Probing in-medium spin–orbit interaction with intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions

Abstract

Incorporating for the first time both the spin and isospin degrees of freedom explicitly in transport model simulations of intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions, we observe that a local spin polarization appears during collision process. Most interestingly, it is found that the nucleon spin up–down differential transverse flow is a sensitive probe of the spin–orbit interaction, providing a novel approach to probe both the density and isospin dependence of the in-medium spin–orbit coupling that is important for understanding the structure of rare isotopes and synthesis of superheavy elements.