arXiv subjects

H. H. Wolter

Publications and source records attributed to H. H. Wolter.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Isospin Dynamics in Peripheral Heavy Ion Collisions at Fermi Energies

We present a detailed study of isospin dynamics in peripheral collisions at Fermi energies. We consider symmetric and mixed collisions of (124,112)Sn isotopes at 35 and 50 AMeV to study the isospin transport between the different reaction components (residues, gas and possibly intermediate mass fragments) and, in particular, the charge equilibration in the mixed system. We evaluate the effects of drift terms due to asymmetry and density gradients, which are directly related to the poorly known value and slope of the symmetry energy below saturation density. We verify the importance of an isoscalar momentum dependence of the mean field, which is found to influence the isospin transport since it changes the reaction times. We finally suggest two observables particularly sensitive to the isovector part of the nuclear equation-of-state: the correlation between isospin equilibration and kinetic energy loss for binary events, and the isospin content of the produced mid-rapidity fragments for neck fragmentation events.

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arXiv2007

Investigation of Low-Density Symmetry Energy via Nucleon and Fragment Observables

With stochastic transport simulations we study in detail central and peripheral collisions at Fermi energies and suggest new observables, sensitive to the symmetry energy below normal density. As such we identify on one hand the isospin imbalance ratio, i.e. the relative amount of isospin equilibration in binary, peripheral reactions of nuclei with different isospin, as a function of the energy loss, which is sensitive to isospin diffusion; on the other hand the isospin asymmetry of an intermediate mass fragment (IMF) in symmetric collisions in ternary reactions, or more particularly, the ratio of the IMF to the residue asymmetry, which is sensitive to isospin migration.

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arXiv2007

Isospin Effects on Meson Production in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

We show that the phenomenology of isospin effects on heavy ion reactions at intermediate energies (few AGeV range) is extremely rich and can allow a ``direct'' study of the covariant structure of the isovector interaction in a high density hadron medium. We work within a relativistic transport frame, beyond a cascade picture, consistently derived from effective Lagrangians, where isospin effects are accounted for in the mean field and collision terms. We show that rather sensitive observables are provided by the pion/kaon production (π^-/π^+, K^0/K^+ yields). Relevant non-equilibrium effects are stressed. The possibility of the transition to a mixed hadron-quark phase, at high baryon and isospin density, is finally suggested. Some signatures could come from an expected ``neutron trapping'' effect.

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arXiv2007

Constraining the Symmetry Energy: A Journey in the Isospin Physics from Coulomb Barrier to Deconfinement

Heavy Ion Collisions (HIC) represent a unique tool to probe the in-medium nuclear interaction in regions away from saturation. In this work we present a selection of reaction observables in dissipative collisions particularly sensitive to the isovector part of the interaction, i.e. to the symmetry term of the nuclear Equation of State (EoS). At low energies the behavior of the symmetry energy around saturation influences dissipation and fragment production mechanisms. We will first discuss the recently observed Dynamical Dipole Radiation, due to a collective neutron-proton oscillation during the charge equilibration in fusion and deep-inelastic collisions. Important Iso-EOS effects are stressed. Reactions induced by unstable 132Sn beams appear to be very promising tools to test the sub-saturation Isovector EoS. New Isospin sensitive observables are also presented for deep-inelastic, fragmentation collisions and Isospin equilibration measurements (Imbalance Ratios). The high density symmetry term can be derived from isospin effects on heavy ion reactions at relativistic energies (few AGeV range), that can even allow a ``direct'' study of the covariant structure of the isovector interaction in the hadron medium. Rather sensitive observables are proposed from collective flows and from pion/kaon production. The possibility of the transition to a mixed hadron-quark phase, at high baryon and isospin density, is finally suggested. Some signatures could come from an expected ``neutron trapping'' effect. The importance of studying violent collisions with radioactive beams from low to relativistic energies is finally stressed.

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arXiv2007

Isospin Distillation with Radial Flow: a Test of the Nuclear Symmetry Energy

We discuss mechanisms related to isospin transport in central collisions between neutron-rich systems at Fermi energies. A fully consistent study of the isospin distillation and expansion dynamics in two-component systems is presented in the framework of a stochastic transport theory. We analyze correlations between fragment observables, focusing on the study of the average N/Z of fragments, as a function of their kinetic energy. We identify an EOS-dependent relation between these observables, allowing to better characterize the fragmentation path and to access new information on the low density behavior of the symmetry energy.

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arXiv2007

In-medium effects on particle production in heavy ion collisions

The effect of possible in-medium modifications of nucleon-nucleon ($NN$) cross sections on particle production is investigated in heavy ion collisions ($HIC$) at intermediate energies. In particular, using a fully covariant relativistic transport approach, we see that the density dependence of the {\it inelastic} cross sections appreciably affects the pion and kaon yields and their rapidity distributions. However, the $(π^{-}/π^{+})$- and $(K^{0}/K^{+})$-ratios depend only moderately on the in-medium behavior of the inelastic cross sections. This is particularly true for kaon yield ratios, since kaons are more uniformly produced in high density regions. Kaon potentials are also suitably evaluated in two schemes, a chiral perturbative approach and an effective meson-quark coupling method, with consistent results showing a similar repulsive contribution for $K^{+}$ and $K^{0}$. As a consequence we expect rather reduced effects on the yield ratios. We conclude that particle ratios appear to be robust observables for probing the nuclear equation of state ($EoS$) at high baryon density and, particularly, its isovector sector.

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arXiv2006

Proton Threshold States in the 22Na(p,gamma)23Mg Reaction and Astrophysical Implications

Proton threshold states in 23Mg are important for the astrophysically relevant proton capture reaction 22Na(p,gamma)23Mg. In the indirect determination of the resonance strength of the lowest states, which were not accessible by direct methods, some of the spin-parity assignments remained experimentally uncertain. We have investigated these states with Shell Model, Coulomb displacement, and Thomas-Ehrman shift calculations. From the comparison of calculated and observed properties we relate the lowest relevant resonance state at E=7643 keV to an excited 3/2+ state in accordance with a recent experimental determination by Jenkins et al.. From this we deduce significantly improved values for the 22Na(p,gamma)23Mg reaction rate at stellar temperatures below T_9=0.1K.

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arXiv2006

Isospin Dynamics in Heavy Ion Collisions: EoS-sensitive Observables

Heavy Ion Collisions (HIC) represent a unique tool to probe the in-medium nuclear interaction in regions away from saturation and at high nucleon momenta. In this report we present a selection of reaction observables particularly sensitive to the isovector part of the interaction, i.e. to the symmetry term of the nuclear Equation of State (EoS) At low energies the behavior of the symmetry energy around saturation influences dissipation and fragment production mechanisms. Predictions are shown for deep-inelastic and fragmentation collisions induced by neutron rich projectiles. Differential flow measurements will also shed lights on the controversial neutron/proton effective mass splitting in asymmetric matter. The high density symmetry term can be derived from isospin effects on heavy ion reactions at relativistic energies (few AGeV range), that can even allow a ``direct'' study of the covariant structure of the isovector interaction in the hadron medium. Rather sensitive observables are proposed from collective flows and from pion/kaon production. The possibility of the transition to a mixed hadron-quark phase, at high baryon and isospin density, is finally suggested. Some signatures could come from an expected ``neutron trapping'' effect.

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arXiv2006

Heavy Ion Collisions at Relativistic Energies: Testing a Nuclear Matter at High Baryon and Isospin Density

We show that the phenomenology of isospin effects on heavy ion reactions at intermediate energies (few AGeV range) is extremely rich and can allow a ``direct'' study of the covariant structure of the isovector interaction in the hadron medium. We work within a relativistic transport frame, beyond a cascade picture, consistently derived from effective Lagrangians, where isospin effects are accounted for in the mean field and collision terms. Rather sensitive observables are proposed from collective flows (``differential'' flows) and from pion/kaon production ($π^-/π^+$, $K^0/K^+$ yields). For the latter point relevant non-equilibrium effects are stressed. The possibility of the transition to a mixed hadron-quark phase, at high baryon and isospin density, is finally suggested. Some signatures could come from an expected ``neutron trapping'' effect.

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arXiv2006

Isospin effects on sub-threshold kaon production at intermediate energies

We show that in collisions with neutron rich heavy ions at energies around the production threshold K^0 and K^+ yields might probe the isospin dependent part of the nuclearEquation of State (EoS) at high baryon densities. In particular we suggest the K^0/K^+ ratio as a promising observable. Results obtained in a fully covariant relativistic transport approach are presented for central Au+Au collisions in the beam energy range 0.8-1.8~AGeV. The focus is put on the EoS influence which goes beyond the "collision-cascade" picture. The isovector part of the in-medium interaction affects the kaon multiplicities via two mechanisms: i) a "symmetry potential" effect, i.e. a larger neutron repulsion in n-rich systems (isospin fractionation); ii) a "threshold" effect, due to the change in the self-energies of the particles involved in inelastic processes. Genuine relativistic contributions are revealed, that could allow to directly ``measure'' the Lorentz structure of the effective isovector interaction.

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arXiv2006

Modelization of the EOS

This article summarizes theoretical predictions for the density and isospin dependence of the nuclear mean field and the corresponding nuclear equation of state. We compare predictions from microscopic and phenomenological approaches. An application to heavy ion reactions requires to incorporate these forces into the framework of dynamical transport models. Constraints on the nuclear equation of state derived from finite nuclei and from heavy ion reactions are discussed.

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arXiv2006

Constraints on the high-density nuclear equation of state from the phenomenology of compact stars and heavy-ion collisions

A new scheme for testing nuclear matter equations of state (EsoS) at high densities using constraints from neutron star phenomenology and a flow data analysis of heavy-ion collisions is suggested. An acceptable EoS shall not allow the direct Urca process to occur in neutron stars with masses below $1.5~M_{\odot}$, and also shall not contradict flow and kaon production data of heavy-ion collisions. Compact star constraints include the mass measurements of 2.1 +/- 0.2 M_sun (1 sigma level) for PSR J0751+1807, of 2.0 +/- 0.1 M_sun from the innermost stable circular orbit for 4U 1636-536, the baryon mass - gravitational mass relationships from Pulsar B in J0737-3039 and the mass-radius relationships from quasiperiodic brightness oscillations in 4U 0614+09 and from the thermal emission of RX J1856-3754. This scheme is applied to a set of relativistic EsoS constrained otherwise from nuclear matter saturation properties with the result that no EoS can satisfy all constraints simultaneously, but those with density-dependent masses and coupling constants appear most promising.

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arXiv2005

Effects of In-Medium NN Cross Sections on Particle Production

The in-medium modification of nucleon-nucleon (NN) cross sections is investigated by means of particle production in heavy ion collisions (HIC) at intermediate energies. In particular, the density dependence of the {\it inelastic} cross sections considerably affects the pion and kaon yields and their rapidity distributions. However, the $(π^{-}/π^{+})$- and $(K^{+}/K^{0})$-ratios depend only moderately on the in-medium behavior of the inelastic cross sections. It turns out that particle ratios seem to be robust observables in determining the nuclear equation of state (EoS) and, particularly, its isovector sector.

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arXiv2005

Isospin Transport at Fermi Energies

In this paper we investigate isospin transport mechanisms in semi-peripheral collisions at Fermi energies. The effects of the formation of a low density region (neck) between the two reaction partners and of pre-equilibrium emission on the dynamics of isospin equilibration are carefully analyzed. We clearly identify two main contributions to the isospin transport: isospin diffusion due to the $N/Z$ ratio and isospin drift due to the density gradients. Both effects are sensitive to the symmetry part of the nuclear Equation of State (EOS), in particular to the value and slope around saturation density.

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arXiv2004

Nuclear stopping and flow in heavy ion collisions and the in-medium NN cross section

We present transport calculations for heavy ion reactions in which the mean field and the in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross section are consistently based on the same effective interaction, i.e. the in-medium T-matrix from microscopic Dirac-Brueckner calculations. Doing so, the stopping in central reactions in terms of the recently proposed $var_{\rm tl}$ observable and the correlation to the behavior of the directed flow is investigated. The relation to the nuclear shear viscosity is discussed.

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arXiv2004

Asymmetric Colliding Nuclear Matter Approach in Heavy Ion Collisions

The early stage of a heavy ion collision is governed by local non-equilibrium momentum distributions which have been approximated by colliding nuclear matter configurations, i.e. by two Lorentz elongated Fermi ellipsoids. This approach has been extended from the previous assumption of symmetric systems to asymmetric 2-Fermi sphere configurations, i.e. to different densities. This provides a smoother transition from the limiting situation of two interpenetrating currents to an equilibrated system. The model is applied to the dynamical situations of heavy ion collisions at intermediate energies within the framework of relativistic transport (RBUU) calculations. We find that the extended colliding nuclear matter approach is more appropriate to describe collective reaction dynamics in terms of flow observables, in particular, for the elliptic flow at low energies.

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arXiv2004

Stopping and Isospin Equilibration in Heavy Ion Collisions

We investigate the density behaviour of the symmetry energy with respect to isospin equilibration in the combined systems $Ru(Zr)+Zr(Ru)$ at relativistic energies of 0.4 and $1.528 AGeV$. The study is performed within a relativistic framework and the contribution of the iso-vector, scalar $δ$ field to the symmetry energy and the isospin dynamics is particularly explored. We find that the isospin mixing depends on the symmetry energy and a stiff behaviour leads to more transparency. The results are also nicely sensitive to the "fine structure" of the symmetry energy, i.e. to the covariant properties of the isovector meson fields. The isospin tracing appears much less dependent on the in-medium neutron-proton cross-sections ($σ_{np}$) and this makes such observable very peculiar for the study of the isovector part of the nuclear equation of state. Within such a framework, comparisons with experiments support the introduction of the $δ$ meson in the description of the iso-vector equation of state.

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arXiv2004

Fragmentation path of excited nuclear systems

We perform a study of the fragmentation path of excited nuclear sources, within the framework of a stochastic mean-field approach. We consider the reaction $^{129}$Xe + $^{119}$Sn at two beam energies: 32 and 50 MeV/A, for central collisions. It is observed that, after the compression phase the system expands towards a dilute configuration from which it may recontract or evolve into a bubble-like structure. Then fragments are formed through the development of volume and/or surface instabilities. The two possibilities co-exist at 32 MeV/A, leading to quite different fragment partitions, while at 50 MeV/A the hollow configuration is observed in all events. Large variances are recovered in a way fully consistent with the presence of spinodal decomposition remnants. Kinematical properties of fragments are discussed and suggested as observables very sensitive to the dominant fragment production mechanism. A larger radial collective flow is observed at 50 MeV/A, in agreement with experiments.

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