arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to T. Gaitanos.
We compare multiplicities as well as rapidity and transverse momentum distributions of protons, pions and kaons calculated within presently available transport approaches for heavy ion collisions around 1 AGeV. For this purpose, three reactions have been selected: Au+Au at 1 and 1.48 AGeV and Ni+Ni at 1.93 AGeV.
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.
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.
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.
We investigate the density dependence of the symmetry energy in a relativistic description by decomposing the iso-vector mean field into contributions with different Lorentz properties. We find important effects of the iso-vector, scalar $δ$ channel on the density behavior of the symmetry energy. Finite nuclei studies show only moderate effects originating from the virtual $δ$ meson. In heavy ion collisions from Fermi to relativistic energies up to $1-2 AGeV$ one finds important contributions on the dynamics arising from the different treatment of the microscopic Lorentz structure of the symmetry energy. We discuss a variety of possible signals which could set constraints on the still unknown density dependence of the symmetry energy, when experimental data will be available. Examples of such observables are isospin collective flow, threshold production of pions and kaons, isospin equilibration and stopping in asymmetric systems like $Au+Au$, $Sn+Sn$ and $Ru(Zr)+Zr(Ru)$.
We investigate in detail the density dependence of the symmetry energy in a relativistic description by decomposing the iso-vector mean field into contributions with different Lorentz covariant properties. We find important effects of the iso-vector, scalar channel (i.e. $δ$-meson like) on the high density behavior of the symmetry energy. Applications to static properties of finite nuclei and to dynamic situations of heavy ion collisions are explored and related to each other. The nuclear structure studies show only moderate effects originating from the virtual $δ$ meson. At variance, in heavy ion collisions one finds important contributions on the reaction dynamics arising from the different Lorentz structure of the high density symmetry energy when a scalar iso-vector $δ$ field is introduced. Particularly interesting is the related neutron/proton effective mass splitting for nucleon transport effects and for resonance and particle production around the threshold. We show that the $δ$-like channel turns out to be essential for the production of pions, when comparing with experimental data, in particular for high momentum selections.
Intermediate energy heavy ion collisions open the unique possibility to explore the Equation of State ($EOS$) of nuclear matter far from saturation, in particular the density dependence of the symmetry energy. Within a relativistic transport model it is shown that the isovector-scalar $δ$-meson, which affects the high density behavior of the symmetry energy density, influences the dynamics of heavy ion collisions in terms of isospin collective flows. The effect is largely enhanced by a relativistic mechanism related to the covariant nature of the fields contributing to the isovector channel. Results for reactions induced by $^{132}Sn$ radioactive beams are presented. The elliptic flows of nucleons and light isobars appear to be quite sensitive to microscopic structure of the symmetry term, in particular for particles with large transverse momenta, since they represent an earlier emission from a compressed source. Thus future, more exclusive, experiments with relativistic radioactive beams should be able to set stringent constraints on the density dependence of the symmetry energy far from ground state nuclear matter.
We present several possibilities offered by the reaction dynamics of dissipative heavy ion collisions to study in detail the symmetry term of the nuclear equation of state, $EOS$. In particular we discuss isospin effects on the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition, {\it Isospin Distillation}, and on collective flows. We stress the importance of a microscopic relativistic structure of the effective interaction in the isovector channel. The possibility of an {\it early} transition to deconfined matter in high isospin density regions is also suggested. We finally select {\it Eleven} observables, in different beam energy regions, that appear rather sensitive to the isovector part of the nuclear $EOS$, in particular in more exclusive experiments.
Highly compressed nuclear matter created in relativistic heavy collisions is to large extent governed by local non-equilibrium. As an idealized scenario colliding nuclear matter configurations are studied within both, relativistic mean field theory and using more realistic in-medium interactions based on the Dirac-Brueckner T-matrix. The equation of state in anisotropic matter is thereby governed by two competing effects: The enlarged phase space volume in colliding matter tends to soften the internal potential energy of the subsystems whereas the relative motion of the two currents leads to a strong additional repulsion in the system. An effective EOS constructed for anisotropic momentum configurations shows a significant net softening compared to ground state nuclear matter. This effect is found to be to large extend independent on the particular choice of the nuclear interaction. A critical discussion of standard transport approaches with respect to the considered non-equilibrium effects is given.
We discuss the problems involved in extracting the nuclear equation-of-state from heavy-ion collisions. We demonstrate that the equation of state becomes effectively softer in non-equilibrium and this effect is observable in terms of collective flow effects. Thus, non-equilibrium effects must be included in transport descriptions on the level of the effective mean fields. A comparison with transverse momentum, rapidity, and centrality selected flow data show the reliability and limitations of the underlying interaction which was derived from microscopic Dirac-Brueckner (DB) results.
We investigate differential in-plane and out-of-plane flow observables in heavy ion reactions at intermediate energies from $0.2÷2$ AGeV within the framework of relativistic BUU transport calculations. The mean field is based on microscopic Dirac-Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (DBHF) calculations. We apply two different sets of DBHF predictions, those of ter Haar and Malfliet and more recent ones from the Tübingen group, which are similar in general but differ in details. The latter DBHF calculations exclude spurious contributions from the negative energy sector to the mean field which results in a slightly softer equation of state and a less repulsive momentum dependence of the nucleon-nucleus potential at high densities and high momenta. For the application to heavy ion collisions in both cases non-equilibrium features of the phase space are taken into account on the level of the effective interaction. The systematic comparison to experimental data favours the less repulsive and softer model. Relative to non-relativistic approaches one obtains larger values of the effective nucleon mass. This produces a sufficient amount of repulsion to describe the differential flow data reasonably well.
Highly compressed nuclear matter created in relativistic heavy collisions is to large extent governed by local non-equilibrium. As an idealised scenario colliding nuclear matter configurations are studied with an effective in-medium interaction based on the microscopic DBHF model. It is found that on top of the repulsive momentum dependence of the nuclear forces kinetic non-equilibrium leads to an effective softening of the equation of state as compared to ground state nuclear matter. The separation of phase space which is the basic feature of such anisotropic configurations has thereby a similar influence as the introduction of a virtual new degree of freedom.
We discuss the problems involved in extracting the nuclear equation-of-state from heavy-ion collisions. We demonstrate that the equation of state becomes effectively softer in non-equilibrium and this effect is observable in terms of collective flow effects. Thus, non-equilibrium effects must be included in transport descriptions on the level of the effective mean fields. A comparison with transverse momentum, rapidity, and centrality selected flow data show the reliability and limitations of the underlying interaction which was derived from microscopic Dirac-Brueckner (DB) results.
We analyze the thermodynamical state of nuclear matter in transport descriptions of heavy ion reactions. We determine thermodynamical variables from an analysis of local momentum space distributions and compare to blast model parameters from an analysis of fragment energy spectra. These descriptions are applied to spectator and fireball matter in semi-central and central Au+Au collisions at SIS-energies, respectively.
We investigate the thermodynamical properties of nuclear matter in heavy ion collisions, in particular with respect to questions of thermodynamical instability, phase transitions and fragmentation. For this we analyze results of relativistic transport calculations of Au+Au collisons at intermediate energies, separately for spectator and participant matter. On one hand, we determine local thermodynamical variables from the analysis of the local momentum distribution; on the other, we analyze fragment energy spectra in a blast model scenario. We find that the spectator represents an instable, equilibrized fragmenting source, while in the participant no such common source can be identified. Our results compare well with experimental determinations of temperatures and flow velocities.
We analyze the thermodynamical state of nuclear matter in transport calculations of heavy--ion reactions. In particular we determine temperatures and radial flow parameters from an analysis of fragment energy spectra and compare to local microscopic temperatures obtained from an analysis of local momentum space distributions. The analysis shows that the spectator reaches an equilibrated freeze-out configuration which undergoes simultaneous fragmentation. The fragments from the participant region, on the other hand, do not seem to come from a common fragmenting source, but rather heavier fragments seem to be formed earlier.
An detailed study of the thermodynamical state of nuclear matter in transport calculations of heavy--ion reactions is presented. In particular we determine temperatures from an analysis of the local momentum space distribution on one hand, and from a fit to fragment energy spectra in terms of a blast model with radial flow and temperature on the other. We apply this to spectator and participant matter. In spectator we find regions of spinodal instability with temperatures and densities which are consistent with experiments. In the participant we find different temperatures for different fragment masses, indicating that the fragments are not emitted from a source in thermal and chemical equilibrium.
The influence of realistic interactions on the reaction dynamics in intermediate energy heavy ion collisions is investigated. The mean field in relativistic transport calculations is derived from microscopic Dirac-Brueckner (DB) self-energies, taking non-equilibrium effects, in particular the anisotropy of the local phase space configurations, into account. Thus this approach goes beyond the local density approximation. A detailed analysis of various in-plane and out-of-plane flow observables is presented for Au on Au reactions at incident energies ranging from 250 to 800 A.MeV and the results are compared to recent measurements of the FOPI collaboration. An overall good agreement with in-plane flow data and a reasonable description of the out-of-plane emission is achieved. For these results the intrinsic momentum dependence of the non-equilibrium mean fields is important. On the other hand, the local density approximation with the same underlying DB forces as well as a standard non-linear version of the $σω$ model are less successful in describing the present data. This gives evidence of the applicability of self energies derived from the DB approach to nuclear matter also far from saturation and equilibrium.