Nuclear response functions with finite range Gogny force: tensor terms and instabilities

A fully-antisymmetrized random phase approximation calculation employing the continued fraction technique is performed to study nuclear matter response functions with the finite range Gogny force. The most commonly used parameter sets of this force, as well as some recent generalizations that include the tensor terms are considered and the corresponding response functions are shown. The calculations are performed at the first and second order in the continued fraction expansion and the explicit expressions for the second order tensor contributions are given. Comparison between first and second order continued fraction expansion results are provided. The differences between the responses obtained at the two orders turn to be more pronounced for the forces including tensor terms than for the standard Gogny ones. In the vector channels the responses calculated with Gogny forces including tensor terms are characterized by a large heterogeneity, reflecting the different choices for the tensor part of the interaction. For sake of comparison the response functions obtained considering a G-matrix based nuclear interaction are also shown. As first application of the present calculation, the possible existence of spurious finite-size instabilities of the Gogny forces with or without tensor terms has been investigated. The positive conclusion is that all the Gogny forces, but the GT2 one, are free of spurious finite-size instabilities. In perspective, the tool developed in the present paper can be inserted in the fitting procedure to construct new Gogny-type forces

Heavy flavours in heavy-ion collisions: quenching, flow and correlations

We present results for the quenching, elliptic flow and azimuthal correlations of heavy flavour particles in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions obtained through the POWLANG transport setup, developed in the past to study the propagation of heavy quarks in the Quark-Gluon Plasma and here extended to include a modeling of their hadronization in the presence of a medium. Hadronization is described as occurring via the fragmentation of strings with endpoints given by the heavy (anti-)quark Q(Qbar) and a thermal parton qbar(q) from the medium. The flow of the light quarks is shown to affect significantly the R_AA and v_2 of the final D mesons, leading to a better agreement with the experimental data. The approach allows also predictions for the angular correlation between heavy-flavour hadrons (or their decay electrons) and the charged particles produced in the fragmentation of the heavy-quark strings

Neutron electromagnetic form factors and inclusive scattering of polarized electrons by polarized 3^{3}He and 3^{3}H targets

The electromagnetic inclusive responses of polarized $^{3}$He and $^{3}$H are thoroughly investigated at the quasielastic peak for squared momentum transfers up to $2 (GeV/c)^2$, within the plane wave impulse approximation. Great emphasys is put on the effects in the bound-state due to different two- and three-body nuclear forces, and to the Coulomb interaction as well. A careful analysis of the polarized responses allows to select possible experiments for minimizing the model dependence in the extraction of the neutron electromagnetic form factors. In particular, the relevant role played by the proton in the transverse-longitudinal response of polarized $^{3}$He, at low momentum transfer, can be utilized for obtaining valuable information on the proton contribution to the total polarized response and eventually on the neutron charge form factor.Comment: 27 pages, Latex, 9 Postscript figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. C (July '97