Transport-theoretical Description of Nuclear Reactions

In this review we first outline the basics of transport theory and its recent generalization to off-shell transport. We then present in some detail the main ingredients of any transport method using in particular the Giessen Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (GiBUU) implementation of this theory as an example. We discuss the potentials used, the ground state initialization and the collision term, including the in-medium modifications of the latter. The central part of this review covers applications of GiBUU to a wide class of reactions, starting from pion-induced reactions over proton and antiproton reactions on nuclei to heavy-ion collisions (up to about 30 AGeV). A major part concerns also the description of photon-, electron- and neutrino-induced reactions (in the energy range from a few 100 MeV to a few 100 GeV). For this wide class of reactions GiBUU gives an excellent description with the same physics input and the same code being used. We argue that GiBUU is an indispensable tool for any investigation of nuclear reactions in which final-state interactions play a role. Studies of pion-nucleus interactions, nuclear fragmentation, heavy ion reactions, hyper nucleus formation, hadronization, color transparency, electron-nucleus collisions and neutrino-nucleus interactions are all possible applications of GiBUU and are discussed in this article.Comment: 173 pages, review article. v2: Text-rearrangements in sects. 2 and 3 (as accepted for publication in Physics Reports

Phases of Dense Matter in Compact Stars

Formed in the aftermath of gravitational core-collapse supernova explosions, neutron stars are unique cosmic laboratories for probing the properties of matter under extreme conditions that cannot be reproduced in terrestrial laboratories. The interior of a neutron star, endowed with the highest magnetic fields known and with densities spanning about ten orders of magnitude from the surface to the centre, is predicted to exhibit various phases of dense strongly interacting matter, whose physics is reviewed in this chapter. The outer layers of a neutron star consist of a solid nuclear crust, permeated by a neutron ocean in its densest region, possibly on top of a nuclear “pasta” mantle. The properties of these layers and of the homogeneous isospin asymmetric nuclear matter beneath constituting the outer core may still be constrained by terrestrial experiments. The inner core of highly degenerate, strongly interacting matter poses a few puzzles and questions which are reviewed here together with perspectives for their resolution. Consequences of the dense-matter phases for observables such as the neutron-star mass-radius relationship and the prospects to uncover their structure with modern observational programmes are touched upon.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe