High Baryon Density Research Articles

Lambda-nuclear interactions and hyperon puzzle in neutron stars

Brueckner theory is used to investigate the in-medium properties of a $\Lambda$-hyperon in nuclear and neutron matter, based on hyperon-nucleon interactions derived within SU(3) chiral effective field theory (EFT). It is shown that the resulting $\Lambda$ single-particle potential $U_\Lambda(p_\Lambda =0,\rho)$ becomes strongly repulsive for densities $\rho$ of two-to-three times that of normal nuclear matter. Adding a density-dependent effective $\Lambda N$-interaction constructed from chiral $\Lambda NN$ three-body forces increases the repulsion further. Consequences of these findings for neutron stars are discussed. It is argued that for hyperon-nuclear interactions with properties such as those deduced from the SU(3) EFT potentials, the onset for hyperon formation in the core of neutron stars is expected to be shifted to extremely high baryon density, thus potentially resolving the so-called hyperon puzzle.

Van der Waals Interactions in Hadron Resonance Gas: From Nuclear Matter to Lattice QCD.

An extension of the ideal hadron resonance gas (HRG) model is constructed which includes the attractive and repulsive van der Waals (VDW) interactions between baryons. This VDW-HRG model yields the nuclear liquid-gas transition at low temperatures and high baryon densities. The VDW parameters a and b are fixed by the ground state properties of nuclear matter, and the temperature dependence of various thermodynamic observables at zero chemical potential are calculated within the VDW-HRG model. Compared to the ideal HRG model, the inclusion of VDW interactions between baryons leads to a qualitatively different behavior of second and higher moments of fluctuations of conserved charges, in particular in the so-called crossover region T∼140-190 MeV. For many observables this behavior resembles closely the results obtained from lattice QCD simulations. This hadronic model also predicts nontrivial behavior of net-baryon fluctuations in the region of phase diagram probed by heavy-ion collision experiments. These results imply that VDW interactions play a crucial role in the thermodynamics of hadron gas. Thus, the commonly performed comparisons of the ideal HRG model with the lattice and heavy-ion data may lead to misconceptions and misleading conclusions.

Quarksonic matter at high isospin density**Supported by Thousand Young Talents Program of China, Shanghai Natural Science Foundation, (14ZR1403000) and NSFC (11535012), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (KLH1512072)

Analogous to the quarkyonic matter at high baryon density in which the quark Fermi seas and the baryonic excitations coexist, it is argued that a “quarksonic matter” phase appears at high isospin density where the quark (antiquark) Fermi seas and the mesonic excitations coexist. We explore this phase in detail in both large Nc and asymptotically free limits. In the large Nc limit, we sketch a phase diagram for the quarksonic matter. In the asymptotically free limit, we study the pion superfluidity and thermodynamics of the quarksonic matter by using both perturbative calculations and an effective model.

Achieving high baryon densities in the fragmentation regions in heavy ion collisions at top RHIC energy

Heavy ion collisions at extremely high energy, such as the top energy at RHIC, exhibit the property of transparency where there is a clear separation between the almost net-baryon-free central rapidity region and the net-baryon-rich fragmentation region. We calculate the net-baryon rapidity loss and the nuclear excitation energy using the energy-momentum tensor obtained from the McLerran-Venugopalan model. Nuclear compression during the collision is further estimated using a simple space-time picture. The results show that extremely high baryon densities, about twenty times larger than the normal nuclear density, can be achieved in the fragmentation regions.

Event reconstruction for the CBM-RICH prototype beamtest data in 2014

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at the future FAIR facility will investigate the QCD phase diagram at high net baryon densities and moderate temperatures in A+A collisions from 2 to 11 AGeV (SIS100). Electron identification in CBM will be performed by a Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detector and Transition Radiation Detectors (TRD).A real size prototype of the RICH detector was tested together with other CBM groups at the CERN PS/T9 beam line in 2014. For the first time the data format used the FLESnet protocol from CBM delivering free streaming data. The analysis was fully performed within the CBMROOT framework. In this contribution the data analysis and the event reconstruction methods which were used for obtained data are discussed. Rings were reconstructed using an algorithm based on the Hough Transform method and their parameters were derived with high accuracy by circle and ellipse fitting procedures. We present results of the application of the presented algorithms. In particular we compare results with and without Wavelength shifting (WLS) coating.

Simulation study of elliptic flow of charged hadrons produced in Au + Au collisions at energies available at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research

Centrality and system geometry dependence of azimuthal anisotropy of charged hadrons measured in terms of the elliptic flow parameter are investigated using Au+Au event samples at incident beam energy $20$A GeV and $40$A GeV generated by Ultrarelativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics and A Multiphase Transport models. The Monte Carlo Glauber model is employed to estimate the eccentricity of the overlapping zone at an early stage of the collisions. Anisotropies present both in the particle multiplicity distribution and in the kinetic radial expansion are examined by using standard statistical and phenomenological methods. In the context of upcoming Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment to be held at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research, the present set of simulated results provide us not only with an opportunity to examine the expected collective behavior of hadronic matter at high baryon density and moderate temperature environment, but when compared with similar results obtained from Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and Large Hadron Collider experiments, they also allow us to investigate how anisotropy of hadronic matter may differ or agree with its low baryon density and high temperature counterpart.

High baryon densities in heavy ion collisions at energies attainable at the BNL Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider and the CERN Large Hadron Collider

In very high energy collisions nuclei are practically transparent to each other but produce very hot, nearly baryon-free, matter in the so-called central rapidity region. The energy in the central rapidity region comes from the kinetic energy of the colliding nuclei. We calculate the energy and rapidity loss of the nuclei using the color glass condensate model. This model also predicts the excitation energy of the nuclear fragments. Using a space-time picture of the collision we calculate the baryon and energy densities of the receding baryonic fireballs. For central collisions of gold nuclei at the highest energy attainable at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, for example, we find baryon densities more than ten times that of atomic nuclei over a large volume.

QCD in Stars

We discuss cold dense QCD by examining constraints from neutron stars, nuclear experiments, and QCD calculations at low and high baryon density. The two solar mass constraint and suggestive small radii (10~13 km) of neutron stars constrain the strength of hadron-quark matter phase transitions. Assuming the adiabatic continuity from hadronic to quark matter, we use a schematic quark model for hadron physics and examine the size of medium coupling constants. We find that to baryon density nB ~ 10n0 (n0: nuclear saturation density), the model coupling constants should be as large as in the vacuum, indicating that gluons remain non- perturbative even after the quark matter formation.

Chiral Symmetry Restoration in Heavy-ion Collisions at High Baryon Density

Chiral Symmetry Restoration in Heavy-ion Collisions at High Baryon Density

Highlights from STAR heavy ion program

Recent experimental results obtained in STAR experiment at the Relativistic heavy-ion collider (RHIC) with ion beams will be discussed. Investigations of different nuclear collisions in some recent years focus on two main tasks, namely, detail study of quark-gluon matter properties and exploration of the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) phase diagram. Results at top RHIC energy show clearly the collective behavior of heavy quarks in nucleus-nucleus interactions. Jet and heavy hadron measurements lead to new constraints for energy loss models for various flavors. Heavy-ion collisions are unique tool for the study of topological properties of theory as well as the magneto-hydrodynamics of strongly interacting matter. Experimental results obtained for discrete QCD symmetries at finite temperatures confirm indirectly the topologically non-trivial structure of QCD vacuum. Finite global vorticity observed in non-central Au+Au collisions can be considered as important signature for presence of various chiral effects in sQGP. Most results obtained during stage I of the RHIC beam energy scan (BES) program show smooth behavior vs initial energy. However certain results suggest the transition in the domain of dominance of hadronic degrees of freedom at center-of-mass energies between 10--20 GeV. The stage II of the BES at RHIC will occur in 2019--2020 and will explore with precision measurements in the domain of the QCD phase diagram with high baryon densities. Future developments and more precise studies of features of QCD phase diagram in the framework of stage II of RHIC BES will be briefly discussed.

Superconducting dipole magnet for the CBM experiment at FAIR

The scientific goal of the CBM (Compressed Baryonic Matter) experiment at FAIR (Darmstadt) is to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter at highest baryon densities. The physics program of the CBM experiment is complimentary to the programs to be realized at MPD and BMN facilities at NICA and will start with beam derived by the SIS100 synchrotron. The 5.15 MJ superconducting dipole magnet will be used in the silicon tracking system of the CBM detector. The magnet will provide a magnetic field integral of 1 Tm which is required to obtain a momentum resolution of 1% for the track reconstruction. The results of the development of dipole magnet of the CBM experiment are presented.

The heavy-ion program of the future FAIR facility

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment will be one of the major scientific pillars of the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt. The goal of the CBM research program is to explore the QCD phase diagram in the region of high baryon densities using high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. This includes the study of the equation-of-state of nuclear matter at neutron star core densities, and the search for the deconfinement and chiral phase transitions. The CBM detector is designed to measure rare diagnostic probes such as hadrons including multi-strange (anti-) hyperons, lepton pairs, and charmed particles with unprecedented precision and statistics. Most of these particles will be studied for the first time in the FAIR energy range. In order to achieve the required precision, the measurements will be performed at very high reaction rates of 1 to 10 MHz. This requires very fast and radiation-hard detectors, a novel data read-out and analysis concept based on free streaming front-end electronics, and a high-performance computing cluster for online event selection. The physics program and the status of the proposed CBM experiment will be discussed.

High baryon densities achievable in the fragmentation regions at RHIC and LHC

We use the McLerran-Venugopalan model of the glasma energy-momentum tensor to compute the rapidity loss and excitation energy of the colliding nuclei in the fragmentation regions followed by a space-time picture to obtain their energy and baryon densities. At the top RHIC energy we find baryon densities up to 3 baryons/fm3, which is 20 times that of atomic nuclei. Assuming the formation of quark-gluon plasma, we find initial temperatures of 200 to 300 MeV and baryon chemical potentials of order 1 GeV. Assuming a roughly adiabatic expansion it would imply trajectories in the T − μ plane which would straddle a possible critical point.

Exploring the QCD Phase Structure with Beam Energy Scan in Heavy-ion Collisions

Beam energy scan programs in heavy-ion collisions aim to explore the QCD phase structure at high baryon density. Sensitive observables are applied to probe the signatures of the QCD phase transition and critical point in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and SPS. Intriguing structures, such as dip, peak and oscillation, have been observed in the energy dependence of various observables. In this paper, an overview is given and corresponding physics implications will be discussed for the experimental highlights from the beam energy scan programs at the STAR, PHENIX and NA61/SHINE experiments. Furthermore, the beam energy scan phase II at RHIC (2019–2020) and other future experimental facilities for studying the physics at low energies will be also discussed.

Studies of high density baryon matter with high intensity heavy-ion beams at J-PARC

In J-PARC heavy-ion project, we aim at studies of QCD phase structures and hadron properties in high baryon density close to the neutron star core. We have developed a heavy-ion acceleration scheme with a new linac and a new booster with existing two synchrotrons with the goal beam rate of about 1011 Hz. We have also designed a large acceptance spectrometer based on a toroidal magnet. We have evaluated the spectrometer performance, and demonstrated reconstructing dielectron and dimuon spectra with full detector simulations. Finally, we designed a hypernuclear spectrometer which can utilize the full intensity ion beams.

Examination of directed flow as a signature of the softest point of the equation of state in QCD matter

We analyze the directed flow of protons and pions in high-energy heavy-ion collisions in the incident energy range from $\sqrt{s_{{\scriptscriptstyle NN}}}=7.7$ to 27 GeV within a microscopic transport model. Standard hadronic transport approaches do not describe the collapse of directed flow below $\sqrt{s_{{\scriptscriptstyle NN}}}\simeq 20$ GeV. By contrast, a model which simulates effects of a softening of the equation of state, well describes the behavior of directed flow data recently obtained by the STAR Collaboration~\cite{STARv1}. We give a detailed analysis of how directed flow is generated. Particularly, we found that softening of effective equation of state at the overlapping region of two nuclei, i.e. the reaction stages where the system reaches high baryon density state, is needed to explain the observed collapse of proton directed flow within a hadronic transport approach.

Quark-Pauli effects in three octet-baryons

To sustain a neutron star with about two times the solar mass, multi baryons including hyperons are expected to produce repulsive effects in the interior of its high baryon-density region. To examine possible quark-Pauli repulsion among the baryons, we solve the eigenvalue problem of the quark antisymmetrizer for three octet-baryons that are described by most compact spatial configurations. We find that the Pauli blocking effect is weak in the $\Lambda nn$ system, while it is strong in the $\Sigma^-nn$ system. The appearance of the $\Sigma^-$ hyperon is suppressed in the neutron star interior but no quark-Pauli repulsion effectively works for the $\Lambda$ hyperon.

Magnetic Shift of the Chemical Freeze-out and Electric Charge Fluctuations.

We discuss the effect of a strong magnetic field on the chemical freeze-out points in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. As a result of inverse magnetic catalysis or magnetic inhibition, the crossover onset to hot and dense matter out of quarks and gluons should be shifted to a lower temperature. To quantify this shift we employ the hadron resonance gas model and an empirical condition for the chemical freeze-out. We point out that the charged particle abundances are significantly affected by the magnetic field so that the electric charge fluctuation is largely enhanced, especially at high baryon density. The charge conservation partially cancels the enhancement, but our calculation shows that the electric charge fluctuation could serve as a magnetometer. We find that the fluctuation exhibits a crossover behavior rapidly increased for eB≳(0.4 GeV)^{2}, while the charge chemical potential has smoother behavior with an increasing magnetic field.

Strangeness production at high baryon density

We propose to measure strange and non-strange hadron abundances at NICA in both AA and pp collisions, in order to test the validity range and possible extension schemes for present explanations of the energy and collision dependence of strange particle suppression.

Strangeness as a probe to baryon-rich QCD matter at NICA

We elucidate a prospect of strangeness fluctuation measurements in the heavy-ion collision at NICA energies. The strangeness fluctuation is sensitive to quark deconfinement. At the same time strangeness has a strong correlation with the baryon number under the condition of vanishing net strangeness, which leads to an enhancement of \(\Lambda^{0}\), \(\Xi^{0}\), \(\Xi^{-}\), and K+ at high baryon density. The baryon density is maximized around the NICA energies, and strangeness should be an ideal probe to investigate quark deconfinement phenomena of baryon-rich QCD matter created at NICA. We also utilize the hadron resonance gas model to estimate a mixed fluctuation of strangeness and baryon number.