Constraining relativistic models through heavy ion collisions

Abstract

Relativistic models can be successfully applied to the description of compact star properties in nuclear astrophysics as well as to nuclear matter and finite nuclei properties, these studies taking place at low and moderate temperatures. Nevertheless, all results are model dependent, and so far it is unclear whether some of them should be discarded. Moreover, in the regime of hot hadronic matter, very few calculations exist using these relativistic models, in particular when applied to particle yields in heavy ion collisions. A very important investigation is the simulation of a supernova explosion that is based on the construction of an adequate equation of state that needs to be valid within very large ranges of temperatures (0 to 100 MeV at least) and densities (very low to ten times the nuclear saturation density at least). In the present work, we comment on the known constraints that can help the selection of adequate models in this wide regime and investigate the main differences that arise when the particle production during a Au+Au collision at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider is calculated with different relativistic models. We conclude that most of the models investigated in the present work give a very good more » overall description of the data and make predictions for not yet measured particle ratios. « less