Mapping Nuclear Deformation with Differential Radial Flow in Heavy-Ion Collisions

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Autori principali: Zhu, Jie, Wu, Xiang-Yu, Qin, Guang-You
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Zhu, Jie
Wu, Xiang-Yu
Qin, Guang-You
author_facet Zhu, Jie
Wu, Xiang-Yu
Qin, Guang-You
contents In relativistic heavy-ion collisions, the radial flow of the fireball, usually characterized by transverse momentum spectra of final-state particles, encodes essential information about the hot and dense nuclear matter created in the collisions. However, the response of radial flow, including its $p_T$-differential structure $v_0(p_T)$ and longitudinal fluctuations $v_0(η)$, to intrinsic nuclear deformation remains unexplored. Using realistic $(3+1)$-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic calculations with Trento-3D initial conditions, we investigate how nuclear deformation affects the differential radial flow. We observe a clear, positive correlation between quadrupole deformation $β_2$ and radial flow: both magnitudes of $v_0$ and $v_0(p_T)$ are enhanced in central collisions when $β_2$ is increased. In contrast, the Pearson coefficient $ρ(n(p_T), [p_T])$ exhibits a universal step-like behavior across all collision systems and centralities. Further analysis of longitudinal decorrelation of radial flow reveals a rich structure: in central collisions, large $β_2$ tends to suppress the decorrelation, whereas hexadecapole deformation $β_4$ tends to enhance it. Such decorrelation effect increases toward peripheral collisions. Our results demonstrate that precise measurements of radial flow, spanning transverse momentum and longitudinal dependences, can provide powerful, complementary constraints on nuclear deformation in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_04148
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Mapping Nuclear Deformation with Differential Radial Flow in Heavy-Ion Collisions
Zhu, Jie
Wu, Xiang-Yu
Qin, Guang-You
Nuclear Theory
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Nuclear Experiment
In relativistic heavy-ion collisions, the radial flow of the fireball, usually characterized by transverse momentum spectra of final-state particles, encodes essential information about the hot and dense nuclear matter created in the collisions. However, the response of radial flow, including its $p_T$-differential structure $v_0(p_T)$ and longitudinal fluctuations $v_0(η)$, to intrinsic nuclear deformation remains unexplored. Using realistic $(3+1)$-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic calculations with Trento-3D initial conditions, we investigate how nuclear deformation affects the differential radial flow. We observe a clear, positive correlation between quadrupole deformation $β_2$ and radial flow: both magnitudes of $v_0$ and $v_0(p_T)$ are enhanced in central collisions when $β_2$ is increased. In contrast, the Pearson coefficient $ρ(n(p_T), [p_T])$ exhibits a universal step-like behavior across all collision systems and centralities. Further analysis of longitudinal decorrelation of radial flow reveals a rich structure: in central collisions, large $β_2$ tends to suppress the decorrelation, whereas hexadecapole deformation $β_4$ tends to enhance it. Such decorrelation effect increases toward peripheral collisions. Our results demonstrate that precise measurements of radial flow, spanning transverse momentum and longitudinal dependences, can provide powerful, complementary constraints on nuclear deformation in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions.
title Mapping Nuclear Deformation with Differential Radial Flow in Heavy-Ion Collisions
topic Nuclear Theory
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Nuclear Experiment
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.04148