Towards a topological data analysis for heavy-ion collisions

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Capellino, Federica, Dubla, Andrea, Masciocchi, Silvia, Nijs, Govert, Spitz, Daniel
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866916930136309760
author Capellino, Federica
Dubla, Andrea
Masciocchi, Silvia
Nijs, Govert
Spitz, Daniel
author_facet Capellino, Federica
Dubla, Andrea
Masciocchi, Silvia
Nijs, Govert
Spitz, Daniel
contents The collective expansion of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created in heavy-ion collisions suggests that geometry-inspired approaches can be useful in extracting information about the QGP. In this work, a systematic study of observables based on topological data analysis is provided for simulations of heavy-ion collisions. Specifically, we implement persistent homology observables for metric-based complexes in the heavy-ion model Trajectum and provide predictions for Pb-Pb and O-O collisions, where the tunable model parameters are taken from a Bayesian analysis performed in Pb-Pb collisions. This, in particular, allows us to compute systematic uncertainties on our observables from the uncertainties in the model parameters. To bridge between new and already established observables, we build a dictionary linking the topological observables to traditional ones, such as particle multiplicities, momentum distributions, and the elliptic flow coefficient. While the persistent homology observables largely reflect known phenomenology and do not show enhanced sensitivity to the model's tunable parameters compared to conventional observables, this study demonstrates the viability and robustness of topological techniques in the context of heavy-ion physics. They may offer alternative perspectives and potential applications in heavy-ion physics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_02339
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Towards a topological data analysis for heavy-ion collisions
Capellino, Federica
Dubla, Andrea
Masciocchi, Silvia
Nijs, Govert
Spitz, Daniel
Nuclear Theory
The collective expansion of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created in heavy-ion collisions suggests that geometry-inspired approaches can be useful in extracting information about the QGP. In this work, a systematic study of observables based on topological data analysis is provided for simulations of heavy-ion collisions. Specifically, we implement persistent homology observables for metric-based complexes in the heavy-ion model Trajectum and provide predictions for Pb-Pb and O-O collisions, where the tunable model parameters are taken from a Bayesian analysis performed in Pb-Pb collisions. This, in particular, allows us to compute systematic uncertainties on our observables from the uncertainties in the model parameters. To bridge between new and already established observables, we build a dictionary linking the topological observables to traditional ones, such as particle multiplicities, momentum distributions, and the elliptic flow coefficient. While the persistent homology observables largely reflect known phenomenology and do not show enhanced sensitivity to the model's tunable parameters compared to conventional observables, this study demonstrates the viability and robustness of topological techniques in the context of heavy-ion physics. They may offer alternative perspectives and potential applications in heavy-ion physics.
title Towards a topological data analysis for heavy-ion collisions
topic Nuclear Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.02339