arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G. Q. Li.
Using a relativistic transport model for the expansion stage of S+Au collisions at 200 GeV/nucleon, we show that the recently observed enhancement of low-mass dileptons by the CERES collaboration can be explained by the decrease of vector meson masses in hot and dense hadronic matter.
The question whether mean field effects exist in heavy-ion collisions at AGS energies is studied in the framework of A Relativistic Transport (ART) model. It is found that in central collisions of Au+Au at $P_{beam}/A=$11.6 GeV/c a simple, Skyrme-type nuclear mean field satisfying the causality requirement reduces the maximum baryon and energy densities reached in the cascade model by about 30\% and 40\%, respectively. The mean field affects the inclusive, single particle observables of various hadrons by at most 20\%. We show, however, that the mean field causes a factor of 2.5 increase in the strength of the baryon transverse collective flow.
We reexamine in the relativistic transport model the dependence of kaon yield on the nuclear equation of state in heavy ion collisions at energies that are below the threshold for kaon production from the nucleon-nucleon interaction in free space. For Au+Au collisions at 1 GeV/nucleon, we find that the kaon yield measured by the Kaos collaboration at GSI can be accounted for if a soft nuclear equation of state is used. We also confirm the results obtained in the non-relativistic transport model that the dependence of kaon yield on the nuclear equation of state is more appreciable in heavy ion collisions at lower incident energies. We further clarify the difference between the predictions from the relativistic transport model and the non-relativistic transport model with a momentum-dependent potential.
In the relativistic transport model, we show that the recently observed enhancement of low-$m_t$ kaons ($K^+$ and $K^-$) in Si+Pb collisions at AGS can be explained if a density isomer is introduced in the nuclear equation-of-state.
The flow of kaons, i.e., the average kaon transverse momentum as a function of rapidity, and the associated flow parameter in heavy-ion collisions at SIS/GSI energies is investigated in the relativistic transport model. It is found that the pattern of kaon flow at the final stage is sensitive to the kaon potential used in the model and is thus a useful probe of the kaon potential in a nuclear medium.
Dilepton production from both pion-pion and kaon-antikaon annihilation in heavy-ion collisions is studied using the relativistic transport model. The formation of a rho meson from pion-pion annihilation and a phi meson from kaon-antikaon annihilation, their propagation in the medium, and their decay into dileptons are explicitly treated. Including the medium modifications of the masses and widths of vector mesons as predicted by the QCD sum-rule calculations, we study their effects on the dilepton invariant mass spectra from heavy-ion collisions at SIS/GSI energies.
The relativistic transport model, in which the nucleon effective mass is connected to the scalar field while its energy is shifted by the vector potential, is extended to include the kaon degree of freedom. We further take into account the medium modification of the kaon mass due to the explicit chiral symmetry breaking. Both the propagation of kaons in the mean-field potential and the kaon-baryon elastic scattering are explicitly treated in our study. We find that the attractive kaon scalar mean-field potential in the dense matter leads to an enhanced kaon yield in heavy-ion collisions at energies of about 1 GeV/nucleon. The final-state kaon-baryon scattering is seen to affect significantly the kaon momentum spectra, leading to an enhanced yield of kaons with large momenta or at large laboratory angles. With a soft nuclear equation of state and including the attractive kaon scalar potential, the calculated kaon energy spectra agree with the data from the heavy-ion synchrotron at GSI.
Antiproton production in Ni+Ni collisions at 1.85 GeV/nucleon is studied in the relativistic Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck model. The self-energies of the antiproton are determined from the nucleon self-energies by the G-parity transformation. Also, the final-state interactions of the antiproton including both rescattering and annihilation are explicitly treated. With a soft nuclear equation of state, the calculated antiproton momentum spectrum is in good agreement with recent experimental data from the heavy-ion synchrotron at GSI. The effect due to the reduced nucleon and antinucleon masses in a medium is found to be more appreciable than in earlier Bevalac experiments with lighter systems and at higher energies.
The sensitivity of the deuteron and of $pp$ scattering to the $πNN$ and $ρNN$ coupling constants is investigated systematically. We find that the deuteron can be described about equally well with either {\it large $π$ and $ρ$} or {\it small $π$ and $ρ$} coupling constants. However, $pp$ scattering clearly {\it requires} the strong $ρ$, but favors the weak $π$ (particularly, in $^3P_0$ at low energies). This apparent contradiction between bound-state and scattering can be resolved by either assuming charge-dependent $πNN$ coupling constants or by adding a heavy pion to the NN model. In both cases, the neutral-pion coupling constant is small ($g^2_{π^0}/4π= 13.5$).
We present a fully self-consistent and relativistic calculation of the nucleon mean free path in nuclear matter and finite nuclei. Starting from the Bonn potential, the Dirac-Brueckner-Hartree-Fock results for nuclear matter are parametrized in terms of an effective $σ$-$ω$ Lagrangian suitable for the relativistic density-dependent Hartree-Fock (RDHF) approximation. The nucleon mean free path in nuclear matter is derived from this effective Lagrangian taking diagrams up to fourth-order into account. For the nucleon mean free path in finite nuclei, we make use of the density determined by the RDHF calculation in the local density approximation. Our microscopic results are in good agreement with the empirical data and predictions by Dirac phenomenology.
We derive in-medium PROTON-PROTON cross sections in a microscopic model based upon the Bonn nucleon-nucleon potential and the Dirac-Brueckner approach for nuclear matter. We demonstrate the difference between proton-proton and neutron-proton cross sections and point out the need to distinguish carefully between the two cases. We also find substantial differences between our in-medium cross sections and phenomenological parametrizations that are commonly used in heavy-ion reactions.
We study elastic proton-nucleus scattering at intermediate energies. The nucleon-nucleus optical potential is derived from the Bonn nucleon-nucleon potential and the Dirac-Brueckner approach for nuclear matter. Our calculations, which do not contain any adjustable parameters, yield good agreement with experiment.
A momentum-dependent mean field potential, suitable for application in the transport-model description of nucleus-nucleus collisions, is derived in a microscopic way. The derivation is based upon the Bonn meson-exchange model for the nucleon-nucleon interaction and the Dirac-Brueckner approach for nuclear matter. The properties of the microscopic mean field are examined and compared with phenomenological parametrizations which are commonly used in transport-model calculations.
We derive in-medium nucleon-nucleon (NN) cross sections in a microscopic model. Our calculations are based upon the Bonn NN potential and the Dirac-Brueckner approach for nuclear matter. We consider energies up to 300 MeV (in the laboratory frame) and densities up to twice nuclear matter density. Our results deviate substantially from cross section parametrizations that are commonly used in the nuclear medium.
We point out two flaws in the recent test of nucleon-nucleon (NN) potentials conducted by Stoks and de Swart. First, in some cases, the neutron-proton ($np$) version of an NN potential was compared to the proton-proton ($pp$) data, which is improper and yields (large) $χ^2$ that are essentially meaningless. Second, for a proper test of the quantitative nature of a NN potential, it is insufficient to compare to $pp$ data only, since this leaves the T=0 potential untested. Thus, it can happen that the $pp$ version of a potential predicts the $pp$ data accurately, while the $np$ version of that same potential is poor in $np$ (where also the T=0 potential is involved). An example for this is the Nijmegen potential, which predicts the $pp$ data well with a $χ^2$/datum of 2.0, but yields a $χ^2$/datum of 6.5 in $np$.
Guided by history, we review the major developments concerning realistic nucleon-nucleon (NN) potentials since the pioneering work by Kuo and Brown on the effective nuclear interaction. Our main emphasis is on the physics underlying various models for the NN interaction developed over the past quarter-century. We comment briefly on how to test the quantitative nature of nuclear potentials properly. A correct calculation (performed by independent researchers) of the $χ^2$/datum for the fit of the world NN data yields 5.1, 3.7, and 1.9 for the Nijmegen, Paris, and Bonn potential, respectively. Finally, we also discuss in detail the relevance of the on- and off-shell properties of NN potentials for microscopic nuclear structure calculations.