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Probing nuclear symmetry energy at high densities using pion, kaon, eta and photon productions in heavy-ion collisions

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Abstract.

The high-density behavior of nuclear symmetry energy is among the most uncertain properties of dense neutron-rich matter. Its accurate determination has significant ramifications in understanding not only the reaction dynamics of heavy-ion reactions, especially those induced by radioactive beams, but also many interesting phenomena in astrophysics, such as the explosion mechanism of supernova and the properties of neutron stars. The heavy-ion physics community has devoted much effort during the last few years to constrain the high-density symmetry using various probes. In particular, the \( \pi^{-}\)/\( \pi^{+}\) ratio has been most extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally. All models have consistently predicted qualitatively that the \( \pi^{-}\)/\( \pi^{+}\) ratio is a sensitive probe of the high-density symmetry energy especially with beam energies near the pion production threshold. However, the predicted values of the \( \pi^{-}\)/\( \pi^{+}\) ratio are still quite model dependent mostly because of the complexity of modeling pion production and reabsorption dynamics in heavy-ion collisions, leading to currently still controversial conclusions regarding the high-density behavior of nuclear symmetry energy from comparing various model calculations with available experimental data. As more \( \pi^{-}\)/\( \pi^{+}\) data become available and a deeper understanding about the pion dynamics in heavy-ion reactions is obtained, more penetrating probes, such as the K +/K 0 ratio, \( \eta\) meson and high-energy photons are also being investigated or planned at several facilities. Here, we review some of our recent contributions to the community effort of constraining the high-density behavior of nuclear symmetry energy in heavy-ion collisions. In addition, the status of some worldwide experiments for studying the high-density symmetry energy, including the HIRFL-CSR external target experiment (CEE) are briefly introduced.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China

    Zhi-Gang Xiao

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing, China

    Zhi-Gang Xiao

  3. Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000, Lanzhou, China

    Gao-Chan Yong & Guo-Qing Xiao

  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240, Shanghai, China

    Lie-Wen Chen

  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University-Commerce, 75429-3011, Texas, USA

    Bao-An Li

  6. National Institute of Metrology, 100013, Beijing, China

    Ming Zhang

  7. Institute of Particle Physics, Central China Normal University, 430079, Wuhan, China

    Nu Xu

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  1. Zhi-Gang Xiao
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  2. Gao-Chan Yong
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  3. Lie-Wen Chen
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  4. Bao-An Li
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  5. Ming Zhang
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  6. Guo-Qing Xiao
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  7. Nu Xu
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Correspondence to Zhi-Gang Xiao.

Additional information

Communicated by A. Ramos

Contribution to the Topical Issue “Nuclear Symmetry Energy” edited by Bao-An Li, Àngels Ramos, Giuseppe Verde, Isaac Vidaña.

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Xiao, ZG., Yong, GC., Chen, LW. et al. Probing nuclear symmetry energy at high densities using pion, kaon, eta and photon productions in heavy-ion collisions. Eur. Phys. J. A 50, 37 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2014-14037-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2014-14037-6

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