Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Preprint (227)
- Article (158)
- Conference Proceeding (7)
- Report (2)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
- Working Paper (1)
Has Fulltext
- yes (396)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (396)
Keywords
- Kollisionen schwerer Ionen (47)
- heavy ion collisions (41)
- Quark-Gluon-Plasma (17)
- equation of state (14)
- QGP (13)
- quark-gluon plasma (12)
- Hadron (11)
- heavy-ion collisions (11)
- Quark Gluon Plasma (10)
- Zustandsgleichung (10)
We investigate the hydrodynamical flow of nuclear matter in a conical-shock-wave scenario of a central, asymmetric heavy-ion collision. This work is motivated by a suggestion of Chapline and Granik that the creation of a deconfined phase of quarks and gluons behind the shock will appreciably increase the deflection angle of the matter flow. We employ several hadron matter equations of state recently suggested to solve the conical-shock-wave problem and compare the results with a calculation using the bag equation of state. We find that large differences in the deflection angle obtained in the rest frame of the shock vanish in the laboratory system. However, a signature for the deconfinement transition may be the transverse momentum of the matter flow, which is up to a factor of 2 larger for the quark-gluon plasma. Thus, an excitation function of the mean transverse momentum would show an increase at a certain bombarding energy, signaling the onset of the deconfinement transition.
We study effects of the mean field in hot compressed nuclear matter in the context of the Vlasov Uehling-Uhlenbeck theory. The expansion of a spherical distribution at different temperatures is studied along with collisions of Nb+Nb and Au+Au at lab energies from 50 to 1050 MeV/nucleon. In both the expansion and the actual heavy ion collision simulation, a transition behavior is seen only at the lowest temperature (T<10 MeV) or bombarding energy (E=50 MeV/nucleon), where the attractive part of the mean field is able to bind the expanding matter. At the lowest energy one thus sees the formation of a central residue, whereas at higher bombarding energies there is complete disintegration of the centrally colliding nuclei. The spectrum of emitted nucleons is found to be much hotter than the kinetic energy spectrum of the central emitting region. The extracted temperature slope parameters are in agreement with recent data.
Streamer chamber data for collisions of Ar + KCl and Ar + BaI2 at 1.2 GeV/nucleon are compared with microscopic model predictions based on the Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck equation, for various density-dependent nuclear equations of state. Multiplicity distributions and inclusive rapidity and transverse momentum spectra are in good agreement. Rapidity spectra show evidence of being useful in determining whether the model uses the correct cross sections for binary collisions in the nuclear medium, and whether momentum-dependent interactions are correctly incorporated. Sideward flow results do not favor the same nuclear stiffness parameter at all multiplicities.
We investigate the onset of multifragmentation employing an improved version of the N-body ‘‘quantum’’ molecular-dynamics approach. We study in detail the reaction 18O+197Au at 84 MeV/nucleon and find good agreement between the calculated results and the data for the double-differential proton cross section, the mass yield, the multiplicity, the kinetic energy of the fragments, and even for the kinematic correlations between intermediate mass fragments (IMF’s), which have been measured in this experiment for the first time. We observe a strong correlation between the impact parameter and both the size of the target remnant as well as the average proton multiplicity. Hence both observables can be used to determine the impact parameter experimentally. The IMF’s come from the most central collisions. The calculations confirm the experimental result that they are not emitted from an equilibrated system. Although the inclusive energy spectra look thermal, we cannot identify an impact parameter-independent isotropically emitting source. Even in central collisions global equilibrium is not observed. We find that multifragment emission at this bombarding energy is caused by a process very similar to that proposed in the macroscopic cold multifragmentation model. Thus it has a different origin than at beam energies around 1 GeV/nucleon, although the mass yield has an almost identical slope.
The rapidity dependence of the single- and double- neutron to proton ratios of nucleon emission from isospin-asymmetric but mass-symmetric reactions Zr+Ru and Ru+Zr at energy range 100 ~ 800 A MeV and impact parameter range 0 ~ 8 fm is investigated. The reaction system with isospin-asymmetry and mass-symmetry has the advantage of simultaneously showing up the dependence on the symmetry energy and the degree of the isospin equilibrium. We find that the beam energy- and the impact parameter dependence of the slope parameter of the double neutron to proton ratio (F_D) as function of rapidity are quite sensitive to the density dependence of symmetry energy, especially at energies E_b ~ 400 A MeV and reduced impact parameters around 0.5. Here the symmetry energy effect on the F_D is enhanced, as compared to the single neutron to proton ratio. The degree of the equilibrium with respect to isospin (isospin mixing) in terms of the F_D is addressed and its dependence on the symmetry energy is also discussed.
Several observables of unbound nucleons which are to some extent sensitive to the medium modifications of nucleon-nucleon elastic cross sections in neutron-rich intermediate energy heavy ion collisions are investigated. The splitting effect of neutron and proton effective masses on cross sections is discussed. It is found that the transverse flow as a function of rapidity, the Q_zz as a function of momentum, and the ratio of halfwidths of the transverse to that of longitudinal rapidity distribution R_t/l are very sensitive to the medium modifications of the cross sections. The transverse momentum distribution of correlation functions of two-nucleons does not yield information on the in-medium cross section.
The pion source as seen through HBT correlations at RHIC energies is investigated within the UrQMD approach. We find that the calculated transverse momentum, centrality, and system size dependence of the Pratt-HBT radii R_L and R_S are reasonably well in line with experimental data. The predicted R_O values in central heavy ion collisions are larger as compared to experimental data. The corresponding quantity sqrt R_O^2-R_S^2 of the pion emission source is somewhat larger than experimental estimates.
We present a calculation of antiproton yields in Si+Al and Si+Au collisions at 14.5A GeV in the framework of the relativistic quantum molecular dynamics approach (RQMD). Multistep processes lead to the formation of high-mass flux tubes. Their decay dominates the initial antibaryon yield. However, the subsequent annihilation in the surrounding baryon-rich matter suppresses the antiproton yield considerably: Two-thirds of all antibaryons are annihilated even for the light Si+Al system. Comparisons with preliminary data of the E802 experiment support this analysis.
Strong correlations between baryon stopping in the projectile rapidity hemisphere and target excitation have been found in the light-ion-induced reactions at the BNL Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) (E814 group). Results in the framework of the relativistic molecular dynamics approach (RQMD) describe recent E814 data quite well. We discuss the RQMD results together with proton and pion data from the E802 group near midrapidity. They have raised the question of whether partial transparency could be seen in these experiments. The RQMD results indicate strong transverse baryon flow in central Si+Au collisions after the projectile has been stopped in the target.
We study dilepton production from a quark-gluon plasma of given energy density at finite quark chemical potential μ and find that the dilepton production rate is a strongly decreasing function of μ. Therefore, the signal to background ratio of dileptons from a plasma created in a heavy-ion collision may decrease significantly.
Viscous hydrodynamic calculations of high energy heavy-ion collisions (Nb-Nb and Au-Au) from 200 to 800 MeV/nucleon are presented. The resulting baryon rapidity distributions, the in-plane transverse momentum transfer (bounce-off), and the azimuthal dependence of the midrapidity particles (off-plane squeeze out) compare well with Plastic Ball data. We find that the considered observables are sensitive both to the nuclear equation of state and to the nuclear shear viscosity η. Transverse momentum distributions indicate a high shear viscosity (η≊60 MeV/fm2 c) in the compression zone, in agreement with nuclear matter estimates. The bulk viscosity ζ influences only the entropy production during the expansion stage; collective observables like flow and dN/dY do not depend strongly on ζ. The recently observed off-plane (φ=90°) squeeze-out, which is found in the triple-differential rapidity distribution, exhibits the strongest sensitivity to the nuclear equation of state. It is demonstrated that for very central collisions, b=1 fm, the squeeze-out is visible even in the double-differential cross section. This is experimentally accessible by studying azimuthally symmetric events, as confirmed recently by data of the European 4π detector collaboration at Gesellchaft für Schwerionforschung Darmstadt.
If density isomers exist they can be detected by measuring the excitation function of subthreshold kaon production. When the system reaches the density where the density isomer has influence on the equation of state (which depends on the beam energy and on the optical potential), we observe a jump in the cross section of the kaons whereas other observables change little. Above threshold Λ¯’s or p¯’s may be used to continue the search. This is the result of microscopic Boltzman-Uehling-Uhlenbeck calculations.
The role of nonequilibrium and quantal effects in fast nucleus-nucleus collisions is studied via the Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck theory which includes the nuclear mean field dynamics, two-body collisions, and Pauli blocking. The intranuclear cascade model, where the dynamics is governed by independent NN collisions, and the Vlasov equation, where the nuclear mean field determines the collision dynamics, are also studied as reference cases. The Vlasov equation (no collision term) yields single particle distribution functions which–after the reaction–are only slightly modified in momentum space; even in central collisions, transparency is predicted. This is in agreement with the predictions of the quantal time-dependent Hartree-Fock method. In contrast, large momentum transfer is obtained when the Uehling-Uhlenbeck collision term is incorporated; then the final momentum distribution is nearly spherically symmetric in the center of mass and a well-equilibrated nuclear system is formed: the nuclei stop each other; the translational kinetic energy is transformed into randomized microscopic motion. The Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck theory is supplemented with a phase space coalescence model of fragment formation. Calculated proton spectra compare well with recent data for Ar(42, 92, and 137 MeV/nucleon) + Ca. Also the total yields of medium mass fragments are well reproduced in the present approach. The mean field dynamics without two-body collisions, on the other hand, exhibits forward peaked proton distributions, in contrast to the data. The cascade approach underpredicts the yields of low energy protons by more than an order of magnitude.
The novel momentum analysis technique introduced by Danielewicz and Odyniec can be used to detect and exhibit collective flow in the light system Ar(1800 MeV/nucleon) + KCl where the usual kinetic energy flow analysis fails. The microscopic Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck theory which includes the nuclear mean field, two-body collisions, and Pauli blocking is used to study this phenomenon. The resulting transverse momentum transfers turn out to be quite sensitive to the nuclear equation of state. From a comparison with experimental data, evidence is presented for a rather stiff nuclear equation of state. The cascade model is unable to describe the data.
Nuclear collisions from 0.3 to 2 GeV/nucleon are studied in a microscopic theory based on Vlasov's self-consistent mean field and Uehling-Uhlenbeck's two-body collision term which respects the Pauli principle. The theory explains simultaneously the observed collective flow and the pion multiplicity and gives their dependence on the nuclear equation of state.
Studying Walecka's mean-field theory we find that one can reproduce the observed binding energy and density of nuclear matter within experimental precision in an area characterized by a line in the coupling-constant plane. A part of this line defines systems which exhibit a phase transition around Tc~200 MeV for zero baryon density. The rest corresponds to such systems where the phase transition is absent; in that case a peak appears in the specific heat around T~200 MeV. We interpret these results as indicating that the hadron phase of nuclear matter alone indicates the occurrence of an abrupt change in the bulk properties around ρV~0 and T~200 MeV.
Two-particle correlation data are presented for the reaction Ar (800 MeV/ nucleon) + Pb. The experimental results are analyzed in the nuclear fluid dynamical and in a linear cascade model. We demonstrate that the collective hydrodynamical correlations dominate the measured two-particle correlation function for the heavy system studied. We discuss the transition from the early stages of the reaction which are governed by few nucleon correlations, to the later stages with their macroscopic flow which can only be reached using heavy colliding systems. The sensitivity of the correlation data on the underlying compressional dissipative processes is analyzed.
Kinetic energy flow in Nb(400 A MeV) + Nb: evidence for hydrodynamic compression of nuclear matter
(1984)
A kinetic-energy—flow analysis of multiplicity-selected collisions of 93Nb(Elab=400A MeV)+93Nb is performed on the basis of the nuclear fluid dynamical model. The effects of finite particle numbers on the flow tensor are explicitly taken into account. Strong sidewards peaks are predicted in dN/dcosθF, the distribution of event by event flow angles. This is in qualitative agreement with recent data from the "Plastic Ball" electronic detection system. Cascade simulations fail to reproduce the data.
Rapidity dependence of entropy production in proton- and nucleus-induced reactions on heavy nuclei
(1984)
The entropy of hot nuclear systems is deduced from the mass distribution of fragments emitted from high energy proton- and nucleus-induced reactions via a quantum statistical model. It is found that the entropy per baryon, S/A, of intermediate rapidity ("participant") fragments is higher than the entropy of target rapidity ("spectator") fragments. The spectator fragments exhibit S/A values of ≅ 1.8 independent of the projectile energy from 30 MeV/nucleon up to 350 GeV. This value of the entropy coincides with the entropy at which nuclear matter becomes unbound.
Microscopic calculations of collective flow probing the short-range nature of the nuclear force
(1984)
Collisions between two nuclei have been modeled by numerical solution of classical approximations to the equations of motion of the constituent nucleons. For the reaction Nb(400 MeV/u)+Nb, a correlated sidewards emission of nucleons is observed. This is attributed to the repulsive short-range component of the nucleon-nucleon potential. A strong dependence of the flow angle on the impact parameter is observed, in accord with recent experimental results.
Energy spectra for p, d, t, 3He, 4He, and 6He from the reaction 12C+197Au at 35 MeV/nucleon are presented. A common intermediate rapidity source is identified using a moving source fit to the spectra that yields cross sections which are compared to analogous data at other bombarding energies and to several different models. The excitation function of the composite to proton ratios is compared with quantum statistical, hydrodynamic, and thermal models.
The quantum molecular dynamic method is used to study multifragmentation and fragment flow and their dependence on in-medium cross sections, momentum dependent interactions, and the nuclear equation of state, for collisions of 197Au+197Au and 93Nb+93Nb in the bombarding energy regime from 100 to 800A MeV. Time and impact parameter dependence of the fragment formation and their implications for the conjectured liquid-vapor phase transition are investigated. We find that the inclusive fragment mass distribution is independent of the equation of state and exhibits a power-law behavior Y(A)∼A-τ with an exponent τ≊-2.3. True multifragmentation events are found in central collisions for energies Elab∼30–200 MeV/nucleon. The associated light fragment (d,t,α) to proton ratios increase with the multiplicity of charged particles and decrease with energy, in agreement with recent experiments. The calculated absolute charged particle multiplicities, the multiplicities of intermediate mass (A>4) fragments, and their respective rapidity distributions do compare well with recent 4π data, but are quite insensitive to the equation of state. On the other hand, these quantities depend sensitively on the nucleon-nucleon scattering cross section, and can be used to determine σ experimentally. The transverse momentum flow of the complex fragments increases with the stiffness of the equation of state. Reduced (in-medium) n-n scattering cross sections reduce the fragment flow. Momentum dependent interactions increase the fragment flow. It is shown that the measured fragment flow at 200A MeV can be reproduced in the model. We find that also the increase of the px/A values with the fragment mass is in agreement with experiments. The calculated fragment flow is too small as compared to the plastic ball data, if a soft equation of state with in-medium corrections (momentum dependent interactions plus reduced cross sections) is employed. An alternative, most intriguing resolution of the puzzle about the stiffness of the equation of state could be an increase of the scattering cross sections due to precritical scattering in the vicinity of a phase transition.
Nuclear transport models including density- and momentum-dependent mean-field effects are compared to intranuclear-cascade models and tested on recent data on inclusive p-like cross sections for 800A-MeV La+La. We find a remarkable agreement between most model calculations but a systematic disagreement with the measured yield at 20°, possibly indicating a need for modification of nuclear transport properties at high densities.
Nuclear transport models are important tools for interpretation of many heavy-ion experiments and are essential in efforts to probe the nuclear equation of state. In order to fulfill these roles, the model predictions should at least agree with observed single-particle-inclusive momentum spectra; however, this agreement has recently been questioned. The present work compares the Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck model to data for mass-symmetric systems ranging from 12C+12C to 139La+139La, and we find good agreement within experimental uncertainties at 0.4A and 0.8A GeV. For currently available data, these uncertainties are too large to permit effective nucleon-nucleon scattering cross sections in the nuclear medium to be extracted at a useful level of precision.
Shock discontinuities around the confinement-deconfinement transition in baryon-rich dense matter
(1989)
A quasiclassical Pauli potential is used to simulate the Fermi motion of nucleons in a molecular dynamical simulation of heavy ion collisions. The thermostatic properties of a Fermi gas with and without interactions are presented. The inclusion of this Pauli potential into the quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) approach yields a model with well defined fermionic ground states, which is therefore also able to give the excitation energies of the emitted fragments. The deexcitation mechanisms (particle evaporation and multifragmentation) of the new model are investigated. The dynamics of the QMD with Pauli potential is tested by a wide range of comparisons of calculated and experimental double-differential cross sections for inclusive p-induced reactions at incident energies of 80 to 160 MeV. Results at 256 and 800 MeV incident proton energy are presented as predictions for completed experiments which are as yet unpublished.
We present a new type of flow analysis, based on a particle-pair correlation function, in which there is no need for an event-by-event determination of the reaction plane. Consequently, the need to correct for dispersion in an estimated reaction plane does not arise. Our method also offers the option to avoid any influence from particle misidentification. Using this method, streamer chamber data for collisions of Ar+KCl and Ar+BaI2 at 1.2 GeV/nucleon are compared with predictions of a nuclear transport model.
Relativistic heavy ion collisions constitute a prolific source of hyperons: tens of hyperons per event are predicted at energies E≥10 GeV/nucleon, providing a scenario for the formation of metastable exotic multihypernuclear objects. They may exhibit exceptional properties: bound neutral (e.g., 4M2Λ2n, 10M2Λ8n, pure Λ droplets, 8Λ) and even negatively charged composites objects with positive baryon number (e.g., 4M2Σ-2n, 6M2Λ2Ξ-2n) could be formed in rare events. Such negative nuclei can easily be identified in a magnetic spectrometer. They could be considerably more abundant than antinuclei of the same A. We use the relativistic meson-baryon field theory—which gives an excellent description of normal nuclear and single-Λ hypernuclear properties—to calculate the rich spectrum of such exotic objects, their stability, and their structure. We also find solutions for a large variety of bound short-lived nuclei (e.g., 8M2Λ,2Σ-2p2n), which may decay strongly via formation of cascade (Ξ) particles. Multi-Ξ hypernuclei are also evaluated. A variety of potential candidates for such metastable exotic nuclei is presented. It turns out that the properties of such exotic multihypernuclear objects reveal quite similar features as the strangelet proposed as a unique signature for quark-gluon plasma formation in heavy ion collisions.
Distillation and survival of strange quark matter droplets in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions
(1991)
Recently it has been suggested that rather cold droplets of absolutely stable or metastable strange-quark matter may be distilled in heavy-ion collisions during the phase transition from a baryon-rich quark-gluon plasma (QGP) to hadron matter. Here we present a model describing the hadronization of the QGP through particle emission, which is based solely on thermodynamical arguments. Pions and K+’s and K0’s carry away entropy and antistrangeness from the system, thus facilitating the cooling process and the strangelet formation. Our results are supported by revised more sophisticated rate calculations. Two rather unexpected results are obtained when this model is applied to the investigation of strangelet production. The strangeness separation mechanism and the formation process works well even for higher initial entropies per baryon, tantamount to higher bombarding energies. The surviving strangelets have a rather high strangeness content, fs∼1.2–2 [i.e., Z/A∼(-0.1)–(-0.5)]. Hence droplets of strange-quark matter with a baryon number of ∼10–30 and with a negative charge may be produced. They may serve as a unique signature for the transient formation of a quark-gluon plasma in heavy-ion collisions.
The statistical model is used to illustrate the consequences of a successive binary decay mechanism as the initial nuclear excitation is pushed towards the limits of stability. The partition of the excitation energy between light and heavy fragments is explicitly calculated, as are the consequences of the decay of the primary light fragments to particle-bound residual nuclei which would be observed experimentally. The test nucleus 100 44 Ru is considered at initial excitations of 100, 200, 400, and 800 MeV. Exit channels of n, p, and α; and 100 clusters of 3 ≤ Z ≤ 20 ≤ 4, 6 ≤ A ≤ 48 are considered from all nuclides in the deexcitation cascade. The total primary and final cluster yields are shown versus Z and initial excitation. The primary versus final yields are also shown individually for 12C, 26Mg, and 48Ca. We show how multifragmentation yields will change with the excitation energy due to a successive binary decay mechanism. Measurements that may be prone to misinterpretation are discussed, as are those that should be representative of initial nucleus excitation.
Strange hadronic matter
(1993)
In an extended mean field theory, we find a large class of bound multistrange objects, formed from combinations of {p,n,Λ,Ξ0,Ξ-} baryons, which are stable against strong decay. We predict a maximal binding energy per baryon of EB/A≊-21 MeV, strangeness per baryon fs≊1.2, charge per baryon fq≊-0.1 to 0, and baryon density 2.5–3 times that of ordinary nuclei. For A≥6, we obtain stable combinations involving only {Λ,Ξ0,Ξ-} hyperons.
Experimental results are presented on the charge, velocity, and angular distributions of intermediate mass fragments (IMFs) for the reaction Fe+Au at bombarding energies of 50 and 100 MeV/nucleon. Results are compared to the quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) model and a modified QMD which includes a Pauli potential and follows the subsequent statistical decay of excited reaction products. The more complete model gives a good representation of the data and suggests that the major source of IMFs at large angles is due to multifragmentation of the target residue.
Stopping power and thermalization in relativistic heavy ion collisions is investigated employing the quantum molecular dynamics approach. For heavy systems stopping of the incoming nuclei is predicted, independent of the energy. The influence of the quantum effects and their increasing importance at low energies, is demonstrated by inspection of the mean free path of the nucleons and the n-n collision number. Classical models, which neglect these effects, overestimate the stopping and the thermalization as well as the collective flow and squeeze out. The sensitivity of the transverse and longitudinal momentum transfer to the in-medium cross section and to the pressure is investigated.
Azimuthal correlations of pions are studied with the quantum molecular dynamics model. Pions are preferentially emitted perpendicular to the reaction plane. Our analysis shows that this anisotropy is dominated by pion absorption on the spectator matter in the reaction plane. Pions emitted perpendicular to the reaction plane undergo less rescattering than those emitted in the reaction plane and might therefore be more sensitive to the early hot and dense reaction phase.
Accurate impact parameter determination in a heavy-ion collision is crucial for almost all further analysis. We investigate the capabilities of an artificial neural network in that respect. First results show that the neural network is capable of improving the accuracy of the impact parameter determination based on observables such as the flow angle, the average directed inplane transverse momentum and the difference between transverse and longitudinal momenta. However, further investigations are necessary to discover the full potential of the neural network approach.
We analyze the phase structure of the nonlinear mean-field meson theory of baryonic matter (nucleons plus delta resonances). Depending on the choice of the coupling constants, we find three physically distinct phase transitions in this theory: a nucleonic liquid-gas transition in the low temperature, Tc<20 MeV, low density, ρ≃0.5ρ0, regime, a high-temperature (T≃150 MeV) finite density transition from a gas of massive hadrons to a nearly massless baryon, antibaryon plasma, and, third, a strong phase transition from the nucleonic fluid to a resonance-dominated ‘‘delta-matter’’ isomer at ρ>2ρ0 and Tc<50 MeV. All three phase transitions are of first order. It is shown that the occurrence of these different phase transitions depends critically on the coupling constants. Since the production of pions also depends strongly on the coupling constants, it is seen that the equation of state cannot be derived unambiguously from pion data.
In the present paper we develop the essential theoretical tools for the treatment of the dynamics of High Energy Heavy Ion Collisions. We study the influence of the nuclear equation of state and discuss the new phenomena connected with phase transitions in nuclear matter (pion condensation). Furthermore we investigate the possibility of a transition from nuclear to quark matter in High Energy Heavy Ion Collisions. In this context we discuss exotic phenomena like strongly bound pionic states, limiting temperatures, and exotic nuclei.
Time dependent dirac equation with relativistic mean field dynamics applied to heavy ion scattering
(1986)
We treat the relativistic propagation of nucleons coupled to scalar- and vector-meson fields in a mean-field approximation. The time-dependent Dirac and mean-meson-field equations are solved numerically in three dimensions. Collisions of 16O(300, 600, and 1200 MeV/nucleon) + 16O are studied for various impact parameters. The results are compared to other recent theoretical approaches. The calculations predict spallation, large transverse-momentum transfer, and positive-angle sidewards flow, in qualitative agreement with the data in this energy regime.
We study the recent claim that the intranuclear cascade model exhibits collective sidewards flow. 4000 intranuclear cascade simulations of the reaction Nb(400 MeV/nucleon)+Nb are performed employing bound and unbound versions of the Cugnon cascade. We show that instability of the target and projectile nuclei in the unbound cascade produces substantial spurious sidewards flow angles, for spectators as well as for participants. Once the nuclear binding is included, the peak of the flow angle distributions for the participants alone is reduced from 35° to 17°. The theoretical ‘‘data’’ are subjected to the experimental multiplicity and efficiency cuts of the plastic ball 4π electronic spectrometer system. The flow angular distributions obtained from the bound cascade—with spectators and participants subjected to the plastic ball filter—are forward peaked, in contrast to the plastic ball data. We discuss the uncertainties encountered with the application of the experimental efficiency and multiplicity filter. The influence of the Pauli principle on the flow is also discussed. The lack of flow effects in the cascade model clearly reflects the absence of the nuclear compression energy that can cause substantially larger collective sidewards motion—there is too little intrinsic pressure built up in the cascade model.
The influence of fluctuations of the shape degree of freedom in collisions of deformed nuclei with energies between 0.8 and 2.1 GeV/nucleon is analyzed on the basis of an intranuclear cascade simulation for the strongly deformed systems 46Ti+ 46Ti and 166Er+ 166Er. While there is a considerable sensitivity of the global event variables to the orientation for polarized beams and targets, this dependence disappears in the average over all orientations for impact parameter selected and integrated events. The dependence of the nuclear stopping and thermalization on the size of the system under consideration and on the bombarding energy is also investigated.
Intranuclear cascade calculations and fluid dynamical predictions of the kinetic energy flow are compared for collisions of 40Ca + 40Ca and 238U + 238U. The aspect ratio, R13, as obtained from the global analysis, is independent of the bombarding energy for the intranuclear cascade model. Fluid dynamics, on the other hand, predicts a dramatic increase of R13 at medium energies Elab≲200 MeV/nucleon. In fact, R13(Elab) directly reflects the incompressibility of the nuclear matter and can be used to extract the nuclear equation of stat at high densities. Distortions of the flow tensor due to few nucleon scattering are analyzed. Possible procedures to remove this background from experimental data are discussed.
We present a theoretical description of nuclear collisions which consists of a three-dimensional fluid-dynamical model, a chemical equilibrium breakup calculation for local light fragment (i.e., p, n, d, t, 3He, and 4He) production, and a final thermal evaporation of these particles. The light fragment cross sections and some properties of the heavy target residues are calculated for the asymmetric system Ne+U at 400 MeV/N. The results of the model calculations are compared with recent experimental data. Several observable signatures of the collective hydrodynamical processes are consistent with the present data. An event-by-event analysis of the flow patterns of the various clusters is proposed which can yield deeper insight into the collision dynamics.
The recent attempts to extract the temperature in the late stage of medium energy (20–60 MeV/nucleon) heavy ion collisions from the yields of γ- and particle-instable fragments are discussed. The quantum statistical model is employed to demonstrate that feeding from instable states distorts the yields used for the temperature determination severely. Some particle instable fragments are only moderately affected by feeding. These selected species can still be useful for determining the temperature. The breakup temperatures of the fragment conglomerate extracted with this method are T≃4–8 MeV, much smaller than the corresponding slope factors, which indicate T∼15 MeV.
We demonstrate that momentum-dependent nuclear interactions (MDI) have a large effect on the dynamics and on the observables of high-energy heavy-ion collisions: A soft potential with MDI suppresses pion and kaon yields much more strongly than a local hard potential and results in transverse momenta intermediate between soft and hard local potentials. The collective-flow angles and the deuteron-to-proton ratios are rather insensitive to the MDI. Only simultaneous measurements of these observables can give clues on the nuclear equation of state at densities of interest for supernova collapse and neutron-star stability.
The final states of central Ca + Ca and Nb + Nb collisions at 400 and 1050 MeV/nucleon and at 400 and 650 MeV/nucleon, respectively, are studied with two independently developed statistical models, namely the classical microcanonical model and the quantum-statistical grand canonical model. It is shown that these models are in agreement with each other for these systems. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that there is essentially a one-to-one relationship between the observed relative abundances of the light fragments p, d, t, 3He, and α and the entropy per nucleon, for breakup temperatures greater than 30 MeV. Entropy values of 3.5–4 are deduced from high-multiplicity selected fragment yield data.
We study the dynamics of high energy heavy ion collisions through the Vlasov-Uehling-Uhlenbeck approach. Equilibration is observed, for central collisions. It is shown that the produced entropy, the pion multiplicity, flow angle, and transverse momentum distributions saturate at the moment of maximum compression and temperature. The effects of the nuclear equation of state and the Pauli principle are investigated. For the flow angle distribution there is a 20 deg reduction of the peak flow angle due to the Pauli principle. A stiff equation of state results in a 10–20 deg increase over the soft equation of state at all energies. The transverse momentum at projectile rapidity exhibits a peak structure as a function of impact parameter b. A 40% difference between soft and hard equation of state is observed for the peak impact parameter, i.e., for intermediate multiplicities.
We present a mechanism for the separation of strangeness from antistrangeness in the deconfinement transition. For a net strangeness of zero in the total system, the population of s quarks is greatly enriched in the quark-gluon plasma, while the s¯ quarks drift into the hadronic phase. This separation could result in ‘‘strangelet’’ formation, i.e., metastable blobs of strange-quark matter, which could serve as a unique signature for quark-gluon plasma formation in heavy-ion collisions. PACS: 25.70.Np, 12.38.Mh
The properties of symmetric nuclear matter are investigated in the nonlinear relativistic mean field theory of nuclear matter. We consider the constraints imposed by four nuclear ground state properties on the coupling constants and on the equation of state at zero and at finite temperature. We find that the compression constant K(ρ0) as well as the temperature is irrelevant for the stiffness of the equation of state for m*(ρ0)≤0.7. The main point is that the relativistic mean field theory exhibits acausal and unphysical behavior for compressibilities below K(ρ0)=200 MeV. Every set of coupling constants with a negative quartic coupling constant c is unstable against small quantum fluctuations.
The time dependent Hartree-Fock approximation is used to study the dynamical formation of long-lived superheavy nuclear complexes. The effects of long-range Coulomb polarization are treated in terms of a classical quadrupole polarization model. Our calculations show the existence of "resonantlike" structures over a narrow range of bombarding energies near the Coulomb barrier. Calculations of 238U + 238U are presented and the consequences of these results for supercritical positron emission are discussed. NUCLEAR REACTIONS 238U + 238U collisions as a function of bombarding energy, in the time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation. Superheavy molecules and strongly damped collisions.
Proton spectra have been calculated for the reaction 12C(85 MeV/nucleon) + 197Au using a three-dimensional hydrodynamical model with viscosity and thermal conductivity and final thermal breakup. The theoretical results are compared to recent data. It is shown that the predicted flow effects are not observable as a result of the impact parameter averaging inherent in the inclusive proton spectra. In contrast, angular distributions of medium mass nuclei (A>3) in nearly central collisions can provide signatures for flow effects.
Measurement of complex fragments and clues to the entropy production from 42-137-MeV/nucleon Ar + Au
(1983)
Intermediate-rapidity fragments with A=1-14 emitted from 42-137-MeV/nucleon Ar + Au have been measured. Evidence is presented that these fragments arise from a common moving source. Entropy values are extracted from the mass distributions by use of quantum statistical and Hauser-Feshbach theories. The extracted entropy values of S/A≈2-2.4 are much smaller than the values expected from measured deuteron-to-proton ratios, but are still considerably higher than theoretically predicted values.
The fluid dynamical model is used to study the reactions 20Ne+238U and 40Ar+40Ca at Elab=390 MeV/nucleon. The calculated double differential cross sections d²ð/dΩdE exhibit sidewards maxima in agreement with recent experimental data. The azimuthal dependence of the triple differential distributions, to be obtained from an event-by-event analysis of 4π; exclusive experiments, can yield deeper insight into the collision process: Jets of nuclear matter are predicted with a strongly impact-parameter-dependent thrust angle θjet(b). NUCLEAR REACTIONS Ar+Ca, Ne+U, Elab=393 MeV/nucleon, fluid dynamics with thermal breakup, double differential cross sections, azimuthal dependence of triple differential cross sections, event-by-event thrust analysis of 4π exclusive experiments.
In this work the baryon number and strange susceptibility of second and fourth order are presented. The results at zero baryon-chemical potential are obtained using a well tested chiral effective model including all known hadron degrees of freedom and additionally implementing quarks and gluons in a PNJL-like approach. Quark and baryon number susceptibilities are sensitive to the fundamental degrees of freedom in the model and signal the shift from massive hadrons to light quarks at the deconfinement transition by a sharp rise at the critical temperature. Furthermore, all susceptibilities are found to be largely suppressed by repulsive vector field interactions of the particles. In the hadronic sector vector repulsion of baryon resonances restrains fluctuations to a large amount and in the quark sector above Tc even small vector field interactions of quarks quench all fluctuations unreasonably strong. For this reason, vector field interactions for quarks have to vanish in the deconfinement limit.
The QCD equation of state at finite baryon density is studied in the framework of a Cluster Expansion Model (CEM), which is based on the fugacity expansion of the net baryon density. The CEM uses the two leading Fourier coefficients, obtained from lattice simulations at imaginary μB, as the only model input and permits a closed analytic form. Excellent description of the available lattice data at both μB = 0 and at imaginary μB is obtained. We also demonstrate how the Fourier coefficients can be reconstructed from baryon number susceptibilities.
The state-of-the-art pattern recognition method in machine learning (deep convolution neural network) is used to identify the equation of state (EoS) employed in the relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of heavy ion collisions. High-level correlations of particle spectra in transverse momentum and azimuthal angle learned by the network act as an effective EoS-meter in deciphering the nature of the phase transition in QCD. The EoS-meter is model independent and insensitive to other simulation inputs including the initial conditions and shear viscosity for hydrodynamic simulations. Through this study we demonstrate that there is a traceable encoder of the dynamical information from the phase structure that survives the evolution and exists in the final snapshot of heavy ion collisions and one can exclusively and effectively decode these information from the highly complex final output with machine learning when traditional methods fail. Besides the deep neural network, the performance of traditional machine learning classifiers are also provided.
Collisions of Si(14.5A GeV+Au are investigated in the relativistic-quantum-molecular-dynamics approach. The calculated pseudorapidity distributions for central collisions compare well with recent experimental data, indicating a large degree of nuclear stopping and thermalization. Nevertheless, nonequilibrium effects play an important role in such complex multihadron reactions: They lead to a strong enhancement of the total kaon production cross sections, in good agreement with the experimental data, without requiring the formation of a deconfined quark-gluon plasma.
We present an analysis of high energy heavy ion collisions at intermediate impact parameters, using a two-dimensional fluid-dynamical model including shear and bulk viscosity, heat conduction, a realistic treatment of the nuclear binding, and an analysis of the final thermal emission of free nucleons. We find large collective momentum transfer to projectile and target residues (the highly inelastic bounce-off effect) and explosion of the hot compressed shock zones formed during the impact. As the calculated azimuthal dependence of energy spectra and angular distributions of emitted nucleons depends strongly on the coefficients of viscosity and thermal conductivity, future exclusive measurements may allow for an experimental determination of these transport coefficients. The importance of 4π measurements with full azimuthal information is pointed out.
Angular and energy distributions of fragments emitted from fast nucleus-nucleus collisions (Ne--> U at 250, 400, and 800 MeV/N) are calculated with use of nuclear fluid dynamics. A characteristic dependence of the energy spectra and angular distributions on the impact parameter is predicted. The preferential sideward emission of reaction fragments observed in the calculation for nearly central collisions seems to be supported by recent experimental data.
A unified chiral mean field approach is presented for QCD thermodynamics in a wide range of temperatures and densities. The model simultaneously gives a satisfactory description of lattice QCD thermodynamics and fulfills nuclear matter and astrophysical constraints. The resulting equation of state can be incorporated in relativistic fluid-dynamical simulations of heavy-ion collisions and neutron stars mergers. Access to different regions of the QCD phase diagram can be obtained in simulations of heavy-ion data and observations of neutron star mergers.
In this proceeding, we review our recent work using deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to identify the nature of the QCD transition in a hybrid modeling of heavy-ion collisions. Within this hybrid model, a viscous hydrodynamic model is coupled with a hadronic cascade “after-burner”. As a binary classification setup, we employ two different types of equations of state (EoS) of the hot medium in the hydrodynamic evolution. The resulting final-state pion spectra in the transverse momentum and azimuthal angle plane are fed to the neural network as the input data in order to distinguish different EoS. To probe the effects of the fluctuations in the event-by-event spectra, we explore different scenarios for the input data and make a comparison in a systematic way. We observe a clear hierarchy in the predictive power when the network is fed with the event-by-event, cascade-coarse-grained and event-fine-averaged spectra. The carefully-trained neural network can extract high-level features from pion spectra to identify the nature of the QCD transition in a realistic simulation scenario.
Background: In this interdisciplinary project, the biological effects of heavy ions are compared to those of X-rays using tissue slice culture preparations from rodents and humans. Advantages of this biological model are the conservation of an organotypic environment and the independency from genetic immortalization strategies used to generate cell lines. Its open access allows easy treatment and observation via live-imaging microscopy. Materials and methods: Rat brains and human brain tumor tissue are cut into 300 micro m thick tissue slices. These slices are cultivated using a membrane-based culture system and kept in an incubator at 37°C until treatment. The slices are treated with X-rays at the radiation facility of the University Hospital in Frankfurt at doses of up to 40 Gy. The heavy ion irradiations were performed at the UNILAC facility at GSI with different ions of 11.4 A MeV and fluences ranging from 0.5–10 x 106 particles/cm². Using 3D-confocal microscopy, cell-death and immune cell activation of the irradiated slices are analyzed. Planning of the irradiation experiments is done with simulation programs developed at GSI and FIAS. Results: After receiving a single application of either X-rays or heavy ions, slices were kept in culture for up to 9d post irradiation. DNA damage was visualized using gamma H2AXstaining. Here, a dose-dependent increase and time-dependent decrease could clearly be observed for the X-ray irradiation. Slices irradiated with heavy ions showed less gamma H2AX-positive cells distributed evenly throughout the slice, even though particles were calculated to penetrate only 90–100 micro m into the slice. Conclusions: Single irradiations of brain tissue, even at high doses of 40 Gy, will result neither in tissue damage visible on a macroscopic level nor necrosis. This is in line with the view that the brain is highly radio-resistant. However, DNA damage can be detected very well in tissue slices using gamma H2AX-immuno staining. Thus, slice cultures are an excellent tool to study radiation-induced damage and repair mechanisms in living tissues.
Using a microscopic transport model together with a coalescence after-burner, we study the formation of deuterons in Au + Au central collisions at s = 200 AGeV . It is found that the deuteron transverse momentum distributions are strongly a ected by the nucleon space-momentum correlations, at the moment of freeze-out, which are mostly determined by the number of rescatterings. This feature is useful for studying collision dynamics at ultrarelativistic energies.
Bounding Dark Energy from the SPARC rotation curves: Data driven probe for galaxy virialization
(2024)
Dark Energy (DE) acts as a repulsive force that opposes gravitational attraction. Assuming galaxies maintain a steady state over extended periods, the estimated upper bound on DE studies its resistance to the attractive gravitational force from dark matter. Using the SPARC dataset, we fit the Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) and Hernquist models to identify the most suitable galaxies for these models. Introducing the presence of DE in these galaxies helps establish the upper limit on its repulsive force. This upper bound on DE sits around ρ(<Λ)∼10−25~kg/m3, only two orders of magnitude higher than the one measured by Planck. We discuss the conditions for detecting DE in different systems and show the consistency of the upper bound from galaxies to other systems. The upper bound is of the same order of magnitude as ρ200=200ρc for both dark matter profiles. We also address the implications for future measurements on that upper bound and the condition for detecting the impact of Λ on galactic scales.
Gravitational waves from a core g-mode in supernovae as probes of the high-density equation of state
(2023)
Using relativistic supernova simulations of massive progenitor stars with a quark-hadron equation of state (EoS) and a purely hadronic EoS, we identify a distinctive feature in the gravitational-wave signal that originates from a buoyancy-driven mode (g-mode) below the proto-neutron star convection zone. The mode frequency lies in the range 200≲f≲800Hz and decreases with time. As the mode lives in the core of the proto-neutron star, its frequency and power are highly sensitive to the EoS, in particular the sound speed around twice saturation density.
Gravitational waves from a core g-mode in supernovae as probes of the high-density equation of state
(2023)
Using relativistic supernova simulations of massive progenitor stars with a quark-hadron equation of state (EoS) and a purely hadronic EoS, we identify a distinctive feature in the gravitational-wave signal that originates from a buoyancy-driven mode (g-mode) below the proto-neutron star convection zone. The mode frequency lies in the range 200≲f≲800Hz and decreases with time. As the mode lives in the core of the proto-neutron star, its frequency and power are highly sensitive to the EoS, in particular the sound speed around twice saturation density.
The thermodynamic properties of the interacting particle–antiparticle boson system at high temperatures and densities were investigated within the framework of scalar and thermodynamic mean-field models. We assume isospin (charge) density conservation in the system. The equations of state and thermodynamic functions are determined after solving the self-consistent equations. We study the relationship between attractive and repulsive forces in the system and the influence of these interactions on the thermodynamic properties of the bosonic system, especially on the development of the Bose–Einstein condensate. It is shown that under “weak” attraction, the boson system has a phase transition of the second order, which occurs every time the dependence of the particle density crosses the critical curve or even touches it. It was found that with a “strong” attractive interaction, the system forms a Bose condensate during a phase transition of the first order, and, despite the finite value of the isospin density, these condensate states are characterized by a zero chemical potential. That is, such condensate states cannot be described by the grand canonical ensemble since the chemical potential is involved in the conditions of condensate formation, so it cannot be a free variable when the system is in the condensate phase.
The properties of compact stars and in particular the existence of twin star solutions are investigated within an effective model that is constrained by lattice QCD thermodynamics. The model is modified at large baryon densities to incorporate a large variety of scenarios of first order phase transitions to a phase of deconfined quarks. This is achieved by matching two different variants of the bag model equation of state, in order to estimate the role of the Bag model parameters on the appearance of a second family of neutron stars. The produced sequences of neutron stars are compared with modern constrains on stellar masses, radii, and tidal deformability from astrophysical observations and gravitational wave analyses. It is found that those scenarios in our analysis, in which a third family of stars appeared due to the deconfinement transition, are disfavored from astrophysical constraints.
An extension to the Einstein–Cartan (EC) action is discussed in terms of cosmological solutions. The torsion incorporated in the EC Lagrangian is assumed to be totally anti-symmetric, represented by a time-like axial vector Sμ. The dynamics of torsion is invoked by a novel kinetic term. Here we show that this kinetic term gives rise to dark energy, while the quadratic torsion term, emanating from the EC part, represents a stiff fluid that leads to a bouncing cosmology solution. A constraint on the bouncing solution is calculated using cosmological data from different epochs.
A modification of the Einstein–Hilbert theory, the Covariant Canonical Gauge Gravity (CCGG), leads to a cosmological constant that represents the energy of the space–time continuum when deformed from its (A)dS ground state to a flat geometry. CCGG is based on the canonical transformation theory in the De Donder–Weyl (DW) Hamiltonian formulation. That framework modifies the Einstein–Hilbert Lagrangian of the free gravitational field by a quadratic Riemann–Cartan concomitant. The theory predicts a total energy-momentum of the system of space–time and matter to vanish, in line with the conjecture of a “Zero-Energy-Universe” going back to Lorentz (1916) and Levi-Civita (1917). Consequently, a flat geometry can only exist in presence of matter where the bulk vacuum energy of matter, regardless of its value, is eliminated by the vacuum energy of space–time. The observed cosmological constant Λobs is found to be merely a small correction attributable to deviations from a flat geometry and effects of complex dynamical geometry of space–time, namely torsion and possibly also vacuum fluctuations. That quadratic extension of General Relativity, anticipated already in 1918 by Einstein, thus provides a significant and natural contribution to resolving the “cosmological constant problem”.
Elliptic flow analysis at RHIC with the Lee-Yang Zeroes method in a relativistic transport approach
(2006)
The Lee-Yang zeroes method is applied to study elliptic flow (v_2) in Au+Au collisions at sqrt s =200 A GeV, with the UrQMD model. In this transport approach, the true event plane is known and both the nonflow effects and event-by-event v_2 fluctuations exist. Although the low resolutions prohibit the application of the method for most central and peripheral collisions, the integral and differential elliptic flow from the Lee-Yang zeroes method agrees with the exact v_2 values very well for semi-central collisions.
The transverse momentum dependence of the anisotropic flow v_2 for pi, K, nucleon, Lambda, Xi and Omega is studied for Au+Au collisions at sqrt s_NN = 200 GeV within two independent string-hadron transport approaches (RQMD and UrQMD). Although both models reach only 60% of the absolute magnitude of the measured v_2, they both predict the particle type dependence of v_2, as observed by the RHIC experiments: v_2 exhibits a hadron-mass hierarchy (HMH) in the low p_T region and a number-of-constituent-quark (NCQ) dependence in the intermediate p_T region. The failure of the hadronic models to reproduce the absolute magnitude of the observed v_2 indicates that transport calculations of heavy ion collisions at RHIC must incorporate interactions among quarks and gluons in the early, hot and dense phase. The presence of an NCQ scaling in the string-hadron model results suggests that the particle-type dependencies observed in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate p_T are related to the hadronic cross sections in vacuum rather than to the hadronization process itself, as suggested by quark recombination models.
Based on the UrQMD transport model, the transverse momentum and the rapidity dependence of the Hanbury-Brown-Twiss (HBT) radii R_L, R_O, R_S as well as the cross term R_OL at SPS energies are investigated and compared with the experimental NA49 and CERES data. The rapidity dependence of the R_L, R_O, R_S is weak while the R_OL is significantly increased at large rapidities and small transverse momenta. The HBT "life-time" issue (the phenomenon that the calculated sqrt R_O^2-R_S^2 value is larger than the correspondingly extracted experimental data) is also present at SPS energies.
The cumulant method is applied to study elliptic flow (v_2) in Au+Au collisions at sqrt s=200 AGeV, with the UrQMD model. In this approach, the true event plane is known and both the non-flow effects and event-by-event spatial (epsilon) and v_2 fluctuations exist. Qualitatively, the hierarchy of v_2 's from two, four and six-particle cumulants is consistent with the STAR data, however, the magnitude of v_2 in the UrQMD model is only 60% of the data. We find that the four and six-particle cumulants are good measures of the real elliptic flow over a wide range of centralities except for the most central and very peripheral events. There the cumulant method is affected by the v_2 fluctuations. In mid-central collisions, the four and six-particle cumulants are shown to give a good estimation of the true differential v_2, especially at large transverse momentum, where the two-particle cumulant method is heavily affected by the non-flow effects.
We propose to measure correlations of heavy-flavor hadrons to address the status of thermalization at the partonic stage of light quarks and gluons in high-energy nuclear collisions, shown on the example of azimuthal correlations of D-Dbar pairs. We show that hadronic interactions at the late stage can not disturb these correlations significantly. Thus, a decrease or the complete absence of these initial correlations indicates frequent interactions of heavy-flavor quarks in the partonic stage. Therefore, early thermalization of light quarks is likely to be reached. PACS numbers: 25.75.-q
We propose to measure azimuthal correlations of heavy-flavor hadrons to address the status of thermalization at the partonic stage of light quarks and gluons in high-energy nuclear collisions. In particular, we show that hadronic interactions at the late stage cannot significantly disturb the initial back-to-back azimuthal correlations of DDbar pairs. Thus, a decrease or the complete absence of these initial correlations does indicate frequent interactions of heavy-flavor quarks and also light partons in the partonic stage, which are essential for the early thermalization of light partons.
To be published in J. Phys. G - Proceedings of SQM 2004 : We review the results from the various hydrodynamical and transport models on the collective flow observables from AGS to RHIC energies. A critical discussion of the present status of the CERN experiments on hadron collective flow is given. We emphasize the importance of the flow excitation function from 1 to 50 A.GeV: here the hydrodynamic model has predicted the collapse of the v2-flow ~ 10 A.GeV; at 40 A.GeV it has been recently observed by the NA49 collaboration. Since hadronic rescattering models predict much larger flow than observed at this energy we interpret this observation as evidence for a first order phase transition at high baryon density r b. Moreover, the connection of the elliptic flow v2 to jet suppression is examined. It is proven experimentally that the collective flow is not faked by minijet fragmentation. Additionally, detailed transport studies show that the away-side jet suppression can only partially (< 50%) be due to hadronic rescattering. Furthermore, the change in sign of v1, v2 closer to beam rapidity is related to the occurence of a high density first order phase transition in the RHIC data at 62.5, 130 and 200 A.GeV.