Dynamical interpretation of chemical freeze-out in heavy ion collisions

It is demonstrated that there exists a direct correlation between chemical freeze-out point and the softest point of the equation of state where the pressure divided by the energy density, $p(\epsilon)/\epsilon$, has a minimum. A dynamical model is given as an example where the passage of the softest point coincides with the condition for chemical freeze-out, namely an average energy per hadron $\approx$ 1 GeV. The sensitivity of the result to the equation of state used is discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Directed Flow of Baryons in Heavy-Ion Collisions

The collective motion of nucleons from high-energy heavy-ion collisions is analyzed within a relativistic two-fluid model for different equations of state (EoS). As function of beam energy the theoretical slope parameter F_y of the differential directed flow is in good agreement with experimental data, when calculated for the QCD-consistent EoS described by the statistical mixed-phase model. Within this model, which takes the deconfinement phase transition into account, the excitation function of the directed flow turns out to be a smooth function in the whole range from SIS till SPS energies. This function is close to that for pure hadronic EoS and exhibits no minimum predicted earlier for a two-phase bag-model EoS. Attention is also called to a possible formation of nucleon antiflow (F_y < 0) at energies of the order of 100 A GeV.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Theoretical analysis of a possible observation of the chiral magnetic effect in Au + Au collisions within the RHIC beam energy scan program

In terms of the hadron-string-dynamics (HSD) approach we investigate the correlation function in the azimuthal angle $\psi$ of charged hadrons that is expected to be sensitive to a signal of local strong parity violation. Our analysis of Au+Au collisions is based on the recent STAR data within the RHIC Beam-Energy-Scan (BES) program. The HSD model reasonably reproduces STAR data for $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$7.7 GeV, while there are some deviations from the experiment at the collision energy of 11.5 GeV and an increase of deviations between theory and experiment at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$39 GeV. For reference, the results for $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 200 GeV are given as well. The role of the retarded electromagnetic field is discussed and a compensation effect for the action of its electric and magnetic components is pointed out. We conclude that the recent RHIC BES data at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$7.7 and 11.5 GeV can be understood on the hadronic level without involving the idea of a strong parity violation; however, at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}\sim$40 GeV and above one needs to take into consideration explicit partonic (quark-qluon) degrees-of-freedom for a proper treatment of the dynamics.Comment: 6pages, 3 figures, 1 table; title changed by editor, references update

Parton/hadron dynamics in heavy-ion collisions at FAIR energies

Recent STAR data for the directed flow of protons, antiprotons and charged pions obtained within the beam energy scan program are analyzed within the Parton-Hadron-String-Dynamics (PHSD/HSD) transport models. Both versions of the kinetic approach are used to clarify the role of partonic degrees of freedom. The PHSD results, simulating a partonic phase and its coexistence with a hadronic one, are roughly consistent with the STAR data. Generally, the semi-qualitative agreement between the measured data and model results supports the idea of a crossover type of quark-hadron transition which softens the nuclear EoS but shows no indication of a first-order phase transition. Furthermore, the directed flow of kaons and antikaons is evaluated in the PHSD/HSD approachesfrom √sNN ≈ 3 - 200 GeV which shows a high sensitivity to hadronic potentials in the FAIR/NICA energy regime √sNN ≤ 8 GeV

Decay anisotropy of e+e- sources from pN and pd collisions

A full calculation of lepton-pair angular characteristics is carried out for e^+e^- pairs created in pp, pn and pd collisions at intermediate energies. It is demonstrated that the proposed new observable, the dilepton decay anisotropy, quite sensitively changes for different sources and may be useful for their disentangling. The relevance of the dilepton decay anisotropy is shown in the context of a puzzling energy behavior for the ratio of the lepton yield from pd to pp reactions as observed at the BEVALAC

Electromagnetic field evolution in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The hadron string dynamics (HSD) model is generalized to include the creation and evolution of retarded electromagnetic fields as well as the influence of the magnetic and electric fields on the quasiparticle propagation. The time-space structure of the fields is analyzed in detail for non-central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$200 GeV. It is shown that the created magnetic field is highly inhomogeneous but in the central region of the overlapping nuclei it changes relatively weakly in the transverse direction. For the impact parameter $b=$10 fm the maximal magnetic field - perpendicularly to the reaction plane - is obtained of order $eB_y/m_\pi^2\sim$5 for a very short time $\sim$ 0.2 fm/c, which roughly corresponds to the time of a maximal overlap of the colliding nuclei. We find that at any time the location of the maximum in the $eB_y$ distribution correlates with that of the energy density of the created particles. In contrast, the electric field distribution, being also highly inhomogeneous, has a minimum in the center of the overlap region. Furthermore, the field characteristics are presented as a function of the collision energy and the centrality of the collisions. To explore the effect of the back reaction of the fields on hadronic observables a comparison of HSD results with and without fields is exemplified. Our actual calculations show no noticeable influence of the electromagnetic fields - created in heavy-ion collisions - on the effect of the electric charge separation with respect to the reaction plane.Comment: 17 pages, 22 figures, title changed by editor, accepted for PR

Lattice QCD Constraints on Hybrid and Quark Stars

A QCD-motivated dynamical-quasiparticle model with parameters adjusted to reproduce the lattice-QCD equation of state is extrapolated from region of high temperatures and moderate baryonic densities to the domain of high baryonic densities and zero temperature. The resulting equation of state matched with realistic hadronic equations of state predicts a phase transition into the quark phase at higher densities than those reachable in neutron star interiors. This excludes the possibility of the existence of hybrid (hadron-quark) stars. Pure quark stars are possible and have low masses, small radii and very high central densities. Similar results are obtained for a simple bag model with massive quarks, fitted to reproduce the same lattice results. Self-bound quark matter is also excluded within these models. Uncertainties in the present extrapolation re discussed. Comparison with standard bag models is made.Comment: 13 p., 8 figs., 7 tables, Version accepted by Phys. Rev.