arXiv subjects

Xiang-Yu Wu

Publications and source records attributed to Xiang-Yu Wu.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Anisotropic flow, flow fluctuation and flow decorrelation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions: the roles of sub-nucleon structure and shear viscosity

We study the transverse momentum ($p_T$) differential anisotropic flow and flow fluctuation in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=5.02 TeV at the LHC. A (3+1)-dimensional CLVisc hydrodynamics framework with fluctuating TRENTO (or AMPT) initial conditions is utilized to simulate the space-time evolution of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) medium. The effects of shear viscosity and the sub-nucleon structure on anisotropic flow and flow fluctuation are analyzed. Our result shows that shear viscosity tends to suppress both flow coefficients (${v_2\{2}\}$, ${v_2\{4\}}$, ${\langle v_2\rangle}$) and flow fluctuation (${σ_{v_2}}$) due to its smearing effect on local density fluctuation. The flow coefficients appear to be insensitive to the sub-nucleon structure, whereas for flow fluctuation ${σ_{v_2}}$, it tends to be suppressed by the sub-nucleon structure in central collisions but enhanced in peripheral collisions. After taking into account the sub-nucleon structure effect, our numerical result can quantitatively describe the relative flow fluctuations (${v_2\{4\}/v_2\{2\}}$, $F({v_2})$) measured by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC. We further investigate the effects of shear viscosity, sub-nucleon structure and initial condition model on the flow angle and flow magnitude decorrelations (${A_2^f}$, ${M_2^f}$) using the four-particle correlation method. We find that the flow decorrelation effect is typically stronger in central collisions than in peripheral collisions. The flow angle decorrelation is found to be insensitive to the shear viscosity and sub-nucleon structure, whereas the flow magnitude decorrelation shows quite different behavior when using TRENTO or AMPT initial condition model. Our study sheds light on the anisotropic flow, transport properties and initial structure of the QGP created in high-energy nuclear collisions.

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arXiv2023

Global and local polarization of $Λ$ hyperons across RHIC-BES energies

We report our recent study on the global and local polarization of $Λ$ hyperons in Au+Au collisions at RHIC-BES energies within the (3+1)-dimensional CLVisc hydrodynamics framework. We present our numerical results for the global polarization as the function of collision energies and the local polarization along the beam direction as functions of azimuthal angle in $20-50$% centrality at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=7.7 GeV Au+Au collision energy. We have discussed the effects of initial conditions, Spin Hall effect and baryon diffusion.

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arXiv2023

Constraining the equation of state with heavy quarks in the quasi-particle model of QCD matter

In a quasi-particle model of QCD matter at finite temperature with thermal masses for quarks and gluons from hard thermal loops, the equation of state (EOS) can be described by an effective temperature dependence of the strong coupling $g(T)$. Assuming the same effective coupling between the exchanged gluon and thermal partons, the EOS can also be related to parton energy loss.} Based on the quasi-particle linear Boltzmann transport (QLBT) model coupled to a (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) evolution and a hybrid fragmentation-coalescence model for heavy quark hadronization, we perform a Bayesian analysis of the experimental data on $D$ meson suppression $R_{\rm AA}$ and anisotropy $v_2$ at RHIC and the LHC. We achieve a simultaneous constraint on the QGP EOS and the heavy quark transport coefficient, both consistent with the lattice QCD results.

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arXiv2023

Hyperon polarization and its relation with directed flow in high-energy nuclear collisions

We investigate the hyperon polarization and its relation with the directed flow of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in non-central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} = 27$ GeV. A modified 3-dimensional (3D) Glauber model is developed and coupled to a (3+1)-D viscous hydrodynamic evolution of the QGP. Within this framework, we obtain a satisfactory simultaneous description of the directed flow of identified particles and $Λ$ polarization, and show sensitivity of polarization to both the tilted geometry and the longitudinal flow profile of the QGP. A non-monotonic transverse momentum dependence of the $Λ$ polarization is found in our calculation, which is absent from hydrodynamic simulation using other initialization methods and can be tested by future experimental data with higher precision. The relation between the global polarization and directed flow of $Λ$ is explored as the longitudinal flow field or the medium deformation varies. Due to the common origin of these two observables, their combination may provide a more stringent constraint on the initial condition of the QGP.

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arXiv2023

Probing vortical structures in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC-BES energies through helicity polarization

We investigate the hydrodynamic helicity polarization of $Λ$ hyperons, defined as the projection of the spin polarization vector along the directions of particle momenta, at RHIC-BES energies by utilizing the relativistic (3+1)D CLVisc hydrodynamics framework with SMASH initial conditions. As opposed to local spin polarization at high energy collisions, our hydrodynamic simulations demonstrate that the helicity polarization induced by the kinetic vorticity dominates over other contributions at intermediate and low collision energies. Our findings provide an opportunity to probe the fine structure of local kinetic vorticity as a function of azimuthal angle at intermediate and low collision energies by mapping our predictions to the future measurements in experiments.

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arXiv2023

Directed flow and global polarization in Au+Au collisions across energies covered by the beam energy scan at RHIC

We study the directed flow of identified particles in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_\text{NN}}=7.7$ to 62.4 GeV. The Glauber model is extended to include both a tilted deformation of the QGP fireball with respect to the longitudinal direction and a non-zero longitudinal flow velocity gradient in the initial state. By combining this improved initial condition with a (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model calculation, we obtain a satisfactory description of the transverse momentum spectra and the rapidity dependent directed flow coefficient of different hadron species. Our calculation indicates the sensitivity of the hadron directed flow, especially its splitting between protons and antiprotons, to both the initial geometry and the initial longitudinal flow velocity. Therefore, the combination of directed flow of different hadrons can provide a tight constraint on the initial condition of nuclear matter created in heavy-ion collisions. The initial condition extracted from the directed flow is further tested with the global polarization of $Λ$ and $\barΛ$ within the same theoretical framework, where we obtain a reasonable description of these hyperon polarization observed at different collision energies at RHIC.

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arXiv2023

Particle production in a hybrid approach for a beam energy scan of Au+Au/Pb+Pb collisions between $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 4.3 GeV and $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 200.0 GeV

Heavy-ion collisions at varying collision energies provide access to different regions of the QCD phase diagram. In particular collisions at intermediate energies are promising candidates to experimentally identify the postulated first order phase transition and critical end point. While heavy-ion collisions at low and high collision energies are theoretically well described by transport approaches and hydrodynamics+transport hybrid approaches, respectively, intermediate energy collisions remain a challenge. In this work, a modular hybrid approach, the SMASH-vHLLE-hybrid coupling 3+1D viscous hydrodynamics (vHLLE) to hadronic transport (SMASH), is introduced. It is validated and subsequently applied in Au+Au/Pb+Pb collisions between $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 4.3 GeV and $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 200.0 GeV to study the rapidity and transverse mass distributions of identified particles as well as excitation functions for $\mathrm{dN}/\mathrm{d}y|_{y = 0}$ and $\langle p_\mathrm{T} \rangle$. A good agreement with experimental measurements is obtained, including the baryon stopping dynamics. The transition from a Gaussian rapidity spectrum of protons at lower energies to the double-hump structure at high energies is reproduced. The centrality and energy dependence of charged particle $v_2$ is also described reasonably well. This work serves as a basis for further studies, e.g. systematic investigations of different equations of state or transport coefficients.

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arXiv2022

Probing the initial longitudinal density profile and electromagnetic field in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions with heavy quarks

Heavy quarks are valuable probes of the electromagnetic field and the initial condition of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) matter produced in high-energy nuclear collisions. Within an improved Langevin model that is coupled to a (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model, we explore the origin of the directed flow coefficient ($v_1$) of heavy mesons and their decay leptons, and its splitting ($Δv_{1}$) between opposite charges. We find that while the rapidity dependence of the heavy flavor $v_1$ is mainly driven by the titled energy density profile of the QGP with respect to the longitudinal direction at the RHIC energy, it is dominated by the electromagnetic field at the LHC energy. The $Δv_{1}$ serves as a novel probe of the spacetime evolution profile of the electromagnetic field. Our results of $D$ mesons and their decay electrons are consistent with the available data at RHIC and LHC, and our predictions on the heavy flavor decay muons can be further tested by future measurements.

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arXiv2022

Local and global polarization of $Λ$ hyperons across RHIC-BES energies: the roles of spin hall effect, initial condition and baryon diffusion

We perform a systematic study on the local and global spin polarization of $Λ$ and $\overlineΛ$ hyperons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at beam energy scan energies via the (3+1)-dimensional CLVisc hydrodynamics model with AMPT and SMASH initial conditions. Following the quantum kinetic theory, we decompose the polarization vector as the parts induced by thermal vorticity, shear tensor and the spin Hall effect (SHE). We find that the polarization induced by SHE and the total polarization strongly depends on the initial conditions. At $7.7$GeV, SHE gives a sizeable contribution and even flips the sign of the local polarization along the beam direction for AMPT initial condition, which is not observed for SMASH initial condition. Meanwhile, the local polarization along the out-of-plane direction induced by SHE with AMPT initial condition does not always increase with decreasing collision energies. Next, we find that the polarization along the beam direction is sensitive to the baryon diffusion coefficient, but the local polarization along the out-of-plane direction is not. Our results for the global polarization of $Λ$ and $\overlineΛ$ agree well with the STAR data. Interestingly, the global polarization of $\overlineΛ$ is not always larger than that of $Λ$ due to various competing effects. Our findings are helpful for understanding the polarization phenomenon and the detailed structure of quark-gluon plasma in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

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arXiv2022

(3+1)-D viscous hydrodynamics CLVisc at finite net baryon density: identified particle spectra, anisotropic flows and flow fluctuations across BES energies

To study the bulk properties of the quark-gluon-plasma (QGP) produced at the beam energy scan (BES) energies at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), we extend the (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamics CLVisc to include net baryon number conservation and Israel-Stewart-like equation for baryon diffusion with the NEOS-BQS equation of state, fluctuating initial conditions from Monte-Carlo Glauber model, and the afterburner SMASH. This integrated framework is shown to provide a good description of identified particle spectra, mean transverse momenta and anisotropic flows for different centralities and over a wide range of collision energies (7.7-62.4 GeV). It is found that the mean momenta of identified particles and anisotropic flows increases mildly with the collision energy due to larger radial flow. We further compute the multiple-particle cumulant ratio $v_2\{4\}/v_2\{2\}$ of elliptic flow across BES energies, and find that the relative fluctuations of elliptic flow are insensitive to the collision energy, consistent with the preliminary STAR data. Our model provides a benchmark for understanding the RHIC-BES data and studying the critical properties and phase structure of hot and dense QCD matter.

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arXiv2022

Heavy and light flavor jet quenching in different collision systems at the LHC energies

Recent experiments have observed large anisotropic collective flows in high multiplicity proton-lead collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which indicates the possible formation of mini quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in small collision systems. However, no jet quenching has been confirmed in such small systems so far. To understand this intriguing result, the system size scan experiments have been proposed to bridge the gap between large and small systems. In this work, we perform a systematic study on both heavy and light flavor jet quenching in different collision systems at the LHC energies. Using our state-of-the-art jet quenching model, which combines the next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD framework, a linear Boltzmann transport model and the (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamics simulation, we provide a good description of nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$ for charged hadrons and $D$ mesons in central and mid-central Pb+Pb and Xe+Xe collisions measured by CMS collaboration. We further predict the transverse momentum and centrality dependences of $R_{AA}$ for charged hadrons, $D$ and $B$ mesons in Pb+Pb, Xe+Xe, Ar+Ar and O+O collisions at the LHC energies. Our numerical results show a clear system size dependence for both light and heavy flavor hadron $R_{AA}$ across different collision systems. Sizable jet quenching effect is obtained for both heavy and light flavor hadrons in central O+O collisions at the LHC energies. Our study provides a significant bridge for jet quenching from large to small systems, and should be helpful for finding the smallest QGP droplet and the disappearance of QGP in relativistic nuclear collisions.

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arXiv2022

Longitudinal distribution of initial energy density and directed flow of charged particles in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the origin of the directed flow of charged particles produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Three different initial conditions, Boz$\dot{\textrm{e}}$k-Wyskiel, CCNU and Shen-Alzhrani, of energy density distributions are coupled to the (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model CLVisc, and their effects on the development of the anisotropic medium geometry, pressure gradient and radial flow are systematically compared. By comparing to experimental data at both RHIC and LHC, we find that the directed flow provides a unique constraint on the tilt of the initial medium profile in the plane spanned by the impact parameter and space-time rapidity. Within mid-rapidity, the counter-clockwise tilt is shown to be a crucial source of the positive/negative force by the pressure gradient along the impact parameter ($x$) direction at backward/forward rapidity, which drives a negative slope of the $x$ component of the medium flow velocity with respect to rapidity, and in the end the same feature of the charged particle directed flow.

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arXiv2021

Scaling behaviors of heavy flavor meson suppression and flow in different nuclear collision systems at the LHC

We explore the system size dependence of heavy-quark-QGP interaction by studying the heavy flavor meson suppression and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb, Xe-Xe, Ar-Ar and O-O collisions at the LHC. The space-time evolution of the QGP is simulated using a (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model, while the heavy-quark-QGP interaction is described by an improved Langevin approach that includes both collisional and radiative energy loss inside a thermal medium. Within this framework, we provides a reasonable description of the $D$ meson suppression and flow coefficients in Pb-Pb collisions, as well as predictions for both $D$ and $B$ meson observables in other collision systems yet to be measured. We find a clear hierarchy for the heavy meson suppression with respect to the size of the colliding nuclei, while their elliptic flow coefficient relies on both the system size and the geometric anisotropy of the QGP. Sizable suppression and flow are predicted for both $D$ and $B$ mesons in O-O collisions, which serve as a crucial bridge of jet quenching between large and small collision systems. Scaling behaviors between different collision systems are shown for heavy meson suppression factor and the bulk-eccentricity-rescaled heavy meson elliptic flow as functions of the number of participant nucleons in heavy-ion collisions.

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arXiv2021

Asymmetric longitudinal flow decorrelations in proton-nucleus collisions

We perform the first study on asymmetric longitudinal decorrelations of elliptic, triangular and quadrangular flows in proton-nucleus collisions at the LHC and RHIC energies. To measure the longitudinal flow decorrelations for asymmetric collision systems, we propose a new set of rapidity-asymmetric flow decorrelation functions. Our event-by-event hydrodynamic calculations show that the flow decorrelations in proton-going direction are larger than those in nucleus-going direction. We also find that proton-nucleus collisions at RHIC have larger longitudinal flow decorrelation effects than those at the LHC. Our study opens a new window to probe the longitudinal properties and the origin of flows in relativistic nuclear collisions.

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arXiv2021

QLBT: A linear Boltzmann transport model for heavy quarks in a quark-gluon plasma of quasi-particles

We develop a new heavy quark transport model, QLBT, to simulate the dynamical propagation of heavy quarks inside the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Our QLBT model is based on the linear Boltzmann transport (LBT) model with the ideal QGP replaced by a collection of quasi-particles to account for the non-perturbative interactions among quarks and gluons of the hot QGP. The thermal masses of quasi-particles are fitted to the equation of state from lattice QCD simulations using the Bayesian statistical analysis method. Combining QLBT with our advanced hybrid fragmentation-coalescence hadronization approach, we calculate the nuclear modification factor $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and the elliptic flow $v_2$ of $D$ mesons at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider. By comparing our QLBT calculation to the experimental data on the $D$ meson $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and $v_2$, we extract the heavy quark transport parameter $\hat{q}$ and diffusion coefficient $D_\mathrm{s}$ in the temperature range of $1-4~T_\mathrm{c}$, and compare them with the lattice QCD results and other phenomenological studies.

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arXiv2018

Pseudo-rapidity distribution from a perturbative solution of viscous hydrodynamics for heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC

The charged-particle's final state spectrum is derived from an analytic perturbative solution for the relativistic viscous hydrodynamics. By taking into account the longitudinal acceleration effect in relativistic viscous hydrodynamics, the pseudorapidity spectrum describes well the nucleus-nucleus colliding systems at RHIC and LHC. Based on both the extracted longitudinal acceleration parameters $λ^{*}$ and a phenomenological description of the $λ^{*}$, the charged-particle's pseudorapidity distributions for $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.44 TeV Xe+Xe collisions are computed from the final state expression in a limited space-time rapidity $η_{s}$ region.

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arXiv2018

Longitudinal fluctuations and decorrelations of anisotropic flows at the LHC and RHIC energies

We perform a systematic study on the decorrelation of anisotropic flows along the pseudorapidity in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the LHC and RHIC energies. The dynamical evolution of the QGP fireball is simulated via the CLVisc (ideal) (3+1)-dimensional hydrodynamics model, with the fully fluctuating initial condition from A-Multi-Phase-Transport (AMPT) model. Detailed analysis is performed on the longitudinal decorrelations of elliptic, triangular and quadrangular flows in terms of flow vectors, flow magnitudes and flow orientations (event planes). It is found that pure flow magnitudes have smaller longitudinal decorrelation than pure flow orientations, and the decorrelation of flow vectors is a combined effect of both flow magnitudes and orientations. The longitudinal decorrelation of elliptic flow has a strong and non-monotonic centrality dependence due to the initial elliptic collision geometry: smallest decorrelation in mid-central collisions. In contrast, the decorrelations of triangular and quadrangular flows have weak centrality dependence, slightly larger decorrelations in more peripheral collisions. Our numerical results for Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC are in good agreement with the ATLAS data, while our RHIC results predict much larger longitudinal decorrelations as compared to the LHC. We further analyze the longitudinal structures of the AMPT initial conditions and find that the final-state longitudinal decorrelation effects are strongly correlated with the lengths of the initial string structures in the AMPT model. The decorrelation effects are typically larger at lower collision energies and in more peripheral collisions due to shorter lengths of the string structures in the initial states.

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arXiv2018

Longitudinal fluctuations and decorrelations of anisotropic flows in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the longitudinal decorrelations of elliptic, triangular and quadrangular flows in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC and RHIC energies. The event-by-event CLVisc (3+1)-dimensional hydrodynamics model, combined with the fully fluctuating AMPT initial conditions, is utilized to simulate the space-time evolution of the strongly-coupled quark-gluon plasma. Detailed analysis is performed for the longitudinal decorrelations of flow vectors, flow magnitudes and flow orientations. We find strong correlations between final-state longitudinal decorrelations of anisotropic flows and initial-state longitudinal structures and collision geometry: while the decorrelation of elliptic flow shows a non-monotonic centrality dependence due to initial elliptic geometry, typically the longitudinal flow decorrelations are larger in lower energy and less central collisions where the mean lengths of the string structure are shorter in the initial states.

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