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The aim of this work is to develop an effective equation of state for QCD, having the correct asymptotic degrees of freedom, to be used as input for dynamical studies of heavy ion collisions. We present an approach for modeling an EoS that respects the symmetries underlying QCD, and includes the correct asymptotic degrees of freedom, i.e. quarks and gluons at high temperature and hadrons in the low-temperature limit. We achieve this by including quarks degrees of freedom and the thermal contribution of the Polyakov loop in a hadronic chiral sigma-omega model. The hadronic part of the model is a nonlinear realization of an sigma-omega model. As the fundamental symmetries of QCD should also be present in its hadronic states such an approach is widely used to describe hadron properties below and around Tc. The quarks are introduced as thermal quasi particles, coupling to the Polyakov loop, while the dynamics of the Polyakov loop are controlled by a potential term which is fitted to reproduce pure gauge lattice data. In this model the sigma field serves a the order parameter for chiral restoration and the Polyakov loop as order parameter for deconfinement. The hadrons are suppressed at high densities by excluded volume corrections. As a next step, we introduce our new HQ model equation of state in a microscopic+macroscopic hybrid approach to heavy ion collisions. This hybrid approach is based on the Ultra-relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics (UrQMD) transport approach with an intermediate hydrodynamical evolution for the hot and dense stage of the collision. The present implementation allows to compare pure microscopic transport calculations with hydrodynamic calculations using exactly the same initial conditions and freeze-out procedure. The effects of the change in the underlying dynamics - ideal fluid dynamics vs. non-equilibrium transport theory - are explored. The final pion and proton multiplicities are lower in the hybrid model calculation due to the isentropic hydrodynamic expansion while the yields for strange particles are enhanced due to the local equilibrium in the hydrodynamic evolution. The elliptic and directed flow are shown to be not sensitive to changes in the EoS while the smaller mean free path in the hydrodynamic evolution reflects directly in higher flow results which are consistent with the experimental data. This finding indicates qualitatively that physical mechanisms like viscosity and other non equilibrium effects play an essentially more important role than the EoS when bulk observables like flow are investigated. In the last chapter, results for the thermal production of MEMOs in nucleus-nucleus collisions from a combined micro+macro approach are presented. Multiplicities, rapidity and transverse momentum spectra are predicted for Pb+Pb interaction at different beam energies. The presented excitation functions for various MEMO multiplicities show a clear maximum at the upper FAIR energy regime making this facility the ideal place to study the production of these exotic forms of multistrange objects.
The thermal fit to preliminary HADES data of Au+Au collisions at sNN=2.4 GeV shows two degenerate solutions at T≈50 MeV and T≈70 MeV. The analysis of the same particle yields in a transport simulation of the UrQMD model yields the same features, i.e. two distinct temperatures for the chemical freeze-out. While both solutions yield the same number of hadrons after resonance decays, the feeddown contribution is very different for both cases. This highlights that two systems with different chemical composition can yield the same multiplicities after resonance decays. The nature of these two minima is further investigated by studying the time-dependent particle yields and extracted thermodynamic properties of the UrQMD model. It is confirmed, that the evolution of the high temperature solution resembles cooling and expansion of a hot and dense fireball. The low temperature solution displays an unphysical evolution: heating and compression of matter with a decrease of entropy. These results imply that the thermal model analysis of systems produced in low energy nuclear collisions is ambiguous but can be interpreted by taking also the time evolution and resonance contributions into account.
We study the correlation between the distributions of the net-charge, net-kaon, net-baryon and net-proton number at hadronization and after the final hadronic decoupling by simulating ultra relativistic heavy ion collisions with the hybrid version of the ultrarelativistic quantum molecular dynamics (UrQMD) model. We find that due to the hadronic rescattering these distributions are not strongly correlated. The calculated change of the correlation, during the hadronic expansion stage, does not support the recent paradigm, namely that the measured final moments of the experimentally observed distributions do give directly the values of those distributions at earlier times, when the system had been closer to the QCD crossover.
We analyze hadrochemical freeze-out in central Pb+Pb collisions at CERN SPS and LHC energies. Employing the UrQMD hybrid transport model we study the effects of the final hadron/resonance expansion phase on the hadron multiplicities established at hadronization. The bulk meson yields freeze out directly at hadronization whereas the baryon-antibaryon sector is subject to significant alterations, due to annihilation and regeneration processes. We quantify the latter changes by survival factors for each species which are applied to modify the statistical model predictions for the data. The modified SM analysis recovers the hadronization points, which coincide with the recent lattice QCD predictions of the parton-hadron transition line at finite baryochemical potential.
Recent results on baryon production in relativistic heavy ion collisions show that a revision of the chemical freeze-out conditions is necessary. Particularly, there is evidence that chemical freezeout does not occur at full chemical equilibrium. We present a method to reconstruct original hadronization conditions and show that the newly found points in the T − µB plane are in very good agreement with extrapolations of the lattice QCD critical line.
Spinodal crumbling
(2013)
Extending a previously developed two-phase equation of state, we simulate head-on relativistic lead-lead collisions with fluid dynamics, augmented with a finite-range term, and study the effects of the phase structure on the evolution of the baryon density. For collision energies that bring the bulk of the system into the mechanically unstable spinodal region of the phase diagram, the density irregularities are being amplified significantly. We also present results for the associated clump size distribution.
The QGP that might be created in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions is expected to radiate thermal dilepton radiation. However, this thermal dilepton radiation interferes with dileptons originating from hadron decays. In the invariant mass region between the f and J=y peak (1GeV <= M l+l <=. 3GeV) the most substantial background of hadron decays originates from correlated DD¯ -meson decays. We evaluate this background using a Langevin simulation for charm quarks. As background medium we utilize the well-tested UrQMD-hybrid model. The required drag and diffusion coefficients are taken from a resonance approach. The decoupling of the charm quarks from the hot medium is performed at a temperature of 130MeV and as hadronization mechanism a coalescence approach is chosen. This model for charm quark interactions with the medium has already been successfully applied to the study of the medium modification and the elliptic flow at FAIR, RHIC and LHC energies. In this proceeding we present our results for the dilepton radiation from correlated D¯D decays at RHIC energy in comparison to PHENIX measurements in the invariant mass range between 1 and 3 GeV using different interaction scenarios. These results can be utilized to estimate the thermal QGP radiation.
The coordinate and momentum space configurations of the net baryon number in heavy ion collisions that undergo spinodal decomposition, due to a first-order phase transition, are investigated using state-of-the-art machine-learning methods. Coordinate space clumping, which appears in the spinodal decomposition, leaves strong characteristic imprints on the spatial net density distribution in nearly every event which can be detected by modern machine learning techniques. On the other hand, the corresponding features in the momentum distributions cannot clearly be detected, by the same machine learning methods, in individual events. Only a small subset of events can be systematically differ- entiated if only the momentum space information is available. This is due to the strong similarity of the two event classes, with and without spinodal decomposition. In such sce- narios, conventional event-averaged observables like the baryon number cumulants signal a spinodal non-equilibrium phase transition. Indeed the third-order cumulant, the skewness, does exhibit a peak at the beam energy (Elab = 3–4 A GeV), where the transient hot and dense system created in the heavy ion collision reaches the first-order phase transition.
We discuss the effect of exotic particles in neutron star matter and the corresponding impact on gross properties of neutron stars within effective models for the strong interaction. Particularly, for the quark-hadron parity-doublet model, we show results for compact star properties and discuss the phase structure of the model and its possible relevance for heavy-ion collision phenomenology.
The recent discovery of binary neutron star mergers has opened a new and exciting venue of research into hot and dense strongly interacting matter. For the first time, this elusive state of matter, described by the theory of quantum chromo dynamics, can be studied in two very different environments. On the macroscopic scale, in the collisions of neutron stars; and on the microscopic scale, in collisions of heavy ions at particle collider facilities. We will discuss the conditions that are created in these mergers and the corresponding high energy nuclear collisions. This includes the properties of quantum chromo dynamics matter, that is, the expected equation of state as well as expected chemical and thermodynamic properties of this exotic matter. To explore this matter in the laboratory, a new research prospect is available at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research, FAIR. The new facility is being constructed adjacent to the existing accelerator complex of the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research at Darmstadt/Germany, expanding the research goals and technical possibilities substantially. The worldwide unique accelerator and experimental facilities of FAIR will open the way for a broad spectrum of unprecedented research supplying a variety of experiments in hadron, nuclear, atomic, and plasma physics as well as biomedical and material science, which will be briefly described.
In this talk we presented a novel technique, based on Deep Learning, to determine the impact parameter of nuclear collisions at the CBM experiment. PointNet based Deep Learning models are trained on UrQMD followed by CBMRoot simulations of Au+Au collisions at 10 AGeV to reconstruct the impact parameter of collisions from raw experimental data such as hits of the particles in the detector planes, tracks reconstructed from the hits or their combinations. The PointNet models can perform fast, accurate, event-by-event impact parameter determination in heavy ion collision experiments. They are shown to outperform a simple model which maps the track multiplicity to the impact parameter. While conventional methods for centrality classification merely provide an expected impact parameter distribution for a given centrality class, the PointNet models predict the impact parameter from 2–14 fm on an event-by-event basis with a mean error of −0.33 to 0.22 fm.
A new method of event characterization based on Deep Learning is presented. The PointNet models can be used for fast, online event-by-event impact parameter determination at the CBM experiment. For this study, UrQMD and the CBM detector simulation are used to generate Au+Au collision events at 10 AGeV which are then used to train and evaluate PointNet based architectures. The models can be trained on features like the hit position of particles in the CBM detector planes, tracks reconstructed from the hits or combinations thereof. The Deep Learning models reconstruct impact parameters from 2-14 fm with a mean error varying from -0.33 to 0.22 fm. For impact parameters in the range of 5-14 fm, a model which uses the combination of hit and track information of particles has a relative precision of 4-9% and a mean error of -0.33 to 0.13 fm. In the same range of impact parameters, a model with only track information has a relative precision of 4-10% and a mean error of -0.18 to 0.22 fm. This new method of event-classification is shown to be more accurate and less model dependent than conventional methods and can utilize the performance boost of modern GPU processor units.
A novel method for identifying the nature of QCD transitions in heavy-ion collision experiments is introduced. PointNet based Deep Learning (DL) models are developed to classify the equation of state (EoS) that drives the hydrodynamic evolution of the system created in Au-Au collisions at 10 AGeV. The DL models were trained and evaluated in different hypothetical experimental situations. A decreased performance is observed when more realistic experimental effects (acceptance cuts and decreased resolutions) are taken into account. It is shown that the performance can be improved by combining multiple events to make predictions. The PointNet based models trained on the reconstructed tracks of charged particles from the CBM detector simulation discriminate a crossover transition from a first order phase transition with an accuracy of up to 99.8%. The models were subjected to several tests to evaluate the dependence of its performance on the centrality of the collisions and physical parameters of fluid dynamic simulations. The models are shown to work in a broad range of centralities (b=0–7 fm). However, the performance is found to improve for central collisions (b=0–3 fm). There is a drop in the performance when the model parameters lead to reduced duration of the fluid dynamic evolution or when less fraction of the medium undergoes the transition. These effects are due to the limitations of the underlying physics and the DL models are shown to be superior in its discrimination performance in comparison to conventional mean observables.
The effect of nuclear interactions on measurable net-proton number fluctuations in heavy ion collisions at the SIS18/GSI accelerator is investigated. The state of the art UrQMD model including interaction potentials is employed. It is found that the nuclear forces enhance the baryon number cumulants, as predicted from grand canonical thermodynamical models. The effect however is smeared out for proton number fluctuations due to iso-spin randomization and global baryon number conservation, which decreases the cumulant ratios. For a rapidity acceptance window larger than Δy > 0.4 the effects of global baryon number conservation dominate and all cumulant ratios are significantly smaller than 1.
We study the production of entropy in the context of a nonequilibrium chiral phase transition. The dynamical symmetry breaking is modeled by a Langevin equation for the order parameter coupled to the Bjorken dynamics of a quark plasma. We investigate the impact of dissipation and noise on the entropy and explore the possibility of reheating for crossover and first-order phase transitions, depending on the expansion rate of the fluid. The relative increase in is estimated to range from 10% for a crossover to 100% for a first-order phase transition at low beam energies, which could be detected in the pion-to-proton ratio as a function of beam energy.
The pion-to-proton ratio is identified as a potential signal for a non-equilibrium first-order chiral phase transition in heavy-ion collisions, as the pion multiplicity is directly related to entropy production. To showcase this effect, a non-equilibrium Bjorken expansion starting from realistic initial conditions along a Taub adiabat is used to simulate the entropy production. Different dynamical criteria to determine the final entropy-per-baryon number are investigated and matched to a hadron resonance gas model along the chemical freeze out curve to obtain the final pion and proton numbers. We detect a strong enhancement of their multiplicity ratio at the energies where the system experiences a strong phase transition as compared to a smooth crossover which shows almost no enhancement.
Effects of a phase transition on HBT correlations in an integrated Boltzmann+hydrodynamics approach
(2009)
A systematic study of HBT radii of pions, produced in heavy ion collisions in the intermediate energy regime (SPS), from an integrated (3+1)d Boltzmann+hydrodynamics approach is presented. The calculations in this hybrid approach, incorporating an hydrodynamic stage into the Ultra-relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics transport model, allow for a comparison of different equations of state retaining the same initial conditions and final freeze-out. The results are also compared to the pure cascade transport model calculations in the context of the available data. Furthermore, the effect of different treatments of the hydrodynamic freeze-out procedure on the HBT radii are investigated. It is found that the HBT radii are essentially insensitive to the details of the freeze-out prescription as long as the final hadronic interactions in the cascade are taken into account. The HBT radii RL and RO and the RO/RS ratio are sensitive to the EoS that is employed during the hydrodynamic evolution. We conclude that the increased lifetime in case of a phase transition to a QGP (via a Bag Model equation of state) is not supported by the available data.
We apply a coupled transport-hydrodynamics model to discuss the production of multi-strange meta-stable objects in Pb + Pb reactions at the FAIR facility. In addition to making predictions for yields of these particles we are able to calculate particle dependent rapidity and momentum distributions. We argue that the FAIR energy regime is the optimal place to search for multi-strange baryonic object (due to the high baryon density, favoring a distillation of strangeness). Additionally, we show results for strangeness and baryon density fluctuations. Using the UrQMD model we calculate the strangeness separation in phase space which might lead to an enhanced production of MEMOs compared to models that assume global thermalization.
Gravitational waves, electromagnetic radiation, and the emission of high energy particles probe the phase structure of the equation of state of dense matter produced at the crossroad of the closely related relativistic collisions of heavy ions and of binary neutron stars mergers. 3 + 1 dimensional special- and general relativistic hydrodynamic simulation studies reveal a unique window of opportunity to observe phase transitions in compressed baryon matter by laboratory based experiments and by astrophysical multimessenger observations. The astrophysical consequences of a hadron-quark phase transition in the interior of a compact star will be focused within this article. Especially with a future detection of the post-merger gravitational wave emission emanated from a binary neutron star merger event, it would be possible to explore the phase structure of quantum chromodynamics. The astrophysical observables of a hadron-quark phase transition in a single compact star system and binary hybrid star merger scenario will be summarized within this article. The FAIR facility at GSI Helmholtzzentrum allows one to study the universe in the laboratory, and several astrophysical signatures of the quark-gluon plasma have been found in relativistic collisions of heavy ions and will be explored in future experiments.
The long-awaited detection of a gravitational wave from the merger of a binary neutron star in August 2017 (GW170817) marks the beginning of the new field of multi-messenger gravitational wave astronomy. By exploiting the extracted tidal deformations of the two neutron stars from the late inspiral phase of GW170817, it is now possible to constrain several global properties of the equation of state of neutron star matter. However, the most interesting part of the high density and temperature regime of the equation of state is solely imprinted in the post-merger gravitational wave emission from the remnant hypermassive/supramassive neutron star. This regime was not observed in GW170817, but will possibly be detected in forthcoming events within the current observing run of the LIGO/VIRGO collaboration. Numerous numerical-relativity simulations of merging neutron star binaries have been performed during the last decades, and the emitted gravitational wave profiles and the interior structure of the generated remnants have been analysed in detail. The consequences of a potential appearance of a hadron-quark phase transition in the interior region of the produced hypermassive neutron star and the evolution of its underlying matter in the phase diagram of quantum cromo dynamics will be in the focus of this article. It will be shown that the different density/temperature regions of the equation of state can be severely constrained by a measurement of the spectral properties of the emitted post-merger gravitational wave signal from a future binary compact star merger event.