Phase structure of excited baryonic matter in the relativistic mean field theory

We analyze the phase structure of the nonlinear mean-field meson theory of baryonic matter (nucleons plus delta resonances). Depending on the choice of the coupling constants, we find three physically distinct phase transitions in this theory: a nucleonic liquid-gas transition in the low temperature, Tc2&#961;0 and Tc<50 MeV. All three phase transitions are of first order. It is shown that the occurrence of these different phase transitions depends critically on the coupling constants. Since the production of pions also depends strongly on the coupling constants, it is seen that the equation of state cannot be derived unambiguously from pion data

Kinetic energy flow in Nb(400 A MeV) + Nb: evidence for hydrodynamic compression of nuclear matter

A kinetic-energy—flow analysis of multiplicity-selected collisions of 93Nb(Elab=400A MeV)+93Nb is performed on the basis of the nuclear fluid dynamical model. The effects of finite particle numbers on the flow tensor are explicitly taken into account. Strong sidewards peaks are predicted in dN/dcos&#952;F, the distribution of event by event flow angles. This is in qualitative agreement with recent data from the "Plastic Ball" electronic detection system. Cascade simulations fail to reproduce the data

Viscous fluid dynamical calculation of the reaction 12C(85 MeV/nucleon) + 197Au

Proton spectra have been calculated for the reaction 12C(85 MeV/nucleon) + 197Au using a three-dimensional hydrodynamical model with viscosity and thermal conductivity and final thermal breakup. The theoretical results are compared to recent data. It is shown that the predicted flow effects are not observable as a result of the impact parameter averaging inherent in the inclusive proton spectra. In contrast, angular distributions of medium mass nuclei (A>3) in nearly central collisions can provide signatures for flow effects

Phase transition of the nucleon-antinucleon plasma in a relativistic mean-field theory

Studying Walecka's mean-field theory we find that one can reproduce the observed binding energy and density of nuclear matter within experimental precision in an area characterized by a line in the coupling-constant plane. A part of this line defines systems which exhibit a phase transition around Tc~200 MeV for zero baryon density. The rest corresponds to such systems where the phase transition is absent; in that case a peak appears in the specific heat around T~200 MeV. We interpret these results as indicating that the hadron phase of nuclear matter alone indicates the occurrence of an abrupt change in the bulk properties around &#961;V~0 and T~200 MeV

Event-by-event analysis : possible testing ground for the nuclear matter equation of state

Intranuclear cascade calculations and fluid dynamical predictions of the kinetic energy flow are compared for collisions of 40Ca + 40Ca and 238U + 238U. The aspect ratio, R13, as obtained from the global analysis, is independent of the bombarding energy for the intranuclear cascade model. Fluid dynamics, on the other hand, predicts a dramatic increase of R13 at medium energies Elab&#8818;200 MeV/nucleon. In fact, R13(Elab) directly reflects the incompressibility of the nuclear matter and can be used to extract the nuclear equation of stat at high densities. Distortions of the flow tensor due to few nucleon scattering are analyzed. Possible procedures to remove this background from experimental data are discussed

Mass, radius, and composition of the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars

The properties and composition of the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars are studied by applying the model of Baym, Pethick, and Sutherland, which was extended by including higher order corrections of the atomic binding, screening, exchange and zero-point energy. The most recent experimental nuclear data from the atomic mass table of Audi, Wapstra, and Thibault from 2003 is used. Extrapolation to the drip line is utilized by various state-of-the-art theoretical nuclear models (finite range droplet, relativistic nuclear field and non-relativistic Skyrme Hartree-Fock parameterizations). The different nuclear models are compared with respect to the mass and radius of the outer crust for different neutron star configurations and the nuclear compositions of the outer crust.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to J. Phys. G, part of the proceedings of the Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics III conference in Dresde

Multi-lambda hypernuclei and the equation of state of hypermatter

Within a relativistic mean-field theory (RMFT) experimental data on the single-particle spectra of lambda hypernuclei are well reproduced. It is shown that the coupling constants cannot be fixed unambiguously from the single-particle spectra. The stability and structure of multi-lambda hypernuclei is explored on the basis of the RMFT using the coupling constants as determined from the observed single lambda hypernuclear levels. It is predicted that multistrange nuclei exhibit an enhanced interaction radius, which further increases in the case of finite temperatures. We suggest that multi-lambda hypernuclei could be produced in high-energy heavy ions and observed in secondary noncharge-changing reactions. The equation of state of lambda matter and the possibility of pure lambda droplets are also discussed