Mass dependence of the disappearance of flow in nuclear collisions

Determination of the equation of state of dense matter

Nuclear collisions can compress nuclear matter to densities achieved within neutron stars and within core-collapse supernovae. These dense states of matter exist momentarily before expanding. We analyzed the flow of matter to extract pressures in excess of 10(34) pascals, the highest recorded under laboratory-controlled conditions. Using these analyses, we rule out strongly repulsive nuclear equations of state from relativistic mean field theory and weakly repulsive equations of state with phase transitions at densities less than three times that of stable nuclei, but not equations of state softened at higher densities because of a transformation to quark matter.

Probing the high density behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy with high energy heavy-ion collisions

High energy heavy-ion collisions are proposed as a novel means to constrain stringently the high density (HD) behavior of nuclear symmetry energy. Within an isospin-dependent hadronic transport model, it is shown for the first time that the isospin asymmetry of the HD nuclear matter formed in high energy heavy-ion collisions is uniquely determined by the HD behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy. Experimental signatures in two sensitive probes, i.e., pi(-) to pi(+) ratio and neutron-proton differential collective flow, are also investigated.

Neutron-proton differential flow as a probe of isospin-dependence of the nuclear equation of state

The neutron-proton differential flow is shown to be a very useful probe of the isospin-dependence of the nuclear equation of state (EOS). This novel approach utilizes constructively both the isospin fractionation and the nuclear collective flow as well as their sensitivities to the isospin-dependence of the nuclear EOS. It also avoids effectively uncertainties associated with other dynamical ingredients of heavy-ion reactions at intermediate energies.