Probing the octupole deformation of $^{238}$U in high-energy nuclear collisions

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Hauptverfasser: Zhang, Chunjian, Jia, Jiangyong, Chen, Jinhui, Shen, Chun, Liu, Lumeng
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Zhang, Chunjian
Jia, Jiangyong
Chen, Jinhui
Shen, Chun
Liu, Lumeng
author_facet Zhang, Chunjian
Jia, Jiangyong
Chen, Jinhui
Shen, Chun
Liu, Lumeng
contents Some atomic nuclei exhibit ``pear" shapes arising from octupole deformation ($β_3$), though direct experimental evidences for such exotic shapes remains scarce. Low-energy model studies suggest $^{238}$U may have a modest octupole deformation arising from collective vibrational degrees of freedom, in addition to a large prolate shape. We investigated the impact of this modest octupole shape on observables involving triangular flow ($v_3$) in high-energy nuclear collisions. Using a hydrodynamic framework, we show $v_3$ and its correlation with mean transverse momentum, $\langle v_3^2 δp_{\rm{T}} \rangle$, exhibit strong sensitivity to $β_3$. We found that $\langle v_3^2\rangle$ follows a linear increase with $β_3^2$, while the characteristic anticorrelation in $\langle v_3^2 δp_{\rm{T}} \rangle$ shows a pronounced $β_3$-dependent suppression. Our findings demonstrate that the collective-flow-assisted nuclear imaging method in high-energy nuclear collisions, when compared with experimental data, can provide unique quantitative constraints on higher-order deformations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_15245
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Probing the octupole deformation of $^{238}$U in high-energy nuclear collisions
Zhang, Chunjian
Jia, Jiangyong
Chen, Jinhui
Shen, Chun
Liu, Lumeng
Nuclear Theory
Nuclear Experiment
Some atomic nuclei exhibit ``pear" shapes arising from octupole deformation ($β_3$), though direct experimental evidences for such exotic shapes remains scarce. Low-energy model studies suggest $^{238}$U may have a modest octupole deformation arising from collective vibrational degrees of freedom, in addition to a large prolate shape. We investigated the impact of this modest octupole shape on observables involving triangular flow ($v_3$) in high-energy nuclear collisions. Using a hydrodynamic framework, we show $v_3$ and its correlation with mean transverse momentum, $\langle v_3^2 δp_{\rm{T}} \rangle$, exhibit strong sensitivity to $β_3$. We found that $\langle v_3^2\rangle$ follows a linear increase with $β_3^2$, while the characteristic anticorrelation in $\langle v_3^2 δp_{\rm{T}} \rangle$ shows a pronounced $β_3$-dependent suppression. Our findings demonstrate that the collective-flow-assisted nuclear imaging method in high-energy nuclear collisions, when compared with experimental data, can provide unique quantitative constraints on higher-order deformations.
title Probing the octupole deformation of $^{238}$U in high-energy nuclear collisions
topic Nuclear Theory
Nuclear Experiment
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.15245