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Hadi Mehrabpour

Publications and source records attributed to Hadi Mehrabpour.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Fundamental geometric limitations on disentangling nuclear-surface properties in relativistic heavy ion collisions

The extraction of the nuclear surface diffuseness from relativistic heavy ion collisions is limited by the intertwined responses of geometry-driven observables to surface diffuseness and intrinsic nuclear deformation. We investigate this limitation using event-by-event Monte Carlo Glauber simulations, focusing on the sensitivity of multiparticle correlations to the Woods--Saxon surface diffuseness $a_0$ in intrinsically deformed nuclei. We systematically examine the local correlations between $a_0$ and quadrupole and octupole deformation parameters, $β_2$ and $β_3$, and determine how these correlations affect the ability of different observables to constrain $a_0$. We find that observables dominated by elliptic geometry exhibit a strong response to quadrupole deformation, leading to a local $a_0$--$β_2$ degeneracy that substantially limits their sensitivity to the nuclear surface diffuseness. Triangular correlations provide a more independent response to the nuclear surface and therefore retain additional information on $a_0$, although their sensitivity can also be modified by intrinsic deformation. Extending the analysis to simultaneous quadrupole and octupole deformation shows that the local degeneracy and least-constrained directions depend on the nuclear configuration, demonstrating that the limitation on extracting $a_0$ is not described by a single global parameter correlation. We quantify these effects using multidimensional response maps, local sensitivity and information-geometric measures, and a Bayesian analysis of the resulting parameter constraints. The results clarify the fundamental limitations imposed by intrinsic multipole deformation on the determination of nuclear surface diffuseness from relativistic heavy ion collisions and identify multiparticle correlations that provide more independent information on $a_0$.

nucl-th

Nonlinear collective flow reveals the breakdown of quadrupole--hexadecapole scaling in heavy ion collisions

Determining the role of intrinsic hexadecapole deformation ($β_4$) in nuclear structure remains a long-standing challenge. Relativistic heavy-ion collisions provide a unique opportunity to address this problem by converting the initial nuclear geometry into the collective motion of the quark--gluon plasma (QGP). Using event-by-event viscous hydrodynamic simulations of ultra-central $^{238}$U+$^{238}$U collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=193$ GeV, we investigate whether higher-order collective flow can isolate the contribution of $β_4$ and test the $β_2-β_4$ correlation. We demonstrate that information carried by the sign of $β_4$ survives the QGP evolution and is enhanced through nonlinear hydrodynamic response: the fourth-order flow harmonic acquires its topology dependence predominantly from the linear response, whereas the sensitivity of the sixth-order harmonic originates almost entirely from nonlinear mode coupling. As a consequence, the nonlinear response coefficient $ξ_{6,222}$ cleanly separates the $(β_2,β_4)$ intrinsic nuclear topologies. These results establish the sign of $β_4$ as an experimentally accessible signature of deviations from the quadrupole--hexadecapole correlation, demonstrating that higher-order collective flow provides a direct probe of nuclear multipole structure while revealing how nonlinear QGP dynamics encode subtle higher-order geometric information into final-state observables.

nucl-th

Triaxial shapes and the angular structure of nuclear three-body correlations

Relativistic nuclear collisions have emerged as a new tool for probing many-body correlations of nucleons in the ground states of atomic nuclei. Here, we investigate the connection between three-nucleon correlations inside nuclei and three-particle correlations measured in collider final states. We work within a classical rigid-rotor picture of the colliding ions, whereby correlations in the lab frame arise solely from the averaging over orientations of an intrinsic-frame nucleon density with a triaxial quadrupole deformation, characterized by Bohr parameters $β_2$ and $γ$. With a Gaussian Ansatz for the density, we derive the leading-order form of the resulting two- and three-body nucleon distributions and perform a detailed analysis of their harmonic structure. With this, we provide an analytical understanding of empirical results linking shape parameters to final-state observables, notably, the fact that the covariance of the squared elliptic flow ($v_2^2$) with the mean transverse momentum ($[p_T]$), as well as the skewness of $[p_T]$ fluctuations, are to leading order proportional to $β_2^3 \cos(3γ)$. This elucidates the connection between three-nucleon densities, nuclear triaxiality, and three-particle correlations in high-energy nuclear collisions.

nucl-th

Imprint of $α$-Clustering on Ab Initio Correlations in Relativistic Light Ion Collisions

This study investigates the influence of $α$-cluster structures in relativistic light nuclear collisions. Using a cluster framework, I extract the characteristics of the nucleonic configurations of $^{16}$O and $^{20}$Ne as predicted by various \textit{ab-initio} models, including Nuclear Lattice Effective Field Theory (NLEFT), Variational Monte Carlo (VMC), and the Projected Generator Coordinate Method (PGCM). Additionally, I analyze configurations derived from a three-parameter Fermi (3pF) density function. The investigation focuses on the effects of cluster parameters on two-point correlators using a rotor model for symmetric collisions ($^{16}$O+$^{16}$O and $^{20}$Ne+$^{20}$Ne) and asymmetric collisions ($^{208}$Pb+$^{16}$O and $^{208}$Pb+$^{20}$Ne). The cluster parameters are determined by minimizing the \textit{chi-square} statistic to align the nucleon distributions with those predicted by the aforementioned theories. The results reveal that perturbative calculations effectively capture the structural features of these nuclei, while comparisons with Monte Carlo simulations validate these findings. Furthermore, the analysis reveals distinct cluster geometries: VMC suggests tetrahedral shapes, while NLEFT, PGCM, and 3pF indicate irregular triangular pyramids. Notably, NLEFT shows a bowling pin-like $α$ cluster structure for $^{20}$Ne. The study also identifies constraints on cluster parameters in the different oxygen structures, with a gradual increase in $\varepsilon_2\{2\}$ for the states of $α$+$^{12}$C. Accurate modeling of asymmetric collisions necessitates a range of nucleons from heavy spherical nuclei, leading to weighted correlators in perturbative calculations. I demonstrate consistency between perturbative calculations and Monte Carlo models, with analytical calculations providing more insights into asymmetric than symmetric collisions.

nucl-th

Longitudinal flow decorrelations in light ion collisions

This study presents a detailed analysis of longitudinal flow decorrelations in light ion collisions at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and Large Hadron Collider(LHC) energies for the first time. We compare different theoretical models of the oxygen structure and find that certain observables, such as the flow vector correlator, can distinguish between them, particularly highlighting differences between the variational Monte Carlo (VMC) structure and other models, such as Nuclear Lattice Effective Field Theory (NLEFT) and the Projected Generator Coordinate Method (PGCM), which behave similarly. We further examine flow decorrelations across different systems, including d+Au and O+O collisions at 200 GeV, as well as Ne+Ne and O+O collisions at 6.37 TeV, indicating a hierarchy in decorrelations that underscores the complexity of these interactions. Our findings emphasize that the role of asymmetry in d+Au collisions and its impact on flow correlations is mitigated using a modified flow correlation defined as a ratio of two flow vector covariances derived from different pairs of pseudorapidity bins. Additionally, our analysis of flow angle decorrelations shows diverse distributions across various systems, finding distinct patterns in d+Au collisions compared to other collision systems.

nucl-th

Impacts of isolated nucleon-nucleon correlations in relativistic $^{16}$O+$^{16}$O collisions

Nucleon-nucleon interactions are fundamental to the nuclear forces operating within the nucleus and play a crucial role in shaping the initial conditions of relativistic ion collisions through two-nucleon correlations. In this paper, we introduce an innovative approach to explore these encoded nucleon-nucleon correlations within advanced \textit{ab-initio} models in the context of relativistic $^{16}O$ collisions. Our methodology successfully reproduces the structural properties of the nucleonic configurations generated by these models, as well as the distance correlations between the nucleon pairs, denoted as $C(Δr)$. By generating nucleon positions that align with authentic configurations and adhering to the constraints imposed by the probability distribution of relative two-nucleon distances, our goal is to better understand nucleon-nucleon interactions within \textit{ab-initio} frameworks.

nucl-th

Nuclear Physics Confronts Relativistic Collisions Of Isobars

High-energy collisions involving the $A=96$ isobars $^{96}$Zr and $^{96}$Ru have been performed in 2018 at Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) as a means to search for the chiral magnetic effect in QCD. This would manifest itself as specific deviations from unity in the ratio of observables taken between $^{96}$Zr+$^{96}$Zr and $^{96}$Ru+$^{96}$Ru collisions. Measurements of such ratios (released at the end of 2021) indeed reveal deviations from unity, but these are primarily caused by the two collided isobars having different radial profiles and intrinsic deformations. To make progress in understanding RHIC data, nuclear physicists across the energy spectrum gathered in Heidelberg in 2022 as part of an EMMI Rapid Reaction Task Force (RRTF) to address the following question. Does the combined effort of low-energy nuclear structure physics and high-energy heavy-ion physics enable us to understand the observations made in isobar collisions at RHIC?

nucl-ex

Signature of Non-Minimal Scalar-Gravity Coupling with an Early Matter Domination on the Power Spectrum of Gravitational Waves

The signal strength of primordial gravitational waves experiencing an epoch of early scalar domination is reduced with respect to radiation domination. In this paper, we demonstrate that the specific pattern of this reduction is sensitive to the coupling between the dominant field and gravity. When this coupling is zero, the impact of early matter domination on gravitational waves is solely attributed to the alteration of the Hubble parameter and the scale factor. In the presence of non-zero couplings, on the other hand, the evolution of primordial gravitational waves is directly affected as well, resulting in a distinct step-like feature in the power spectrum of the gravitational wave as a function of frequency. This feature serves as a smoking gun signature of this model. In this paper, we provide an analytical expression of the power spectrum that illustrates the dependence of power spectrum on model parameters and initial conditions. Furthermore, we provide analytical relations that specify the frequency interval in which the step occurs. We compare the analytical estimates with numerical analysis and show they match well.

hep-ph

Random model of flow decorrelation

The collective flow generated in relativistic heavy-ion collisions fluctuates from event to event. The fluctuations lead to a decorrelation of flow vectors measured in separate bins in phase space. These effects have been measured in experiments and observed in numerical simulations in hydrodynamic models. We present a simple random model of flow decorrelation in pseudorapidity. Analytical expressions for the flow factorization breaking coefficients for flow vectors, flow vector magnitudes, and flow angles are derived. The model explains the relations between different factorization breaking coefficients found in experimental data and model simulations. In particular, it is found that the flow angle decorrelation constitutes about one half of the total flow vector decorrelation.

nucl-th

Flow Distribution Analysis as A Probe of Nuclei Deformity

We study the flow harmonic distribution in deformed nuclei. To do this, we use the standard Gram-Charlier method to find the higher-order correction to the well-known Bessel-Gaussian distribution. We find that, apart from the necessity of including a shift parameter $\bar v_n$, the modified flow distribution describes the flow distribution of quadrupole and octupole deformation accurately. Using the shifted radial distribution, arising from this method, we scrutinize the effect of deformation on flow distribution. Assuming a linear relation between observables of spherical and deformed collisions, $\mathcal{O}_D=\mathcal{O}_S+\left(\sum_{m=2}a_{k,m} β_m\right)^{2k}$, for events with a fixed centrality, we compare the flow distribution of deformed and spherical nuclei. We also propose a way to measure $\bar{v}_2$ in asymmetric nuclei collisions.

nucl-th

Magnetogenesis From Baryon Asymmetry During an Early Matter Dominated Era

In this paper, we study the simultaneous evolution of baryon asymmetry and hypermagnetic field amplitude assuming an early matter domination. We contrast our results to the conventional case where radiation domination during early universe is assumed. We show that the baryon asymmetry and the hypermagntic field amplitude can change by orders of magnitude if we assume a non-standard history of cosmology. That is because the Hubble rate determines which processes are efficient. We find that a change in Hubble rate can have a significant impact on when the weak sphalerons become active. As a result of a change in the evolution of baryonic asymmetry, alters the evolution of hypermagnetic field amplitude. It is known that if the hypermagnetic field amplitude is large enough, it can save the baryon asymmetry from diminishing. We show that whether a small seed of hypermagnetic field amplitude can be amplified to a large enough value will strongly depend on the history of cosmology.

hep-ph

Systematic Analysis of Flow Distributions

The information of the event-by-event fluctuations is extracted from flow harmonic distributions and cumulants, which can be done experimentally. In this work, we employ the standard method of Gram-Charlier series with the normal kernel to find such distribution, which is the generalization of recently introduced flow distributions for the studies of the event-by-event fluctuations. Also, we introduce a new set of cumulants $j_n\{2k\}$ which have more information about the fluctuations compared with other known cumulants. The experimental data imply that not only all of the information about the event-by-event fluctuations of collision zone properties and different stages of the heavy-ion process are not encoded in the radial flow distribution $p(v_n)$, but also the observables describing harmonic flows can generally be given by the joint distribution $\mathcal{P}(v_1,v_2,...)$. In such a way, we first introduce a set of joint cumulants $\mathcal{K}_{nm}$, and then we find the flow joint distribution using these joint cumulants. Finally, we show that the Symmetric Cumulants $SC(2,3)$ and $SC(2,4)$ obtained from ALICE data are explained by the combinations $\mathcal{K}_{22}+\frac{1}{2}\mathcal{K}_{04}-\mathcal{K}_{31}$ and $\mathcal{K}_{22}+4\mathcal{K}_{11}^2$.

nucl-th

Correlation coefficient between harmonic and transverse flow in heavy-ion collisions

The correlation between the harmonic flow and the transverse flow in relativistic heavy ion collisions is calculated in the hydrodynamic model. The partial correlation coefficient, corrected for fluctuations of multiplicity, is compared to experimental data. Estimators of the final transverse and harmonic flow are used to predict the value of the correlation coefficient from the moments of the initial distribution. A good description of the hydrodynamic simulation results is obtained if the estimator for the final transverse flow, besides the most important transverse size and entropy, includes also the eccentricities.

nucl-th

Non-Bessel-Gaussianity and Flow Harmonic Fine-Splitting

Both collision geometry and event-by-event fluctuations are encoded in the experimentally observed flow harmonic distribution $p(v_n)$ and $2k$-particle cumulants $c_n\{2k\}$. In the present study, we systematically connect these observables to each other by employing Gram-Charlier A series. We quantify the deviation of $p(v_n)$ from Bessel-Gaussianity in terms of flow harmonic fine-splitting. Subsequently, we show that the corrected Bessel-Gaussian distribution can fit the simulated data better than the Bessel-Gaussian distribution in the more peripheral collisions. Inspired by Gram-Charlier A series, we introduce a new set of cumulants $q_n\{2k\}$ that are more natural to study distributions near Bessel-Gaussian. These new cumulants are obtained from $c_n\{2k\}$ where the collision geometry effect is extracted from it. By exploiting $q_2\{2k\}$, we introduce a new set of estimators for averaged ellipticity $\bar{v}_2$ which are more accurate compared to $v_2\{2k\}$ for $k>1$. As another application of $q_2\{2k\}$, we show we are able to restrict the phase space of $v_2\{4\}$, $v_2\{6\}$ and $v_2\{8\}$ by demanding the consistency of $\bar{v}_2$ and $v_2\{2k\}$ with $q_2\{2k\}$ equation. The allowed phase space is a region such that $v_2\{4\}-v_2\{6\}\gtrsim 0$ and $12 v_2\{6\}-11v_2\{8\}-v_2\{4\}\gtrsim 0$, which is compatible with the experimental observations.

nucl-th

Exact dynamics of one-qubit system in layered environment

We investigate the exact evolution of the reduced dynamics of a one qubit system as central spin coupled to a femionic layered environment with unlimited number of layers. Also, we study the decoherence induced on central spin by analysis solution is obtained in the limit $N\rightarrow\infty$ of an infinite number of bath spins. Finally, the Nakajima-Zwanzig (NZ) and the time-convolutionless (TCL) projection operator techniques to second order are derived.

quant-ph

Kraus representation for maps and master equation in spin star model with layered environment

Quantum operations are usually defined as completely positive (CP), trace preserving (TP) maps on quantum states, and can be represented by operator-sum or Kraus representations. In this paper, we calculate operator-sum representation and master equation of an exactly solvable dynamic of one-qubit open system in layered environment . On the other hand, we obtain exact Nakajima-Zwanzig (NZ) and time-convolutionless (TCL) master equation from the maps. Finally, we study a simple example to consider the relation between CP maps and initial quantum correlation and show that vanishing initial quantum correlation is not necessary for CP maps.

quant-ph