Recent Progress in Constraining the Equation of State of Dense Neutron-Rich Nuclear Matter with Heavy-Ion Reactions

The nuclear symmetry energy E-sym(rho) is the most uncertain part of the Equation of State (EOS) of dense neutron-rich nuclear matter. In this talk, we discuss the underlying physics responsible for the uncertain E-sym(rho) especially at supra-saturation densities, the circumstantial evidence for a super-soft E-sym(rho) from analyzing pi(-)/pi(+) ratio in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and its impacts on astrophysics and cosmology.

Probing high-density behavior of symmetry energy from pion emission in heavy-ion collisions

Within the framework of the improved isospin dependent quantum molecular dynamics (ImIQMD) model, the emission of pion in heavy-ion collisions in the region 1 A GeV as a probe of nuclear symmetry energy at supra-saturation densities is investigated systematically, in which the pion is considered to be mainly produced by the decay of resonances Delta(1232) and N*(1440). The total pion multiplicities and the pi(-)/pi(+) yields are calculated for selected Skyrme parameters SkP, SLy6. Ska and SIB, and also for the cases of different stiffness of symmetry energy with the parameter SLy6. Preliminary results compared with the measured data by the FOPI Collaboration favor a hard symmetry energy of the potential term proportional to (rho/rho(0))(gamma s) with gamma(s) = 2. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Potential sputtering by Highly Charged Ion bombardment on Au surface

The sputtered particle yields produced by Pbq+ (q=4-36) with constant kinetic energy bombardment on An surface were measured. The sputtering Could be separated to two parts: no potential sputtering is observed when q<24 (E-pot = 9.6 keV) and the sputtering yield increases with E-pot(1.2) for the higher charge states of q >= 24. The potential sputtering is mainly contributed by the relaxation of electronic excitations on target surface produced by the potential energy transfer from projectile to target atoms.

Effects of elastic and inelastic NN scattering cross sections on pi(-)/pi(+) ratios in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies

Based on the isospin-dependent Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck transport model and the scaling model according to nucleon effective mass, effects of elastic and inelastic NN scattering cross sections on pi(-)/pi(+) in the neutron-rich reaction of Ca-48 + Ca-48 at a beam energy of 400 MeV/nucleon are studied. It is found that cross-section effects of both NN elastic and inelastic scatterings affect Delta(1232), pi(-) and pi(+) production, as well as the value of pi(-)/pi(+).

Dynamics of strangeness production in heavy-ion collisions near threshold energies

Within the framework of the improved isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics (ImIQMD) model, the dynamics of strangeness (K-0,K-+, Lambda, and Sigma(-,0,+)) production in heavy-ion collisions near threshold energies is investigated systematically, with the strange particles considered to be produced mainly by inelastic collisions of baryon-baryon and pion-baryon. Collisions in the region of suprasaturation densities of the dense baryonic matter formed in heavy-ion collisions dominate the yields of strangeness production. Total multiplicities as functions of incident energies and collision centralities are calculated with the Skyrme parameter SLy6. The excitation function of strangeness production is analyzed and also compared with the KaoS data for K+ production in the reactions C-12 + C-12 and Au-197 + Au-197.

Power law behavior of the isotope yield distributions in the multifragmentation regime of heavy ion reactions

Isotope yield distributions in the multifragmentation regime were studied with high-quality isotope identification, focusing on the intermediate mass fragments (IMFs) produced in semiviolent collisions. The yields were analyzed within the framework of a modified Fisher model. Using the ratio of the mass-dependent symmetry energy coefficient relative to the temperature, a(sym)/T, extracted in previous work and that of the pairing term, a(p)/T, extracted from this work, and assuming that both reflect secondary decay processes, the experimentally observed isotope yields were corrected for these effects. For a given I = N - Z value, the corrected yields of isotopes relative to the yield of C-12 show a power law distribution Y (N, Z)/Y(C-12) similar to A(-tau) in the mass range 1 <= A <= 30, and the distributions are almost identical for the different reactions studied. The observed power law distributions change systematically when I of the isotopes changes and the extracted tau value decreases from 3.9 to 1.0 as I increases from -1 to 3. These observations are well reproduced by a simple deexcitation model, with which the power law distribution of the primary isotopes is determined to be tau(prim) = 2.4 +/- 0.2, suggesting that the disassembling system at the time of the fragment formation is indeed at, or very near, the critical point.

Dynamics of pion production in heavy-ion collisions around 1A GeV energies

Within the framework of the improved isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics model, the dynamics of pion emission in heavy-ion collisions in the region of 1A GeV energies as a probe of nuclear symmetry energy at suprasaturation densities is investigated systematically. The total pion multiplicities and the pi(-)/pi(+) yields are calculated for selected Skyrme parameters SkP, SLy6, Ska, and SIII and also for the cases of different stiffness of symmetry energy with the parameter SLy6. The influence of Coulomb potential, symmetry energy, and in-medium pion potential on the pion production is investigated and compared to each other by analyzing the distributions of transverse momentum and longitudinal rapidity and also the excitation functions of the total pion and the pi(-)/pi(+) ratio. The directed flow, elliptic flow, and polar-angle distributions are calculated for the cases of different collision centralities and also the various stiffnesses of the symmetry energies. A comparison of the calculations with the available experimental data is performed.

Parton energy loss in heavy-ion collisions via direct-photon and charged-particle azimuthal correlations

Charged-particle spectra associated with direct photon (gamma(dir)) and pi(0) are measured in p + p and Au + Au collisions at center-of-mass energy root(S)(NN) = 200 GeV with the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. A shower-shape analysis is used to partially discriminate between gamma(dir) and pi(0). Assuming no associated charged particles in the gamma(dir) direction ( near side) and small contribution from fragmentation photons (gamma(frag)), the associated charged-particle yields opposite to gamma(dir) (away side) are extracted. In central Au + Au collisions, the charged-particle yields at midrapidity (vertical bar eta vertical bar < 1) and high transverse momentum (3 < (assoc)(PT) < 16 GeV/c) associated with gamma(dir) and pi(0) (vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.9, 8 < (trig)(PT) < 16 GeV/c) are suppressed by a factor of 3-5 compared with p + p collisions. The observed suppression of the associated charged particles is similar for gamma(dir) and pi(0) and independent of the gamma(dir) energy within uncertainties. These measurements indicate that, in the kinematic range covered and within our current experimental uncertainties, the parton energy loss shows no sensitivity to the parton initial energy, path length, or color charge.

Isocaling and the symmetry energy in the multifragmentation regime of heavy-ion collisions

The ratio of the symmetry energy coefficient to temperature, a(sym)/T, in Fermi energy heavy-ion collisions, was experimentally extracted as a function of the fragment atomic number using isoscaling parameters and the variance of the isotope distributions. The extracted values were compared to the results of calculations made with an antisymmetrized molecular dynamics (AMD) model employing a statistical decay code to account for deexcitation of excited primary fragments. The experimental values are in good agreement with the values calculated from the final ground-state products but are significantly different from those characterizing the yields of the primary AMD fragments.

Observation of charge-dependent azimuthal correlations and possible local strong parity violation in heavy-ion collisions

Parity (P)-odd domains, corresponding to nontrivial topological solutions of the QCD vacuum, might be created during relativistic heavy-ion collisions. These domains are predicted to lead to charge separation of quarks along the orbital momentum of the system created in noncentral collisions. To study this effect, we investigate a three-particle mixed-harmonics azimuthal correlator which is a P-even observable, but directly sensitive to the charge-separation effect. We report measurements of this observable using the STAR detector in Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions at root s(NN) = 200 and 62 GeV. The results are presented as a function of collision centrality, particle separation in rapidity, and particle transverse momentum. A signal consistent with several of the theoretical expectations is detected in all four data sets. We compare our results to the predictions of existing event generators and discuss in detail possible contributions from other effects that are not related to P violation.

Observation of pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)pi(-) photoproduction in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV at the STAR detector

We present a measurement of pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)pi(-) photonuclear production in ultraperipheral Au-Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV from the STAR experiment. The pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)pi(-) final states are observed at low transverse momentum and are accompanied by mutual nuclear excitation of the beam particles. The strong enhancement of the production cross section at low transverse momentum is consistent with coherent photoproduction. The pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)pi(-) invariant mass spectrum of the coherent events exhibits a broad peak around 1540 +/- 40 MeV/c(2) with a width of 570 +/- 60 MeV/c(2), in agreement with the photoproduction data for the rho(0)(1700). We do not observe a corresponding peak in the pi(+)pi(-) final state and measure an upper limit for the ratio of the branching fractions of the rho(0)(1700) to pi(+)pi(-) and pi(+)pi(-)pi(+)pi(-) of 2.5% at 90% confidence level. The ratio of rho(0)(1700) and rho(0)(770) coherent production cross sections is measured to be 13.4 +/- 0.8(stat.) +/- 4.4(syst.)%.

Isobaric yield ratios and the symmetry energy in heavy-ion reactions near the Fermi energy

The relative isobaric yields of fragments produced in a series of heavy-ion-induced multifragmentation reactions have been analyzed in the framework of a modified Fisher model, primarily to determine the ratio of the symmetry energy coefficient to the temperature, a(sym)/T, as a function of fragment mass A. The extracted values increase from 5 to similar to 16 as A increases from 9 to 37. These values have been compared to the results of calculations using the antisymmetrized molecular dynamics (AMD) model together with the statistical decay code GEMINI. The calculated ratios are in good agreement with those extracted from the experiment. In contrast, the values extracted from the ratios of the primary isobars from the AMD model calculation are similar to 4 to 5 and show little variation with A. This observation indicates that the value of the symmetry energy coefficient derived from final fragment observables may be significantly different than the actual value at the time of fragment formation. The experimentally observed pairing effect is also studied within the same simulations. The Coulomb coefficient is also discussed.

Ne原子(e,2e)反应中反冲离子动量分析；Analysis of Recoil Ion Momentum in Ne(e,2e)Ne~+ Reaction

利用冷靶反冲离子动量谱仪,对电子轰击Ne原子的单电离反应(e,2e)进行了研究,实验测量了70—3300eV入射能量情况下,反应过程中产生的一价反冲离子的动量分布,并对反冲离子的总动量进行了还原。介绍了一个简单的碰撞机制,据此着重分析了反冲离子纵向动量和横向动量二维谱形成的原因,该碰撞机制能够较好地解释较高能量入射时的实验结果。最后根据反冲离子的动量,估算了出射电子的能量范围,为下一步进行电子、离子的符合测量奠定了基础。

Medium effects on pi(-)/pi(+) in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies

Based on the isospin-dependent transport model IBUU and on the scaling model according to nucleon effective mass, effects of elastic and inelastic NN scattering cross-sections on pi(-)/pi(+) in the neutron-rich reaction Ca-48 + Ca-48 at a beam energy of 400MeV/nucleon are studied. It is found that cross-section effects of both NN elastic and inelastic scatterings affect Delta(1232), pi(-) and pi(+) productions as well as the value of pi(-)/pi(+).

Early effects of low dose C-12(6+) ion or X-ray irradiation on human peripheral blood lymphocytes

The aim of this study was to estimate the acute effects of low dose C-12(6+) ions or X-ray radiation on human immune function. The human peripheral blood lymphocytes (HPBL) of seven healthy donors were exposed to 0.05 Gy C-12(6+) ions or X-ray radiation and cell responses were measured at 24 h after exposure. The cytotoxic activities of HPBL were determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT); the percentages of T and NK cells subsets were detected by flow cytometry; mRNA expression of interleukin (IL)-2, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interferon (IFN)-gamma were examined by real time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR); and these cytokines protein levels in supematant of cultured cells were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The results showed that the cytotoxic activity of HPBL, mRNA expression of IL-2, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in HPBL and their protein levels in supernatant were significantly increased at 24 h after exposure to 0.05 Gy C-12(6+) ions radiation and the effects were stronger than observed for X-ray exposure. However, there was no significant change in the percentage of T and NK cells subsets of HPBL. These results suggested that 0.05 Gy high linear energy transfer (LET) C-12(6+) radiation was a more effective approach to host immune enhancement than that of low LET X-ray. We conclude that cytokines production might be used as sensitive indicators of acute response to LDL (C) 2009 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.