Nuclear cluster structure effect in $^{16}$O+$^{16}$O collisions at the top RHIC energy
Abstract
Using the improved string-melting version of a Multi-Phase Transport model, we investigated the impact of nuclear geometry of O on anisotropic flows in O+O collisions at GeV. To evaluate the influence of nuclear structure and potential alpha clustering, we implemented four candidate configurations: Woods-Saxon, tetrahedron, square, and Nuclear Lattice Effective Field Theory. Initial-state geometry is quantified via the eccentricity cumulant ratio , which provides a robust and evolution-independent measure sensitive to configuration differences. The model reproduces at low and across the full range, with integrated and matching the STAR data, demonstrating that transport dynamics captures the essential collectivity in this intermediate-size system. These findings establish a baseline for extending nuclear-structure studies in O+O collisions to other energies and differential observables within a unified transport model framework.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2404.09780,
title = {Nuclear cluster structure effect in $^{16}$O+$^{16}$O collisions at the top RHIC energy},
author = {Xin-Li Zhao and You Zhou and Zi-Wei Lin and Chao Zhang and Guo-Liang Ma},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.09780},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
An improved AMPT-SM model has been adopted, which is detailed in the new appendix