Understanding the correlation between elliptic and triangular flow

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Alqahtani, Mubarak, Ollitrault, Jean-Yves
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Alqahtani, Mubarak
Ollitrault, Jean-Yves
author_facet Alqahtani, Mubarak
Ollitrault, Jean-Yves
contents The relative correlation between the magnitudes of elliptic flow ($v_2$) and triangular flow ($v_3$) has been accurately measured in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC collider. As a function of the centrality of the collision, it changes sign and varies non-monotonically. We show that this is naturally explained by two combined effects. The first effect is a skewness in initial-state fluctuations, which is quantified by the correlation between the geometry-driven elliptic deformation in the reaction plane and the fluctuation-driven triangularity $\varepsilon_3$. We introduce an intensive measure of this skewness, which is generically of order unity and depends weakly on the system size and centrality. We evaluate its magnitude using Monte Carlo simulations of the initial state, which show that it is sensitive to the nucleon width. The second effect is the fluctuation of impact parameter relative to centrality classifiers used by experiment. The ATLAS collaboration uses two different centrality classifiers, the multiplicity $N_{ch}$ and the transverse energy $E_T$. We fit both sets of results for Pb+Pb collisions up to $\approx 40\%$ centrality with a single parameter, the intensive mixed skewness. Its value inferred from experiment agrees with theoretical expectations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_20315
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Understanding the correlation between elliptic and triangular flow
Alqahtani, Mubarak
Ollitrault, Jean-Yves
Nuclear Theory
High Energy Physics - Experiment
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Nuclear Experiment
The relative correlation between the magnitudes of elliptic flow ($v_2$) and triangular flow ($v_3$) has been accurately measured in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC collider. As a function of the centrality of the collision, it changes sign and varies non-monotonically. We show that this is naturally explained by two combined effects. The first effect is a skewness in initial-state fluctuations, which is quantified by the correlation between the geometry-driven elliptic deformation in the reaction plane and the fluctuation-driven triangularity $\varepsilon_3$. We introduce an intensive measure of this skewness, which is generically of order unity and depends weakly on the system size and centrality. We evaluate its magnitude using Monte Carlo simulations of the initial state, which show that it is sensitive to the nucleon width. The second effect is the fluctuation of impact parameter relative to centrality classifiers used by experiment. The ATLAS collaboration uses two different centrality classifiers, the multiplicity $N_{ch}$ and the transverse energy $E_T$. We fit both sets of results for Pb+Pb collisions up to $\approx 40\%$ centrality with a single parameter, the intensive mixed skewness. Its value inferred from experiment agrees with theoretical expectations.
title Understanding the correlation between elliptic and triangular flow
topic Nuclear Theory
High Energy Physics - Experiment
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Nuclear Experiment
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.20315