Probing the Neutron Skin with Ultrarelativistic Isobaric Collisions
Hanlin Li, H. Xu, Ying Zhou, Xiaobao Wang, J. Zhao, Lie-Wen Chen, F. Wang
Abstract
Particle production in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions depends on the details of the nucleon density distributions in the colliding nuclei. We demonstrate that the charged hadron multiplicity distributions in isobaric collisions at ultrarelativistic energies provide a novel approach to determine the poorly known neutron density distributions and thus the neutron skin thickness in finite nuclei, which can in turn put stringent constraints on the nuclear symmetry energy.
Topics & Concepts
PhysicsIsobaric processNuclear physicsNeutronHadronMultiplicity (mathematics)Heavy ionCharged particleNucleonIonQuantum mechanicsThermodynamicsMathematical analysisMathematicsHigh-Energy Particle Collisions ResearchNuclear physics research studiesQuantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions