arXiv subjects

Jörg Aichelin

Publications and source records attributed to Jörg Aichelin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Resolving the $ϕ$-meson directed-flow puzzle by multi-step meson--baryon dynamics

Recent STAR measurements at fixed-target Beam Energy Scan energies have revealed an unexpectedly large directed flow of $ϕ$ mesons in Au+Au collisions, comparable to that of protons and $Λ$ baryons and much stronger than that of light strange mesons. Since the $ϕ$ is a hidden-strangeness meson with relatively weak interactions with non-strange hadrons, this observation has been interpreted as a possible signal of unconventional baryonic dynamics or exotic baryonic resonances coupled to the $ϕ$ channel. Within the framework of the Parton-Hadron-Quantum-Molecular-Dynamics(PHQMD) model, we demonstrate that in the high baryon density region, $ϕ$ mesons are produced predominantly through multi-step meson--baryon and meson--hyperon reactions, whose transition amplitudes are constrained by a coupled-channel $T$-matrix calculation based on an extended SU(6) chiral effective Lagrangian. Together with the in-medium broadening of the $ϕ$ spectral function, these baryon-driven production channels enhance near-threshold $ϕ$ production and imprint the collective motion of the baryon-rich source on the produced $ϕ$ mesons.

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arXiv2026

Systematic study of flow of protons and light clusters in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions with momentum-dependent potentials

We study the influence of the nuclear equation-of-state (EoS) on collective observables -- the directed ($v_1$) and elliptic flow ($v_2$) of nucleons and light clusters -- in heavy-ion collisions at GeV energies using the Parton-Hadron-Quantum-Molecular Dynamics (PHQMD) approach. A novel development in this work is the inclusion of a momentum-dependent nucleon potential in the PHQMD in addition to the static, density-dependent Skyrme interaction. This enables three distinct EoS scenarios: two static ("soft" and "hard", differing in compressibility) and a soft, momentum-dependent EoS calibrated to $pA$ elastic scattering data. We find a strong EoS sensitivity in proton and cluster rapidity and $p_T$ distributions: soft and soft momentum-dependent EoS yield similar results, markedly different from the hard EoS. Softening the EoS reduces proton yields at midrapidity while enhancing light-cluster production. The EoS also affects flow observables differently for nucleons and clusters. For protons, a soft momentum-dependent potential increases slightly the magnitude of $v_1$ and $v_2$ relative to the hard EoS, whereas cluster flows are nearly similar. The soft momentum-dependent EoS provides an overall good agreement with experimental data from HADES and FOPI Collaborations while the soft EOS is not in line with the data. A scaling of $v_2$ with cluster mass number $A$ is observed at midrapidity for low $p_T$, which breaks at higher $p_T$. Finally, we examine the sensitivity of flow observables to deuteron production mechanisms. Deuterons formed via MST clustering exhibit different flow patterns from those produced by coalescence at freeze-out, indicating that flow harmonics may help discriminate between cluster formation scenarios.

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arXiv2025

Probing of EoS with clusters and hypernuclei

The study of the nuclear equation-of-state (EoS) is a one of the primary goals of experimental and theoretical heavy-ion physics. The comparison of recent high statistics data from the STAR Collaboration with transport models provides a unique possibility to address this topic in a yet unexplored energy domain. Employing the microscopic N-body Parton-Hadron-Quantum-Molecular Dynamics (PHQMD) transport approach, which allows to describe the propagation and interactions of hadronic and partonic degrees of freedom including cluster and hyper-nucleus formation and dynamics, we investigate the influence of different EoS on bulk observables, the multiplicity, $p_T$ and rapidity distributions of protons, $Λ$s and clusters up to A=4 as well as their influence on the collective flow. We explore three different EoS: two static EoS, dubbed 'soft' and 'hard', which differ in the compressibility modulus, as well as a soft momentum dependent EoS. We find that a soft momentum dependent EoS reproduces most baryon and cluster observables, including the flow observables, quantitatively, however, hard EOS show a similar trend.

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arXiv2025

Study on the equation-of-state with light clusters and hypernuclei

Heavy-ion collision experiments offer a unique opportunity to explore the early stages of the Universe by creating matter under extreme conditions of high temperature and baryon density. The properties of such matter are governed by the equation-of-state (EoS), which remains a central focus of investigation from both experimental and theoretical perspectives. Flow harmonics are among the most sensitive observables for probing the EoS, as they strongly reflect the underlying interactions and degrees of freedom of the system. In this article, we review the current status of our understanding of the EoS based on microscopic transport models, emphasizing comparisons with experimental data in the few GeV energy range.

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arXiv2025

The influence of nuclear short range correlations on sub-threshold particle production in proton-nucleus collisions

The apparent production of (multi-)strange baryons and mesons at sub-threshold energies in proton-heavy ion collisions is a consequence of short range correlations (SRC), which have recently been observed in lepton-nucleus scattering. They may enhance the available center of mass energy of individual nucleon-nucleon collisions and allow, therefore, for sub-threshold particle production in proton-nucleus collisions. Calculations demonstrate that SRC enhance the probability for particle production at nominal sub-threshold energies up to a factor of $\times 10^3$ as compared to a simple Fermi gas model. We benchmark the idea by calculating the $Ξ^-$ multiplicity in nominal sub-threshold p+Nb collisions which compare well with the data measured by the HADES collaboration. These findings are of prime relevance for upcoming experiments at the FAIR facility, especially for the study of charmed hadrons.

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arXiv2025

Hadronization of Heavy Quarks

Heavy-flavor hadrons produced in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions are a sensitive probe for studying hadronization mechanisms of the quark-gluon-plasma. In this work, we survey how different transport models for the simulation of heavy-quark diffusion through a quark-gluon plasma in heavy-ion collisions implement hadronization and how this affects final-state observables. Utilizing the same input charm-quark distribution in all models at the hadronization transition, we find that the transverse-momentum dependence of the nuclear modification factor of various charm hadron species has significant sensitivity to the hadronization scheme. In addition, the charm-hadron elliptic flow exhibits a nontrivial dependence on the elliptic flow of the hadronizing partonic medium.

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arXiv2024

Untangling the interplay of the Equation-of-State and the Collision Term towards the generation of Directed and Elliptic Flow at intermediate energies

The mechanism for generating directed and elliptic flow in heavy-ion collisions is investigated and quantified for the SIS18 and SIS100 energy regimes. The observed negative elliptic flow $v_2$, at midrapidity has been explained either via (in-plane) shadowing or via (out-of-plane) squeeze-out. To settle this question, we employ the Ultra-relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics model (UrQMD) to calculate Au+Au collisions at E$_\mathrm{lab}=0.6A$ GeV, E$_\mathrm{lab}=1.23A$ GeV and $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=3.0$ GeV using a hard Skyrme type Equation-of-State to calculate the time evolution and generation of directed flow and elliptic flow. We quantitatively distinguish the impact of collisions and of the potential on $v_1$ and $v_2$ during the evolution of the system. These calculations reveal that in this energy regime the generation of $v_1$ and $v_2$ follows from a highly intricate interplay of different processes and is created late, after the system has reached its highest density and has created a matter bridge between projectile and target remnant, which later breaks. Initially, we find a strong out-of-plane pressure. Then follows a strong stopping and the built up of an in-plane pressure. The $v_2$, created by both processes, compensate to a large extend. The finally observed $v_2$ is caused by the potential, reflects the freeze-out geometry and can neither be associated to squeeze-out nor to shadowing. The results are highly relevant for experiments at GSI, RHIC-FXT and the upcoming FAIR facility, but also for experiments at FRIB, and strengthens understanding on the Equation-of-State at large baryon densities.

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arXiv2024

Cluster and anti-cluster production in heavy-ion collisions and pA reactions

We investigate light cluster and anti-cluster production in heavy-ion collisions from SIS to RHIC energies within the Parton-Hadron-Quantum-Molecular Dynamics (PHQMD) microscopic transport approach which propagates (anti-)baryons using n-body QMD dynamics. In PHQMD the clusters are formed dynamically by potential interactions between baryons - and recognized by the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) algorithm - as well as by kinetic reactions in case of deuterons. We present the novel PHQMD results for different observables such as excitation functions of the multiplicity of deuterons, anti-deuterons and tritons, as well as their transverse momentum spectra. Moreover, we investigate the system size dependence of proton and deuteron production in p+A collisions and show the PHQMD results for p+A collisions (A = Be, Al, Cu, Au) at 14 AGeV/c, as well as for asymmetric Au+A collisions (A = Al, Cu, Pb) at a bombarding energy of about 10 AGeV.

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arXiv2024

Dense Nuclear Matter Equation of State from Heavy-Ion Collisions

The nuclear equation of state (EOS) is at the center of numerous theoretical and experimental efforts in nuclear physics. With advances in microscopic theories for nuclear interactions, the availability of experiments probing nuclear matter under conditions not reached before, endeavors to develop sophisticated and reliable transport simulations to interpret these experiments, and the advent of multi-messenger astronomy, the next decade will bring new opportunities for determining the nuclear matter EOS, elucidating its dependence on density, temperature, and isospin asymmetry. Among controlled terrestrial experiments, collisions of heavy nuclei at intermediate beam energies (from a few tens of MeV/nucleon to about 25 GeV/nucleon in the fixed-target frame) probe the widest ranges of baryon density and temperature, enabling studies of nuclear matter from a few tenths to about 5 times the nuclear saturation density and for temperatures from a few to well above a hundred MeV, respectively. Collisions of neutron-rich isotopes further bring the opportunity to probe effects due to the isospin asymmetry. However, capitalizing on the enormous scientific effort aimed at uncovering the dense nuclear matter EOS, both at RHIC and at FRIB as well as at other international facilities, depends on the continued development of state-of-the-art hadronic transport simulations. This white paper highlights the essential role that heavy-ion collision experiments and hadronic transport simulations play in understanding strong interactions in dense nuclear matter, with an emphasis on how these efforts can be used together with microscopic approaches and neutron star studies to uncover the nuclear EOS.

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arXiv2023

Dynamical mechanisms for deuteron production at mid-rapidity in relativistic heavy-ion collisions from SIS to RHIC energies

The understanding of the mechanisms for the production of weakly bound clusters, such as a deuteron $d$, in heavy-ion reactions at mid-rapidity is presently one of the challenging problems which is also known as the "ice in a fire" puzzle. In this study we investigate the dynamical formation of deuterons within the Parton-Hadron-Quantum-Molecular Dynamics (PHQMD) microscopic transport approach and advance two microscopic production mechanisms to describe deuterons in heavy-ion collisions from SIS to RHIC energies: kinetic production by hadronic reactions and potential production by the attractive potential between nucleons. Differently to other studies, for the "kinetic" deuterons we employ the full isospin decomposition of the various $πNN\leftrightarrow πd$, $NNN\leftrightarrow N d$ channels and take into account the finite size properties of the deuteron by means of an excluded volume condition in coordinate space and by the projection onto the deuteron wave function in momentum space. We find that considering the quantum nature of the deuteron in coordinate and momentum space reduces substantially the kinetic deuteron production in a dense medium as encountered in heavy-ion collisions. If we add the "potential" deuterons by applying an advanced Minimum Spanning Tree (aMST) procedure, we obtain good agreement with the available experimental data from SIS energies up to the top RHIC energy.

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arXiv2022

Midrapidity cluster formation in heavy-ion collisions

We study the production of clusters and hypernuclei at midrapidity employing the Parton-Hadron-Quantum-Molecular-Dynamics (PHQMD) approach, a microscopic n-body transport model based on the QMD propagation of the baryonic degrees of freedom with density dependent 2-body potential interactions. In PHQMD the cluster formation occurs dynamically, caused by the interactions. The clusters are recognized by the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) algorithm. We present the PHQMD results for cluster and hypernuclei formation in comparison with the available experimental data at relativistic energies. PHQMD allows to study the time evolution of formed clusters and the origin of their production, which helps to understand how such weakly bound objects are formed and survive in the rather dense and hot environment created in heavy-ion collisions. It offers therefore an explanation of the 'ice in the fire' puzzle. To investigate whether this explanation of the 'ice in the fire' puzzle applies only to the MST results we study also the deuterons production by coalescence. We embed MST and coalescence in the PHQMD and UrQMD transport approaches in order to obtain model independent results. We find that both clustering procedures give very similar results for the deuteron observables in the UrQMD as well as in the PHQMD environment. This confirms that our solution for the 'ice in the fire' puzzle is common to MST and coalescence and independent of the transport approach.

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arXiv2022

Transport properties and equation-of-state of hot and dense QGP matter near the critical end-point in the phenomenological dynamical quasi-particle model

We extend the effective dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM) - constructed for the description of non-perturbative QCD phenomena of the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma (QGP) - to large baryon chemical potentials, $μ_B$, including a critical end-point and a 1st order phase transition. The DQPM description of quarks and gluons is based on partonic propagators with complex selfenergies where the real part of the selfenergies is related to the quasiparticle mass and the imaginary part to a finite width of their spectral functions. In DQPM the determination of complex selfenergies for the partonic degrees of freedom at zero and finite $μ_B$ has been performed by adjusting the entropy density to the lQCD data. The temperature-dependent effective coupling (squared) $g^2(T/T_c)$, as well as the parton effective masses and widths are based on this adjustment. The novel extended dynamical quasiparticle model, named "DQPM-CP", makes it possible to describe thermodynamical and transport properties of quarks and gluons in a wide range of $T$ and $μ_B$, and reproduces the equation-of-state (EoS) of lQCD calculations in the crossover region of finite $T, μ_B$. We apply a scaling ansatz for the strong coupling constant near the CEP, located at ($T^{CEP}$, $μ^{CEP}_B) = (0.100, 0.960)$ GeV. We show the EoS as well as the speed of sound for $T>T_c$ and for a wide range of $μ_B$, which can be of interest for hydrodynamical simulations. Furthermore, we consider two settings for the strange quark chemical potentials (I) $μ_s=μ_B/3$ and (II) $μ_s=0$. The isentropic trajectories of the QGP matter are compared for these two cases. The phase diagram of DQPM-CP is close to PNJL calculations. The leading order pQCD transport coefficients of both approaches differ. This elucidates that the knowledge of the phase diagram alone is not sufficient to describe the dynamical evolution of QGP.

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arXiv2022

Deuteron Production in Ultra-Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions: A Comparison of the Coalescence and the Minimum Spanning Tree Procedure

The formation of deuterons in heavy-ion collisions at relativistic energies is investigated by employing two recently advanced models -- the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) method and the coalescence model by embedding them in the PHQMD and the UrQMD transport approaches. While the coalescence mechanism combines nucleons into deuterons at the kinetic freeze-out hypersurface, the MST identifies the clusters during the different stages of time evolution. We find that both clustering procedures give very similar results for the deuteron observables in the UrQMD as well as in the PHQMD environment. Moreover, the results agree well with the experimental data on deuteron production in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 8.8$ GeV (selected for the comparison of the methods and models in this study). A detailed investigation shows that the coordinate space distribution of the produced deuterons differs from that of the free nucleons and other hadrons. Thus, deuterons are not destroyed by additional rescattering.

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arXiv2021

Cluster and hyper-cluster production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions within the Parton-Hadron-Quantum-Molecular-Dynamics approach

We study cluster and hypernuclei production in heavy-ion collisions at relativistic energies employing the Parton-Hadron-Quantum-Molecular-Dynamics (PHQMD) approach, a microscopic n-body transport model based on the QMD propagation of the baryonic degrees of freedom with density dependent 2-body potential interactions. All other ingredients of PHQMD, including the collision integral and the treatment of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) phase, are adopted from the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) approach. In PHQMD the cluster formation occurs dynamically, caused by the interactions. The clusters are recognized by the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) algorithm. We present the PHQMD results for cluster and hypernuclei formation in comparison with the available experimental data at AGS, SPS, RHIC-BES and RHIC fixed target energies. We also provide predictions on cluster production for the upcoming FAIR and NICA experiments. PHQMD allows to study the time evolution of formed clusters and the origin of their production, which helps to understand how such weakly bound objects are formed and survive in the rather dense and hot environment created in heavy-ion collisions. It offers therefore an explanation of the 'ice in the fire' puzzle.

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arXiv2021

Comparison of heavy ion transport simulations: Ag+Ag collisions at Elab = 1.58 AGeV

We compare the microscopic transport models UrQMD, PHSD, PHQMD, and SMASH to make predictions for the upcoming Ag+Ag data at $E_\mathrm{lab}=1.58$~$A$GeV ($\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=2.55$~GeV) by the HADES collaboration. We study multiplicities, spectra and effective source temperatures of protons, $π^{\pm,0}$, $K^\pm$, the $η$, $Λ+Σ^0$ and the $Ξ^-$ within these models. Despite variations in the detailed implementation of the dynamics in the different models, the employed transport approaches all show consistent multiplicities of the bulk of investigated hadrons. The main differences are in the $Ξ^-$ production, which is treated differently between UrQMD/SMASH on one side employing high mass resonance states with explicit decays to $\mathrm{Resonance}\rightarrow Ξ+K+K$ in contrast to PHSD/PHQMD which account only non-resonant $Ξ$ production channels. A comparison of the spectra, summarized by effective source temperatures, shows that all models provide similar source temperatures around $T_\mathrm{source}=80-95$~MeV, and show substantial radial flow on the order of $\langle v_T\rangle=0.22c-0.3c$ even for such a small system.

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arXiv2021

Shear viscosity and electric conductivity of a hot and dense QGP with a chiral phase transition

We calculate two transport coefficients -- the shear viscosity over entropy ratio $η/s$ and the ratio of the electric conductivity to the temperature $σ_0/T$ -- of strongly interacting quark matter within the extended $N_f=3$ Polyakov Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (PNJL) model along the crossover transition line for moderate values of baryon chemical potential $0 \leq μ_B \leq 0.9$ GeV as well as in the vicinity of the critical endpoint (CEP) and at large baryon chemical potential $μ_B=1.2$ GeV, where the first-order phase transition takes place. The evaluation of the transport coefficients is performed on the basis of the effective Boltzmann equation in the relaxation time approximation. We employ two different methods for the calculation of the quark relaxation times: i) using the averaged transition rate defined via thermal averaged quark-quark and quark-antiquark PNJL cross sections and ii) using the 'weighted' thermal averaged quark-quark and quark-antiquark PNJL cross sections. The $η/s$ and $σ_0/T$ transport coefficients have a similar temperature and chemical potential behavior when approaching the chiral phase transition for the both methods for the quark relaxation time, however, the differences grow with increasing temperature. We demonstrate the effect of the first-order phase transition and of the CEP on the transport coefficients in the deconfined QCD medium.

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arXiv2019

Towards the determination of heavy-quark transport coefficients in quark-gluon plasma

Several transport models have been employed in recent years to analyze heavy-flavor meson spectra in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. Heavy-quark transport coefficients extracted from these models with their default parameters vary, however, by up to a factor of 5 at high momenta. To investigate the origin of this large theoretical uncertainty, a systematic comparison of heavy-quark transport coefficients is carried out between various transport models. Within a common scheme devised for the nuclear modification factor of charm quarks in a brick medium of a quark-gluon plasma, the systematic uncertainty of the extracted drag coefficient among these models is shown to be reduced to a factor of 2, which can be viewed as the smallest intrinsic systematical error band achievable at present time. This indicates the importance of a realistic hydrodynamic evolution constrained by bulk hadron spectra and of heavy-quark hadronization for understanding the final heavy-flavor hadron spectra and extracting heavy-quark drag coefficient. The transverse transport coefficient is less constrained due to the influence of the underlying mechanism for heavy-quark medium interaction. Additional constraints on transport models such as energy loss fluctuation and transverse-momentum broadening can further reduce theoretical uncertainties in the extracted transport coefficients.

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arXiv2018

Discrimination of effective radiative and collisional in-medium energy-loss models by their effects on angular jet structure

Energy-loss studies of hard particle probes produced in heavy ion collisions have often been used to get information on the interactions within the medium of a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). However, with the study of in-medium energy-loss of individual particles alone, it remains still ambiguous, whether the occured decrease in particle energy is caused by predominantly radiative or collisional energy-loss mechanisms. Focusing on the in-medium energy-loss of hard jet-partons, we propose additional studies of the angular jet-structure as a means to further constrain the energy-loss mechanisms.

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