Density slope of the nuclear symmetry energy from the neutron skin thickness of heavy nuclei

Expressing explicitly the parameters of the standard Skyrme interaction in terms of the macroscopic properties of asymmetric nuclear matter, we show in the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach that unambiguous correlations exist between observables of finite nuclei and nuclear matter properties. We find that existing data on neutron skin thickness $\Delta r_{np}$ of Sn isotopes give an important constraint on the symmetry energy $E_{sym}({\rho _{0}})$ and its density slope $L$ at saturation density ${\rho _{0}}$. Combining these constraints with those from recent analyses of isospin diffusion and double neutron/proton ratio in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies leads to a more stringent limit on $L$ approximately independent of $E_{sym}({\rho _{0}})$. The implication of these new constraints on the $\Delta r_{np}$ of $^{208}$Pb as well as the core-crust transition density and pressure in neutron stars is discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, 1 table. Significantly expanded to include a number of details and discussions. Title shortened. Accepted version to appear in PR

Contributions of hyperon-hyperon scattering to subthreshold cascade production in heavy ion collisions

Using a gauged flavor SU(3)-invariant hadronic Lagrangian, we calculate the cross sections for the strangeness-exchange reactions YY to N\Xi (Y=\Lambda, \Sigma) in the Born approximation. These cross sections are then used in the Relativistic Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (RVUU) transport model to study \Xi production in Ar+KCl collisions at incident energy of 1.76A GeV and impact parameter b=3.5 fm. We find that including the contributions of hyperon-hyperon scattering channels strongly enhances the yield of \Xi, leading to the abundance ratio \Xi^{-}/(\Lambda+\Sigma^{0})=3.38E-3, which is essentially consistent with the recently measured value of $(5.6 \pm 1.2_{-1.7}^{+1.8})\times 10^{-3}$ by the HADES collaboration at GSI.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Transition density and pressure in hot neutron stars

Using the momentum-dependent MDI effective interaction for nucleons, we have studied the transition density and pressure at the boundary between the inner crust and liquid core of hot neutron stars. We find that their values are larger in neutrino-trapped neutron stars than in neutrino-free neutron stars. Furthermore, both are found to decrease with increasing temperature of a neutron star as well as increasing slope parameter of the nuclear symmetry energy, except that the transition pressure in neutrino-trapped neutron stars for the case of small symmetry energy slope parameter first increases and then decreases with increasing temperature. We have also studied the effect of the nuclear symmetry energy on the critical temperature above which the inner crust in a hot neutron star disappears and found that with increasing value of the symmetry energy slope parameter, the critical temperature decreases slightly in neutrino-trapped neutron stars but first decreases and then increases in neutrino-free neutron stars.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Probing QCD critical fluctuations from light nuclei production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Based on the coalescence model for light nuclei production, we show that the yield ratio $\mathcal{O}_\text{p-d-t} = N_{^3\text{H}} N_p / N_\text{d}^2$ of $p$, d, and $^3$H in heavy-ion collisions is sensitive to the neutron relative density fluctuation $\Delta n= \langle (\delta n)^2\rangle/\langle n\rangle^2$ at kinetic freeze-out. From recent experimental data in central Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=6.3$~GeV, $7.6$~GeV, $8.8$~GeV, $12.3$~GeV and $17.3$~GeV measured by the NA49 Collaboration at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), we find a possible non-monotonic behavior of $\Delta n$ as a function of the collision energy with a peak at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=8.8$~GeV, indicating that the density fluctuations become the largest in collisions at this energy. With the known chemical freeze-out conditions determined from the statistical model fit to experimental data, we obtain a chemical freeze-out temperature of $\sim 144~$MeV and baryon chemical potential of $\sim 385~$MeV at this collision energy, which are close to the critical endpoint in the QCD phase diagram predicted by various theoretical studies. Our results thus suggest the potential usefulness of the yield ratio of light nuclei in relativistic heavy-ion collisions as a direct probe of the large density fluctuations associated with the QCD critical phenomena.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables. Correlations between neutron and proton density fluctuations considered and presentation improved. Accepted version to appear in PL