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Signatures of α Clustering in Light Nuclei from Relativistic Nuclear Collisions

Wojciech Broniowski and Enrique Ruiz Arriola
Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 112501 – Published 18 March 2014
Physics logo See Synopsis: An Untested Window into Nuclear Structure

Abstract

We argue that relativistic nuclear collisions may provide experimental evidence of α clustering in light nuclei. A light α-clustered nucleus has a large intrinsic deformation. When collided against a heavy nucleus at very high energies, this deformation transforms into the deformation of the fireball in the transverse plane. The subsequent collective evolution of the fireball leads to harmonic flow reflecting the deformation of the initial shape, which can be measured with standard methods of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We illustrate the feasibility of the idea by modeling the C12Pb208 collisions and point out that very significant quantitative and qualitative differences between the α-clustered and uniform C12 nucleus occur in such quantities as the triangular flow, its event-by-event fluctuations, or the correlations of the elliptic and triangular flows. The proposal offers a possibility of studying low-energy nuclear structure phenomena with “snapshots” made with relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

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  • Received 1 December 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.112501

© 2014 American Physical Society

Synopsis

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An Untested Window into Nuclear Structure

Published 18 March 2014

Relativistic heavy-ion collisions could provide a snapshot of alpha clustering in light nuclei.

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Authors & Affiliations

Wojciech Broniowski1,2,* and Enrique Ruiz Arriola3,†

  • 1Institute of Physics, Jan Kochanowski University, 25-406 Kielce, Poland
  • 2H. Niewodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, 31-342 Cracow, Poland
  • 3Departamento de Física Atómica, Molecular y Nuclear and Instituto Carlos I de Física Teórica y Computacional, Universidad de Granada, E-18071 Granada, Spain

  • *Wojciech.Broniowski@ifj.edu.pl
  • earriola@ugr.es

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Issue

Vol. 112, Iss. 11 — 21 March 2014

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