of protons is studied in the quark-gluon string model as a function of the impact parameter for S+S and Pb+Pb reactions at 160 AGeV/c. A significant reduction of the directed flow in midrapidity range, which can lead to the development of the antiflow, is found due to the absorption of early emitted particles by massive spectators (shadowing effect). This effect can mimic the formation of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). However, in the absorption scenario the antiflow is stronger for the system of light colliding nuclei than for the heavy ones, while in the case of the plasma creation the effect should be opposite.

nucl-th↗

Equilibrium and non-equilibrium effects in relativistic heavy ion collisions

The hypothesis of local equilibrium (LE) in relativistic heavy ion collisions at energies from AGS to RHIC is checked in the microscopic transport model. We find that kinetic, thermal, and chemical equilibration of the expanding hadronic matter is nearly reached in central collisions at AGS energy for $t \geq 10$ fm/$c$ in a central cell. At these times the equation of state may be approximated by a simple dependence $P \cong (0.12-0.15) ε$. Increasing deviations of the yields and the energy spectra of hadrons from statistical model values are observed for increasing bombarding energies. The origin of these deviations is traced to the irreversible multiparticle decays of strings and many-body $(N \geq 3)$ decays of resonances. The violations of LE indicate that the matter in the cell reaches a steady state instead of idealized equilibrium. The entropy density in the cell is only about 6% smaller than that of the equilibrium state.

nucl-th↗

Microscopic study of freeze-out in relativistic heavy ion collisions at SPS energies

The freeze-out conditions in the light (S+S) and heavy (Pb+Pb) colliding systems of heavy nuclei at 160 AGeV/$c$ are analyzed within the microscopic Quark Gluon String Model (QGSM). We found that even for the most heavy systems particle emission takes place from the whole space-time domain available for the system evolution, but not from the thin ''freeze-out hypersurface", adopted in fluid dynamical models. Pions are continuously emitted from the whole volume of the reaction and reflect the main trends of the system evolution. Nucleons in Pb+Pb collisions initially come from the surface region. For both systems there is a separation of the elastic and inelastic freeze-out. The mesons with large transverse momenta, $p_t$, are predominantly produced at the early stages of the reaction. The low $p_t$-component is populated by mesons coming mainly from the decay of resonances. This explains naturally the decreasing source sizes with increasing $p_t$, observed in HBT interferometry. Comparison with S+S and Au+Au systems at 11.6 AGeV/$c$ is also presented.

nucl-th↗

Local equilibrium in heavy ion collisions. Microscopic model versus statistical model analysis

The assumption of local equilibrium in relativistic heavy ion collisions at energies from 10.7 AGeV (AGS) up to 160 AGeV (SPS) is checked in the microscopic transport model. Dynamical calculations performed for a central cell in the reaction are compared to the predictions of the thermal statistical model. We find that kinetic, thermal and chemical equilibration of the expanding hadronic matter are nearly approached late in central collisions at AGS energy for $t \geq 10$ fm/$c$ in a central cell. At these times the equation of state may be approximated by a simple dependence $P \cong (0.12-0.15) ε$. Increasing deviations of the yields and the energy spectra of hadrons from statistical model values are observed for increasing energy, 40 AGeV and 160 AGeV. These violations of local equilibrium indicate that a fully equilibrated state is not reached, not even in the central cell of heavy ion collisions at energies above 10 AGeV. The origin of these findings is traced to the multiparticle decays of strings and many-body decays of resonances.

hep-ph↗

Irreversibility, steady state, and non-equilibrium physics in relativistic heavy ion collisions

Heavy ion collisions at ultrarelativistic energies offer the opportunity to study the irreversibility of multiparticle processes. Together with the many-body decays of resonances, the multiparticle processes cause the system to evolve according to Prigogine's steady states rather than towards statistical equilibrium. These results are general and can be easily checked by any microscopic string-, transport-, or cascade model for heavy ion collisions. The absence of pure equilibrium states sheds light on the difficulties of thermal models in describing the yields and spectra of hadrons, especially mesons, in heavy ion collisions at bombarding energies above 10 GeV/nucleon.

hep-ph↗

Local Thermal and Chemical Equilibration and the Equation of State in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

Thermodynamical variables and their time evolution are studied for central relativistic heavy ion collisions from 10.7 to 160 AGeV in the microscopic Ultrarelativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics model (UrQMD). The UrQMD model exhibits drastic deviations from equilibrium during the early high density phase of the collision. Local thermal and chemical equilibration of the hadronic matter seems to be established only at later stages of the quasi- isentropic expansion in the central reaction cell with volume 125 fm$^{3}$. distributions at all collision energies for $t\geq 10 fm/c$ with a unique Baryon energy spectra in this cell are approximately reproduced by Boltzmann rapidly dropping temperature. At these times the equation of state has a simple form: $P \cong (0.12-0.15) ε$. At 160 AGeV the strong deviation from chemical equilibrium is found for mesons, especially for pions, even at the late stage of the reaction. The final enhancement of pions is supported by experimental data.

nucl-th↗

Supercooling of rapidly expanding quark-gluon plasma

We reexamine the scenario of homogeneous nucleation of the quark-gluon plasma produced in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions. A generalization of the standard nucleation theory to rapidly expanding system is proposed. The nucleation rate is derived via the new scaling parameter $λ_Z$. It is shown that the size distribution of hadronic clusters plays an important role in the dynamics of the phase transition. The longitudinally expanding system is supercooled to about 3-6%, then it is reheated, and the hadronization is completed within 6-10 fm/c, i.e. 5-10 times faster than it was estimated earlier, in a strongly nonequilibrium way.

hep-ph↗