Related papers: Imaging the structure of atomic nuclei in high-ene…
The shape and orientation of colliding nuclei play a crucial role in determining the initial conditions of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), which influence key observables such as anisotropic and radial flow. In these proceedings, we present…
The collective-flow-assisted nuclear shape-imaging method in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions has recently been used to characterize nuclear collective states. In this paper, we assess the foundations of the shape-imaging technique…
Most atomic nuclei exhibit ellipsoidal shapes characterized by quadrupole deformation $\beta_2$ and triaxiality $\gamma$, and sometimes even a pear-like octupole deformation $\beta_3$. The STAR experiment introduced a new…
This work establishes a deep connection between two seemingly distant branches of nuclear physics: nuclear structure and relativistic heavy-ion collisions. At the heart of this connection is the recent discovery made at particle colliders…
Atomic nuclei are self-organized, many-body quantum systems bound by strong nuclear forces within femtometer-scale space. These complex systems manifest a variety of shapes, traditionally explored using non-invasive spectroscopic techniques…
In high-energy heavy-ion collisions, the initial condition of the produced quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and its evolution are sensitive to collective nuclear structure parameters describing the shape and radial profiles of the nuclei. We find a…
There is strong evidence of the failure of hydrodynamic simulations of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) to reproduce data on the elliptic flow of particles in relativistic collisions of $^{238}$U nuclei at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion…
Preliminary data by the STAR collaboration at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider shows that the elliptic flow, $v_2$, and the average transverse momentum, $\langle p_t \rangle$, of final-state hadrons produced in high-multiplicity…
We present a novel ``imaging-by-smashing" approach for probing nuclear deformation in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. By analyzing anisotropic-flow ($v_n$) and mean transverse momentum ($\left[p_T\right]$)-based observables in collisions…
Many probes are proposed to determine the quark-gluon plasma and explore its properties in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Some of them are related to initial states of the collisions, such as collective flow, Hanbury-Brown-Twiss…
High-energy nuclear collisions encompass three key stages: the structure of the colliding nuclei informed by low-energy nuclear physics, the initial condition (IC) leading to the formation of quark-gluon plasma (QGP), and the hydrodynamic…
In the hydrodynamic framework of heavy-ion collisions, elliptic flow, $v_2$, is sensitive to the quadrupole deformation, $\beta$, of the colliding ions. This enables one to test whether the established knowledge on the low-energy structure…
We review the most important experimental results from the first three years of nucleus-nucleus collision studies at RHIC, with emphasis on results from the STAR experiment, and we assess their interpretation and comparison to theory. The…
The study of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) is hindered by our limited understanding of its initial conditions, particularly its longitudinal structure. We propose a novel approach that entails analyzing collisions involving nuclei of similar…
High-energy heavy-ion physics and low-energy nuclear structure physics have historically been disconnected fields. The hydrodynamic description of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) requires input from nuclear structure to model the initial…
Most atomic nuclei are deformed with a quadrupole shape described by its overall strength $\beta_2$ and triaxiality $\gamma$. The deformation can be accessed in high-energy heavy-ion collisions by measuring the collective flow response of…
In this work, we perform a model-to-data comparison for U+U and Au+Au collisions performed at RHIC at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = $193$ GeV and $200$ GeV, using a multistage framework. Model calculations for various configurations of $^{238}$U…
We present an overview of selected aspects of ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions, a research program devoted to the study of strongly interacting matter at high energy densities and in particular to the characterization of the…
Relativistic heavy ion collisions provide a unique opportunity to study the shape of colliding nuclei, even up to higher-order multiple deformations. In this work, several observables that are sensitive to quadrupole and hexadecapole…
A central question in high-energy nuclear phenomenology is how the geometry of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formed in relativistic nuclear collisions is precisely shaped. In our understanding of such processes, two features are especially…