Highly Sensitive Centrality Dependence of Elliptic Flow: A Novel Signature of the Phase Transition in QCD

1998/12/31 by H. Sorge, Heinz Sorge · 10 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Asymmetry #Centrality #Condensed matter physics #Elliptic flow #Hadron #Heavy ion #High-Energy Particle Collisions Research #Ion #Jet (fluid) #Large Hadron Collider #Nuclear physics #Observable #Particle physics #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Phase transition #Physics #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #Quantum chromodynamics #Quantum mechanics #Quark #Quark–gluon plasma #Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider #Signature (topology) #hep-ph #nucl-ex #nucl-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.82.2048

published as Phys.Rev.Lett. 82 (1999) 2048-2051 · Version as published in PRL 82 (1999) 2048, title change

openalex publication_date 1999/03/08 · arxiv created 1999/06/24 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Elliptic flow of the hot, dense system which has been created in nucleus-nucleus collisions develops as a response to the initial azimuthal asymmetry of the reaction region. Here it is suggested that the magnitude of this response shows a highly sensitive dependence on the centrality of collisions for which the system passes through a first-order or rapid transition between quark-gluon plasma and hadronic matter. We have studied the system Pb(158AGeV) on Pb employing a recent version of the transport theoretical approach relativistic quantum molecular dynamics and find the conjecture confirmed. The novel phase transition signature may be observable in present and forthcoming experiments at CERN-SPS and at RHIC, the BNL collider.

Citations

• Event anisotropy in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions

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