arXiv subjects

Massimiliano Alvioli

Publications and source records attributed to Massimiliano Alvioli.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Long Range Outlook for Short-Range Correlations

Short range correlated (SRC) N N pairs are pairs of nucleons with high relative momentum (prel > kF where kF ~ 250 MeV/c is the Fermi momentum in medium to heavy nuclei) and lower center of mass momentum. The motivation for studying SRC pairs ranges from a desire to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the many-body nuclear wave-function at high-resolution to searching for explicit QCD-dynamics effects within the nuclear medium, not to mention connections to many other open problems in nuclear physics. Exploring short-range correlations was one of the physics motivations for building CEBAF (now Jefferson Lab). Scientists used the high luminosity and high energy of this cutting-edge machine to find kinematics that cleanly showed the signals of short-range correlations. This paved the way in the last two decades for tremendous progress understanding these correlations. This paper reviews recent progress and highlights outstanding questions and areas that need further study.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2025

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?

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arXiv2023

Hunting for an EMC-like effect for antiquarks

We argue that the Drell-Yan process in the $x_A \ge 0.15$ kinematics recently studied at FNAL by the E906/SeaQuest experiment may allow to observe an analogous of the EMC effect for antiquarks. The effects of Fermi motion and energy loss are considered. The preliminary E906/SeaQuest data are inconsistent with the growth of the $σ_A/Aσ_N$ ratio expected in the Fermi motion scenario at $x_A \ge 0.25$. The pattern of the $x_A$ dependence of the ratio seems also inconsistent with a scenario in which the dominant nuclear effect is a suppression of the cross section due to the energy loss experienced by a quark of the projectile proton involved in the Drell-Yan process. All together the data suggest the possibility of a modification of the antiquark parton distributions in nuclei, with a pattern similar to the one observed in the EMC effect. We argue that optimal kinematics to look for an antiquark EMC-like effect would be to measure the $σ_A^{DY}/Aσ_N^{DY}$ ratios for $x_A$ = 0.2-0.4 and $x_p$ $\approx$ constant.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Rockfall susceptibility and network-ranked susceptibility along the Italian railway

Rockfalls pose a substantial threat to ground transportation, due to their rapidity, destructive potential and high probability of occurrence on steep topographies, found along roads and railways. Approaches for assessment of rockfall susceptibility range from purely phenomenological methods and statistical methods, suitable for modeling large areas, to purely deterministic ones, usually easier to use in local analyses. A common requirement is the need to locate potential detachment points, often found uphill on cliffs, and the subsequent assessment of the runout areas of rockfalls stemming from such points. Here, we apply a physically based model to calculate rockfall trajectories along the whole Italian railway network, within a corridor of total length of about 17,000 km and varying width. We propose a data-driven method for the location of rockfall source points based on expert mapping of potential source areas on sample representative locations. Using empirical distributions of gridded slope values in source areas mapped by experts, we derived probabilistic maps of rockfall sources in the proximity of the railway network, regardless of a particular trigger. Source areas act as starting points of simulated trajectories in the three-dimensional model STONE. The program provides a pixel-by-pixel trajectory count, covering 24,500 km2, the largest homogeneous application of the model to date. We classified the map into a vector susceptibility map of the segments of the railway, for which we provide segment-wise rockfall susceptibility. Eventually, we considered a graph representation of the network to classify the segments both on the basis of rockfall susceptibility and the role of each segment in the network, resulting in a network-ranked susceptibility. Both maps are useful for subsequent hazard assessment, and to prioritize safety improvements along the railway, at national scale.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2019

Influence of the neutron-skin effect on nuclear isobar collisions at RHIC

The unambiguous observation of a Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME)-driven charge separation is the core aim of the isobar program at RHIC consisting of ${^{96}_{40}}$Zr+${^{96}_{40}}$Zr and ${^{96}_{44}}$Ru+${^{96}_{44}}$Ru collisions at $\sqrt {s_{\rm NN}}\!=\!200$ GeV. We quantify the role of the spatial distributions of the nucleons in the isobars on both eccentricity and magnetic field strength within a relativistic hadronic transport approach (SMASH, Simulating Many Accelerated Strongly-interacting Hadrons). In particular, we introduce isospin-dependent nucleon-nucleon spatial correlations in the geometric description of both nuclei, deformation for ${^{96}_{44}}$Ru and the so-called neutron skin effect for the neutron-rich isobar i.e. ${^{96}_{40}}$Zr. The main result of this study is a reduction of the magnetic field strength difference between ${^{96}_{44}}$Ru+${^{96}_{44}}$Ru and ${^{96}_{40}}$Zr+${^{96}_{40}}$Zr by a factor of 2, from $10\%$ to $5\%$ in peripheral collisions when the neutron-skin effect is included. Further, we find an increase of eccentricity by up to 10$\%$ when deformation is taken into account while neither the neutron skin effect nor the nucleon-nucleon correlations result into a significant modification of this observable with respect to the traditional Woods-Saxon modeling. Our results suggest a significantly smaller CME signal to background ratio for the experimental charge separation measurement in peripheral collisions with the isobar systems than previously expected.

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arXiv2019

Spin-isospin correlated configurations in complex nuclei and neutron skin effect in W$^\pm$ production in high-energy proton-lead collisions

We extend our Monte Carlo generator of global configurations in nuclei to include different spatial distributions of protons and neutrons in heavy nuclei taking into account the difference of spatial correlations between two protons, two neutrons and proton-neutron pairs. These configurations are used for building an event generator for proton-heavy nucleus collisions at the LHC for final states with a hard interaction in the channels where cross section for p-p and p-n scattering differ. Soft interactions are taken into account in the color fluctuation extension of the Glauber algorithm taking into account the inherently different transverse geometry of soft and hard p-N collisions. We use the new event generator to test an interesting observation of Physics Letters B745 (2015) 73-78, that the ratio of W$^+$/W$^-$ production rates in p-Pb collisions should significantly deviate from the inclusive value for peripheral collisions due to the presence of a neutron skin. We qualitatively confirm expectation of Physics Letters B745 (2015) 73-78, though for a realistic centrality trigger, we find the effect to be a factor of two smaller than the original estimate.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Revealing minijet dynamics via centrality dependence of the double parton interactions in proton-nucleus interactions

One of the main challenges hampering an accurate measurement of the double parton scattering (DPS) cross sections is the difficulty in separating the DPS from the leading twist (LT) contributions. We argue that such a separation can be achieved, and cross section of DPS measured, by exploiting the different centrality dependence of DPS and LT processes in proton-nucleus scattering. We developed a Monte Carlo implementation of the DPS processes which includes realistic nucleon-nucleon (NN) correlations in nuclei, an accurate description of transverse geometry of both hard and soft NN collisions as well as fluctuations of the strength of interaction of nucleon with nucleus (color fluctuation effects). Our method allows the calculation of probability distributions of single and double dijet events as a function of centrality, also distinguishing double hard scatterings originating from a single target nucleon and from two different nucleons. We present numerical results for the rate of DPS as a function of centrality, which relates the number of wounded nucleons and the sum of transverse energy of hadrons produced at large negative (along the nucleus direction) rapidities, which is experimentally measurable. We suggest a new quantity which allows to test the geometry of DPS and we argue that it is a universal function of centrality for different DPS processes. This quantity can be tested by analyzing existing LHC data. The method developed in this work can be extended to the search for triple parton interactions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

PHOTON-2017 conference proceedings

This document collects the proceedings of the PHOTON 2017 conference ("International Conference on the Structure and the Interactions of the Photon", including the 22th "International Workshop on Photon-Photon Collisions", and the "International Workshop on High Energy Photon Colliders") held at CERN (Geneva) in May 2017. The latest experimental and theoretical developments on the topics of the PHOTON conference series are covered: (i) $γ\,γ$ processes in e$^+$e$^-$, proton-proton (pp) and nucleus-nucleus (AA) collisions at current and future colliders, (ii) $γ$-hadron interactions in e$^\pm$p, pp, and AA collisions, (iii) final-state photon production (including Standard Model studies and searches beyond it) in pp and AA collisions, and (iv) high-energy $γ$-ray astrophysics. These proceedings are dedicated to the memory of Maria Krawczyk.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Global analysis of color fluctuation effects in proton- and deuteron-nucleus collisions at RHIC and the LHC

We test the hypothesis that configurations of a proton with a large-$x$ parton, $x_p \gtrsim 0.1$, have a smaller than average size. The QCD $Q^2$ evolution equations suggest that these small configurations also have a significantly smaller interaction strength, which has observable consequences in collisions with nuclei. We perform a global analysis of jet production data in proton- and deuteron-nucleus collisions at RHIC and the LHC. Using a model which takes a distribution of interaction strengths into account, we quantitatively extract the $x_p$-dependence of the average interaction strength, $σ(x_p)$, over a wide kinematic range. By comparing the RHIC and LHC results, our analysis finds that the interaction strength for small configurations, while suppressed, grows faster with collision energy than does that for average configurations. We check that this energy dependence is consistent with the results of a method which, given $σ(x_p)$ at one energy, can be used to quantitatively predict that at another. This finding further suggests that at even lower energies, nucleons with a large-$x_p$ parton should interact much more weakly than those in an average configuration, a phenomenon in line with explanations of the EMC effect for large-$x_p$ quarks in nuclei based on color screening.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Universality of nucleon-nucleon short-range correlations: the factorization property of the nuclear wave function, the relative and center-of-mass momentum distributions, and the nuclear contacts

The two-nucleon momentum distributions have been calculated for nuclei up to A=40 and various values of the relative and center-of-mass momenta and angle between them. For complex nuclei a parameter-free linked-cluster expansion, based upon a realistic local two-nucleon interaction of the Argonne family and variational wave function featuring central, tensor, spin and iso-spin correlations, has been used. The obtained results show that: 1) independently of the mass number A, at values of the relative momentum k_rel> 2 fm^{-1} the proton-neutron momentum distributions for back-to-back (BB) nucleons (K_cm=0) exhibit the factorization property n_A^{pn}(k_rel,K_cm=0)=C_A^{pn} n_D(k_rel) n_{cm}^{pn}(K_cm=0), where n_D is the deuteron momentum distribution, n_{cm}^{pn}(K_{cm}=0) the momentum distribution of the c.m. motion of the pair and C_A^{pn} the nuclear contact measuring the number of BB pn pairs with deuteron-like momenta; 2) the values of the proton-neutron nuclear contact C_A^{pn} are obtained in a model-independent way from the ratio n_A^{pn}(k_rel,K_cm=0)/n_D(k_rel) n_{cm}^{pn}(K_cm=0); 3) also the K_cm-integrated pn momentum distributions divided by the deuteron momentum distribution exhibits a constant behavior equal to C_A^{pn}, but only at very high values of k_{rel}> 3.5fm^{-1}, where the relative momentum distribution is entirely governed by BB short-range correlated nucleons; 4) the absolute value of the number of pn and pp short-range correlated pairs is calculated, illustrating that the high values (K_cm>1 fm^{-1}) of the pair c.m. momentum appreciably reduce the dominance of the pn over pp pairs produced by the tensor force when K_cm=0; 5) calculations are in good agreement with the VMC calculations for light nuclei and with available experimental on the processes A(e,e'pn)X and A(e,e'pp)X.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2016

Evidence for x-dependent proton color fluctuations in pA collisions at the LHC

We argue that the pattern of the deviation from the Glauber approximation prediction for the centrality dependence of the rate of forward jet production observed in pA collisions at the LHC provides the first experimental evidence that parton configurations in the projectile proton containing a parton with large $x$ interact with a nuclear target with a significantly smaller than average cross section and have smaller than average size. We implement the effects of fluctuations of the interaction strength and, using the ATLAS analysis of how hadron production at backward rapidities depends on the number of wounded nucleons, make quantitative predictions for the centrality dependence of the jet production rate as a function of the $x$-dependent interaction strength $σ(x)$. We find that σ(x)\sim 0.6 ~σ_{tot}(pp) gives a good description of the x=0.6 data and may shed a light on the origin of the EMC effect.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Universality of nucleon-nucleon short-range correlations and nucleon momentum distributions

By analyzing recent microscopic many-body calculations of few-nucleon systems and complex nuclei performed by different groups in terms of realistic nucleon-nucleon (NN) interactions, it is shown that NN short-range correlations (SRCs) have a universal character, in that the correlation hole that they produce in nuclei appears to be almost A-independent and similar to the correlation hole in the deuteron. The correlation hole creates high-momentum components, missing in a mean-field (MF) description and exhibiting several scaling properties and a peculiar spin-isospin structure. In particular, the momentum distribution of a pair of nucleons in spin-isospin state $(ST)=(10)$, depending upon the pair relative ($k_{rel}$) and center-of-mass (c.m.) ($K_{c.m.}$) momenta, as well as upon the angle $Θ$ between them, exhibits a remarkable property: in the region $k_{rel}\gtrsim 2\,fm^{-1}$ and $K_{c.m.}\lesssim 1\,fm^{-1} $, the relative and c.m. motions are decoupled and the two-nucleon momentum distribution factorizes into the deuteron momentum distribution and an A-dependent momentum distribution describing the c.m. motion of the pair in the medium. The impact of these and other properties of one- and two-nucleon momentum distributions on various nuclear phenomena, on ab initio calculations in terms of low-momentum interactions, as well as on ongoing experimental investigations of SRCs, are briefly commented.

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