Responses of multiparticle observables to multidimensional nuclear deformation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions
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 Xe+Xe collisions as a representative testing ground. We perform a joint analysis in the three-dimensional parameter space and construct initial-state estimators for several flow and mean transverse momentum correlation observables. At the initial-state level, is primarily sensitive to and , with its sensitivity to enhanced at nonzero . The nonlinear response coefficient is predominantly sensitive to , while its dependence on and remains comparatively weak. Higher-order correlators exhibit more complex multidimensional response patterns; in particular, shows a dependence on and that becomes more pronounced at finite . 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 to and is largely preserved, whereas the sensitivity of 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