Probing the high-density behavior of nuclear symmetry energy with high-energy radioactive beams

Abstract

Central collisions induced by high energy radioactive beams can be used as a novel means to obtain crucial information about the high density (HD) behaviour of nuclear symmetry energy. This information is critical for understanding several key issues in astrophysics. Within an isospin-dependent hadronic transport model using phenomenological equations of state (EOS) for dense neutron-rich matter, we investigate several experimental probes of the HD behavior of nuclear symmetry energy, such as, the π −to π + ratio, neutron-proton differential flow and its excitation function. Measurements of these observables will provide the first terrestrial data to constrain stringently the HD behaviour of nuclear symmetry energy and thus also the EOS of dense neutron-rich matter.