English

Responses of multiparticle observables to multidimensional nuclear deformation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Nuclear Theory 2026-07-16 v1

Abstract

Relativistic heavy-ion collisions provide a unique opportunity to probe ground-state nuclear structure through its imprint on the initial collision geometry. We investigate how multiparticle observables respond to combined variations of quadrupole deformation, triaxiality, and hexadecapole deformation, using 129^{129}Xe+129^{129}Xe collisions as a representative testing ground. We perform a joint analysis in the three-dimensional (β2,γ,β4)(\beta_2,\gamma,\beta_4) parameter space and construct initial-state estimators for several flow and mean transverse momentum correlation observables. At the initial-state level, ρ2\rho_2 is primarily sensitive to β2\beta_2 and γ\gamma, with its sensitivity to γ\gamma enhanced at nonzero β2\beta_2. The nonlinear response coefficient χ4,22\chi_{4,22} is predominantly sensitive to β4\beta_4, while its dependence on β2\beta_2 and γ\gamma remains comparatively weak. Higher-order correlators exhibit more complex multidimensional response patterns; in particular, ρ224\rho_{224} shows a dependence on γ\gamma and β4\beta_4 that becomes more pronounced at finite β2\beta_2. We further employ the iEBE-VISHNU hybrid model to examine whether these deformation sensitivities survive the subsequent dynamical evolution. The final-state calculations indicate that the sensitivity of ρ2\rho_2 to β2\beta_2 and γ\gamma is largely preserved, whereas the β4\beta_4 sensitivity of χ4,22\chi_{4,22} is substantially reduced. For the other higher-order observables, the initial-state sensitivities are modified by the evolution or cannot be resolved with the present statistics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.14776,
  title  = {Responses of multiparticle observables to multidimensional nuclear deformation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions},
  author = {Ying Shan Zhao and Yifeng Sun},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.14776},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

11 pages, 10 figures