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J. Randrup

Publications and source records attributed to J. Randrup.

34 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Dynamical phase trajectories for relativistic nuclear collisions

Central collisions of gold nuclei are simulated by several existing models and the central net baryon density rho and the energy density eps are extracted at successive times, for beam kinetic energies of 5-40 GeV per nucleon. The resulting trajectories in the (rho,eps) phase plane are discussed from the perspective of experimentally exploring the expected first-order hadronization phase transition with the planned FAIR at GSI or in a low-energy campaign at RHIC.

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Baryon number and strangeness: signals of a deconfined antecedent

The correlation between baryon number and strangeness is used to discern the nature of the deconfined matter produced at vanishing chemical potential in high-energy nuclear collisions at the BNL RHIC. Comparisons of results of various phenomenological models with correlations extracted from lattice QCD calculations suggest that a quasi-particle picture applies. At finite baryon densities, such as those encountered at the CERN SPS, it is demonstrated that the presence of a first-order phase transition and the accompanying development of spinodal decomposition would significantly enhance the number of strangeness carriers and the associated fluctuations.

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Enhanced Event-by-Event Fluctuations in Pion Multiplicity as a Signal of Disoriented Chiral Condensates at RHIC

The factorial moments of the pion multiplicity distributions are calculated with HIJING and UrQMD and found to be independent of the pT range included, in contrast to recent simulations with the linear sigma model which leads to large enhancements for pions with transverse kinetic energies below 200 MeV. This supports the use of the ratio of the factorial moments of low and high pT pions as a signal of ``new'' physics at low momentum scales, such as the formation of disoriented chiral condensates.

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DCC dynamics with the SU(3) linear sigma model

The SU(3) extension of the linear sigma model is employed to elucidate the effect of including strangeness on the formation of disoriented chiral condensates. By means of a Hartree factorization, approximate dispersion relations for the 18 scalar and pseudoscalar meson species are derived and their self-consistent solution makes it possible to trace out the thermal path of the two order parameters as well as delineate the region of instability within which spontaneous pair creation becomes possible. The results depend significantly on the employed sigma mass, with the highest values yielding the largest regions of instability. An approximate solution of the equations of motion for the order parameter in scenarios emulating uniform scaling expansions show that even with a rapid quench only the pionic modes grow unstable. Nevertheless, the rapid and oscillatory relaxation of the order parameters leads to enhanced production of both pions and (to a lesser degree) kaons.

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Quantum fluctuation effects on hyperfragment formation from Xi^- absorption at rest on 12C

Formation mechanisms of single, twin, and double hypernuclei from Xi^- absorption at rest on 12C are investigated with an refined microscopic transport model, that incorporates the recently developed Quantal Langevin treatment into Antisymmetrized Molecular Dynamics. The quantum fluctuations suppress the formation probability of double hyperfragments to around 10%, which is comparable to the experimental data, and the dynamical formation of twin hyperfragment can be described qualitatively.

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Transport Simulations with Pi and Delta In-Medium Properties

Transport simulations including in-medium properties derived in a microscopic pi + nucleon-hole + delta-hole model in infinite nuclear matter are presented. In-medium pion dispersion relations, partial delta decay widths, pion absorption cross sections and delta cross sections are incorporated into the transport description by means of a local-density approximation. Strong modifications of pi and delta production and absorption rates are found, but only small effects on pion observables.

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Dilepton from Disoriented Chiral Condensates

Disoriented chiral condensates are manifested as long wavelength pionic oscillations and their interaction with the thermal environment can be a significant source of dileptons. We calculate the yield of such dilepton production within the linear sigma model and illustrate the basic features of the dilepton spectrum in a schematic model. We find that the dilepton yield with invariant mass near and below $2m_π$ due to the soft pion modes can be up to two orders of magnitude larger than the corresponding equilibrium yield. We conclude with a discussion on how this enhancement can be detected by present dilepton experiments.

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Effects of Spin-Isospin Modes in Transport Simulations

In-medium properties derived for nuclear matter in a microscopic pi + nucleon-hole + delta-hole model are incorporated into transport simulations of nuclear collisions by means of a local-density approximation and by utilizing a local medium frame. Certain features of the transport results differ from those based on the corresponding vacuum properties. Comparisons of the pi and delta production rates, as well as pion energy spectra, are discussed in particular.

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Dileptons from Disoriented Chiral Condensates

Disoriented chiral condensates or long wavelength pionic oscillations and their interaction with the thermal environment can be a significant source of dileptons. We calculate the yield of such dilepton production within the linear sigma model, both in a quantal mean-field treatment and in a semi-classical approximation. We then illustrate the basic features of the dilepton spectrum in a schematic model. We find that dilepton yield with invariant mass near and below $2m_π$ due to the soft pion modes can be up to two orders of magnitude larger than the corresponding equilibrium yield.

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Quantum Fluctuations Affect the Critical Properties of Noble Gases

Interacting argon atoms are simulated with a recently developed quantum Langevin transport treatment that takes approximate account of the quantum fluctuations inherent in microscopic many-body descriptions based on wave packets. The mass distribution of the atomic clusters is affected significantly near the critical temperature and thus it may be important to take account of quantum fluctuations in molecular-dynamics simulations of cluster formation processes.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Quantum Fluctuation Effects on Nuclear Fragment Formation

Multifragmentation in Au+Au collisions is investigated at incident energies in the range 100-400 MeV per nucleon by means of a recently developed quantal Langevin model. The inclusion of quantum fluctuations enhances the average multiplicity of intermediate mass fragments, especially in central collisions. This is mainly because the excitation energies of fragments are reduced due to the quantal behavior of intrinsic specific heat.

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Amplification of pionic instabilities in high-energy collisions?

Considering a variety of dynamical scenarios within the linear sigma model, we examine the conditions for pionic modes to be amplified as the chiral field relaxes towards the normal vacuum following the transient restoration of approximate chiral symmetry in a high-energy collision. While Bjorken-type longitudinal expansions appear to be insufficient for amplification for occur, analoguos expansions in two or three dimensions may enhance the low-energy power spectrum by up to an order of magnitude.

hep-ph↗

Inclusion of Quantum Fluctuations in Wave Packet Dynamics

We discuss a method by which quantum fluctuations can be included in microscopic transport models based on wave packets that are not energy eigenstates. By including the next-to-leading order term in the cumulant expansion of the statistical weight, which corresponds to the wave packets having Poisson energy distributions, we obtain a much improved global description of the quantum statistical properties of the many-body system. In the case of atomic nuclei, exemplified by 12C and 40Ca, the standard liquid-drop results are reproduced at low temperatures and a phase transformation to a fragment gas occurs as the temperature is raised. The treatment can be extended to dynamical scenarios by means of a Langevin force emulating the transitions between the wave packets. The general form of the associated transport coefficients is derived and it is shown that the appropriate microcanonical equilibrium distribution is achieved in the course of the time evolution. Finally, invoking Fermi's golden rule, we derive specific expressions for the transport coefficients and verify that they satisfy the fluctuation-dissipation theorem.

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Treatment of Pionic Modes at the Nuclear Surface for Transport Descriptions

Dispersion relations and amplitudes of collective pionic modes are derived in a pi + nucleon-hole + delta-hole model for use in transport descriptions by means of a local density approximation. It is discussed how pionic modes can be converted to real particles when penetrating the nuclear surface and how earlier treatments can be improved. When the surface is stationary only free pions emerge. The time-dependent situation is also addressed, as is the conversion of non-physical (i.e. unperturbed delta-hole) modes to real particles when the nuclear density vanishes. A simplified one-dimensional scenario is used to investigate the reflection and transmission of pionic modes at the nuclear surface. It is found that reflection of pionic modes is rather unlikely, but the process can be incorporated into transport descriptions by the use of approximate local transmission coefficients.

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Analysis of Boltzmann-Langevin Dynamics in Nuclear Matter

The Boltzmann-Langevin dynamics of harmonic modes in nuclear matter is analyzed within linear-response theory, both with an elementary treatment and by using the frequency-dependent response function. It is shown how the source terms agitating the modes can be obtained from the basic BL correlation kernel by a simple projection onto the associated dual basis states, which are proportional to the RPA amplitudes and can be expressed explicitly. The source terms for the correlated agitation of any two such modes can then be extracted directly, without consideration of the other modes. This facilitates the analysis of collective modes in unstable matter and makes it possible to asses the accuracy of an approximate projection technique employed previously.

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Spin-Isospin Modes in Heavy-Ion Collisions I: Nuclear Matter at Finite Temperatures

With a view towards implementation in microscopic transport simulations of heavy-ion collisions, the properties of spin-isospin modes are studied in nuclear matter consisting of nucleons and Delta isobars that interact by the exchange of pi and rho mesons. For a standard p-wave interaction and an effective g' short-range interaction, the dispersion relations for the spin- isospin modes, and the associated amplitudes, are calculated at various nuclear densities and temperatures, within the random-phase approximation. Quantities of physical interest are then extracted, including the total and partial Delta decay widths and the Delta cross sections in the nuclear medium. The self-consistent inclusion of the Delta width has a strong effect on the Delta cross sections at twice normal nuclear density, as compared with the result of ignoring the width. Generally, the obtained quantities exhibit a strong density dependence, but are fairly insensitive to the temperature, at least up to T=25 MeV. Finally, it is described how these in-medium effects may be consistently included into microscopic transport simulations of nuclear collisions, and the improvements over previous approaches are discussed.

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