1,613 papers
Dissipative spin hydrodynamics in Bjorken flow and thermal dilepton production
We investigate the boost-invariant expansion of a recently developed first-order spin hydrodynamic framework in which the spin chemical potential is treated as a leading-order hydrodynamic variable. Considering a symmetric energy-momentum tensor and a separately conserved spin tensor, we derive the coupled evolution equations for the medium temperature and the independent components of the spin chemical potential in the presence of both viscous and spin-diffusive transport coefficients. For a boost-invariant system, only the magnetic-like components of the spin chemical potential survive, and their evolution is shown to depend sensitively on the spin transport coefficients. The transverse spin components decay more rapidly due to spin dissipation, while the longitudinal component survives for a longer duration. We further demonstrate that the evolution of the spin degrees of freedom modifies the temperature profile of the expanding medium. Using the resulting temperature profiles, we calculate thermal dilepton production rates from quark-antiquark annihilation. We find that the presence of spin dynamics enhances the dilepton yield relative to standard dissipative hydrodynamics, with the magnitude of the enhancement depending on the spin transport coefficients. Our results indicate that thermal dileptons can provide an indirect probe of spin dynamics and spin transport in the quark-gluon plasma.
2604.04533Apr 2026
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Disentangling Flow Contributions from the Chiral Magnetic Effect in U+U Collisions with Forward-Backward Multiplicity Asymmetry
The observation of the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) in heavy-ion collisions remains challenging because of large flow-induced backgrounds and experimental constraints. We demonstrate that the forward-backward multiplicity asymmetry (FBMA) provides a robust and experimentally accessible control parameter to separate the flow background from CME signal in the collisions of deformed nuclei, such as prolate uranium where FBMA is naturally enhanced and correlated with the initial-state geometry. Monte Carlo Glauber simulations indicate that varying FBMA within a fixed centrality class modulates ellipticity largely independently of the magnetic-field correlator, establishing FBMA as a practical tool for disentangling CME signals from flow driven background.
2604.04178Apr 2026
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Heavy and heavy-light tensor and axial-tensor mesons in the Covariant Spectator Theory
We present the first calculation of tensor and axial-tensor mesons with total spin $J\geq2$ within the Covariant Spectator Theory. We employ a refined quark-antiquark interaction kernel that incorporates the momentum dependence of the strong coupling, replacing the previously used constant term of the kernel. Global least-squares fits to the masses of experimentally established heavy and heavy-light meson states yield an excellent description of the mass spectrum for $J^P=0^\pm, 1^\pm, 2^\pm$, and $3^\pm$ using only eight adjustable parameters.
2604.04113Apr 2026
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Anisotropic Flow of light (anti-)(hyper-)nuclei in Pb+Pb Collision at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=5.36$ TeV
Using the coalescence model with nucleon phase-space distributions generated by the hybrid MUSIC framework, we study the elliptic flow ($v_2$) and triangular flow ($v_3$) of (anti-)protons, (anti-)deuterons, (anti-)$^3\mathrm{He}$, and ${^3_Λ\mathrm{H}}$ in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5.36$ TeV. We find that the simple $v_2$ scaling with the number of constituent nucleons $A$ breaks down at high transverse momentum $p_T/A > 1.5$ GeV/$c$, while an improved scaling relation holds well up to $p_T/A \approx 3$ GeV/$c$. In contrast, $v_3$ exhibits similar behavior under both scaling prescriptions, with no significant difference. We also make predictions for $v_2$ and $v_3$ of the hypertriton and find these flows are insensitive to the Lambda-deuteron ($Λ-d$) distance inside the hypertriton. Our results are compared with preliminary experimental measurements by the ALICE Collaboration and offer insight into the production mechanisms of light (anti-)(hyper-)nuclei in high-energy heavy-ion collisions.
2604.04075Apr 2026
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Revisiting the Rhoades-Ruffini bound
We revisit the derivation of the Rhoades-Ruffini bound on the upper limit for the maximum mass of neutron stars and find that the assumption made there for the onset of an ultimately stiff phase of high-density matter is not stringent. Relaxing this assumption and allowing for an onset of stiff non-nucleonic matter under neutron star constraints at the saturation density or below boost the upper limit of the theoretically possible maximum mass to $4~M_\odot$ or higher, in the mass-gap region between neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes. We provide a fit formula for the dependence of this upper limit on the speed of sound and the onset density of the deconfinement transition.
2604.03204Apr 2026
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Measure charge transport in high-energy nuclear collisions with an energy scan of isobaric collisions
We present a method to measure electric-charge transport in high-energy nuclear collisions using a beam-energy scan of isobaric systems. Comparing collisions of nuclei with identical mass number but different atomic number allows the charge difference ($ΔQ$) to be extracted with a double-ratio technique that suppresses most experimental systematic uncertainties. By varying the beam energy, the rapidity gap ($Δy$) over which electric charge is transported can be systematically scanned. Simulations of Ru+Ru and Zr+Zr collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$=19.6-200GeV with UrQMD and PYTHIA Angantyr show that midrapidity $ΔQ$ decreases exponentially with increasing $Δy$, with the slope parameter exhibiting strong model dependence. Comparisons with the baryon number transport reveal distinct patterns. In both UrQMD and PYTHIA Angantyr (with and without final-state baryon junctions), where baryon number is carried solely by valence quarks, the rapidity slope for baryon transport is larger than that for electric-charge transport. In contrast, scenarios that include baryon junctions in the initial state are expected to produce the opposite trend. This demonstrates that an isobar beam-energy scan provides a sensitive probe of electric-charge transport and offers new constraints on the microscopic mechanisms governing conserved-charge redistribution in QCD matter.
2604.02825Apr 2026
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Halo Nuclei from Ab Initio Nuclear Theory
A realistic description of halo nuclei, characterized by low-lying breakup thresholds, requires a proper treatment of continuum effects. We have developed an ab initio approach, the no-core shell model with continuum (NCSMC), capable of describing both bound and unbound states in light nuclei in a unified way. With chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions as the only input, we can predict structure and dynamics of halo and other light nuclei and, by comparing to available experimental data, test the quality of chiral nuclear forces. We review NCSMC calculations of weakly bound states and resonances of exotic halo nuclei $^6$He, $^8$B, $^{11}$Be, and $^{15}$C. For the latter, we discuss its production in the capture reaction $^{14}$C(n,$γ$)$^{15}$C. We highlight challenges of a description of $^6$He as a Borromean n-n-$^4$He system. Finally, we present calculations of excited states in $^{10}$Be exhibiting a one-neutron halo structure and a large scale no-core shell model investigation of $^{11}$Li as a precursor of a full n-n-$^9$Li NCSMC study.
2604.02612Apr 2026
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2604.02237Formal definition of intrinsic collectivity in the continuum via Takagi factorization of the Jost-RPA S-matrix residue
A formal and systematic framework is proposed to quantify the intrinsic collectivity of resonance states in the continuum, independent of their extrinsic manifestation in the strength function. By integrating Takagi factorization into the Jost-RPA framework, we utilize the rank-1 property of the S-matrix residue at a resonance pole to uniquely decompose it into microscopic transition amplitudes for each configuration. To evaluate the nature of these modes, we introduce the Intrinsic Coherence Index ($C^{(n)}$) and the Collective Phase ($Θ^{(n)}$), which characterize the dynamical phase synchronization and the line-shape orientation, respectively. Furthermore, a unified Total Collectivity Index ($R^{(n)}$) is defined by combining the coherence index with the Normalized Participation Ratio ($η^{(n)}$). Applying this framework to the isoscalar $2^+$, isovector $2^+$, and $E1$ excitations in $^{16}$O, we demonstrate that the intrinsic collectivity is decoupled from the observable line shape. Our analysis identifies "hidden" collective modes -- states with high internal synchronization that do not appear as prominent peaks -- and clarifies that distorted structures or dips can either be highly collective or non-collective depending on their microscopic phase alignment. This approach provides a well-defined structural basis for investigating many-body excitations in open quantum systems and nuclei near the drip lines.
2604.02237Apr 2026
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Chiral-scale effective field theory for dense and thermal systems
In this contribution, I will present some properties of nuclear matter (NM) by using the chiral-scale effective field theory that is anchored on the chiral, scale and hidden local flavor symmetries of QCD. We show that the sound velocity (SV) of the compact star matter can saturate the conformal limit, the SV exhibits a peak configuration in the intermediate density. To extend the chiral-scale effective field theory to both dense and tnermal systems, we setup a chiral-scale density counting (CSDC) rule and explore the contributions up to $\mathcal{O}(k_c^{12})$.
2604.02098Apr 2026
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Gauge invariant momentum broadening of hard probes in glasma
We compute the transport coefficient $\hat q$ which quantifies the transverse momentum broadening of hard probes passing through the evolving glasma from the earliest stage of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We use a proper-time expansion method which is designed to study the glasma at very early times. In our earlier calculations of $\hat q$ we used an approximation that greatly simplifies the complexity of the calculation but introduces a violation of gauge invariance. Based on these results we argued that the glasma plays an important role in jet quenching. In this paper we have used a gauge invariant formulation to calculate $\hat q$. The results for the momentum broadening coefficient are quantitatively very close to those of our previous simplified version of the calculation and confirm our earlier conclusion about the importance of the glasma contribution to jet quenching.
2604.02050Apr 2026
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Collective quantum tunneling with time-dependent generator coordinate method
Inspired by the work of McGlynn and Simenel [Phys. Rev. C {\bf 102}, 064614 (2020)], this study investigates the quantum tunneling of two interacting distinguishable particles in two potential wells. We first benchmark the system by reproducing key established results: the exact quantum solution and the spurious self-trapping effect that arises in the real-time mean-field dynamics for strong interactions. To exactly capture the tunneling dynamics, we apply the time-dependent generator coordinate method (TDGCM) to the model. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the TDGCM, by utilizing the real-time mean-field states as generator states, successfully overcomes the self-trapping effect, yielding tunneling dynamics in excellent agreement with the exact solution. Furthermore, we explore the expectation values of the generator coordinates from the correlated TDGCM many-body wave function. While different methods for calculating expectation values show consistent results in some cases, significant discrepancies are observed in others, providing critical insights into the emergence of collective and single-particle behaviors in interacting systems. This work also verifies the TDGCM as a robust framework for describing collective quantum tunneling and opens avenues for its application to more complex and realistic systems.
2604.01906Apr 2026
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Femtoscopy of Strange Baryons in Heavy-ion Collisions at RHIC-STAR
Studying the final state interactions and finding possible bound states is helpful for understanding the strong interactions and comprehending the equation-of-state (EoS) of the nuclear matter. In these proceedings, we present recent femtoscopy results of \pXi{}, \LaLa{}, \pOm{} femtoscopic correlations with high statistics Isobar (Ru+Ru, Zr+Zr) and Au+Au collisions measured by the STAR experiment. For the \pXi{} and \pOm{} pairs, the centrality dependence of source size and the scattering parameters are extracted with the Lednický-Lyuboshitz approach. The results show that there is an attractive interaction in \pXi{} pairs and a bound state in \pOm{} pairs.
2604.01660Apr 2026
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Microscopic optical potential framework applied to neutron scattering on deformed $^{48,50}$Cr
We formulate and implement a microscopic framework to derive an optical potential from the solution to an effective Hamiltonian and use it to calculate neutron scattering cross sections for the deformed nuclei $^{24}$Mg, $^{48}$Cr and $^{50}$Cr. This approach is based on a symmetry-restored multi-excitation generator coordinate method (GCM), enabling the consistent treatment of both nuclear structure and reaction observables. Through this method, non-local optical potentials corresponding to a Hamiltonian can potentially be constructed for any nucleus in the whole nuclide chart. We use this to perform reaction calculations employing quadrupole deformed triaxial configurations, obtaining results for $A\approx 50$ chromium isotopes, and study the properties of the calculated non-local optical potentials. This work further advances the unified treatment of structure and reaction, within a framework that exploits the intrinsic symmetries of nuclei.
2604.01033Apr 2026
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Exact interpolation between Fick and Cattaneo diffusion in relativistic kinetic theory
We construct a family of exactly solvable relativistic kinetic theories in $1+1$ dimensions whose hydrodynamic sector continuously interpolates between Fick's and Cattaneo's laws of diffusion. The interpolation is controlled by a single parameter $a\in[0,1]$, which tunes the microscopic scattering dynamics from infinitely soft but infinitely frequent scatterings ($a=0$), reproducing standard diffusion, to maximally hard but finite-rate scatterings ($a=1$), yielding hyperbolic Cattaneo-type transport. For intermediate values of $a$, the dynamics combines frequent weak scatterings with rare strong randomizing events, providing a concrete microscopic realization of mixed diffusive-telegraphic behavior. Remarkably, the full quasinormal mode spectrum can be obtained analytically for all $a$. This allows us to track explicitly how purely diffusive modes continuously deform into damped propagating modes as the collision structure is varied.
2604.00984Apr 2026
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Predicting reaction observables for the two-neutron halo candidates $^{31}$F and $^{39}$Na
Microscopic description of two-neutron ($2n$) halo candidates $^{31}$F and $^{39}$Na has been realized from nuclear structure to reaction observables for the first time. The reliability of the Glauber reaction model has been confirmed by exactly reproducing the momentum distributions of the benchmark $2n$ halo nucleus $^{11}$Li, with the identical structural inputs from the former work. Combined with the structure from the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum (DRHBc), the Glauber model is applied to predict the reaction observables, including the reaction cross sections (RCSs) for the fluorine and sodium isotopes bombarding a carbon target at 240~MeV/A and the longitudinal momentum distributions of the fragments after $2n$ knockout reactions. It turns out that the calculated RCSs agree well with the available experimental data and a pronounced increase occurs to $^{29, 31}$F + $^{12}$C and $^{37, 39}$Na + $^{12}$C, which deviate from the original trend of their neighbours. Furthermore, the narrower longitudinal momentum distributions of the fragments after $2n$ knockout reactions demonstrate that $^{31}$F and $^{39}$Na have the dilute $2n$ halo structure. Such a new combination is promising to suggest new $2n$ halo candidates for future measurements.
2604.00880Apr 2026
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One neutron triaxial halo candidates in aluminum isotopes from reaction observables
Microscopic description of one neutron ($1n$) halo candidates $^{40,42}$Al, with particular triaxial shape, is presented by combining the triaxial relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum (TRHBc) with the Glauber reaction model for the first time. In this scheme, the reaction cross sections of aluminum isotopes on a carbon target at 240 and 900 MeV/A are calculated, which exhibit a pronounced increase for $^{40,42}$Al + $^{12}$C deviating from the systematic trend of their neighbours. Furthermore, the predicted longitudinal momentum distributions of the residues after $1n$ removal reactions for $^{40,42}$Al + $^{12}$C are narrower than those for $^{36,38}$Al + $^{12}$C, which suggest halo structure with spatially extended density distribution. Based on the large occupation probabilities of $p$-wave valence neutrons, we identify $^{40,42}$Al as the first triaxially deformed $1n$ $p$-wave halo candidates. This work cast a new light on the search for the heavier halo nuclei for future experiments in the mass region of $A\approx40$, through theoretical predictions from triaxial structure to reaction observables.
2604.00834Apr 2026
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Off-shell Chiral Dynamics in the $Λ(1405)$ Resonance and $K^-p$ Femtoscopic Correlations
We present the first systematic investigation of the $S=-1$ meson--baryon interaction within a fully off-shell covariant unitarized chiral effective field theory framework up to next-to-leading order. In particular, we perform a detailed comparison with the widely used on-shell approximation. We find that the resulting scattering observables are very similar, thereby confirming the validity of key results obtained within the on-shell scheme. A notable advantage of the off-shell treatment, however, is the absence of unphysical left-hand cuts induced by the on-shell approximation. Employing the off-shell amplitudes, we compute the femtoscopic correlation functions for $K^-p$ and $π^\pmΣ^\mp$ pairs. The $K^-p$ correlation functions are found to be consistent with previously published results based on the on-shell approximation, with marginal differences attributed to slight variations in the descriptions of the scattering data. The $π^\pmΣ^\mp$ correlation functions are predicted for the first time, and are expected to provide valuable constraints on the nature of the $Λ(1405)$ resonance and the coupled-channel chiral dynamics of the $K^-p$ system.
2604.00791Apr 2026
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A Halo: The Trigger to a New Era of Nuclear Correlations
In this contribution to the Halo-40 Proceedings, we discuss two topics regarding halo phenomena: The first is the pairing anti-halo effect on the neutron radius of halo nuclei and its restoration due to the coupling to the continuum; the second is the soft dipole excitation of deformed halo nuclei. We demonstrate the importance of Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov and the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum for properly taking into account the halo nature of extended wave functions in calculations of neutron radii, as well as the soft dipole excitations of halo nuclei. It was shown that the anti-halo effect is very sensitive to the continuum coupling induced by Bogoliubov-type quasi-particles, which largely cancels the anti-halo effect on the neutron radius. The soft dipole excitations of deformed halo nuclei Ne-31 and Mg-37 are discussed within the deformed Woods-Saxon model. We point out that the sharp peak just above the threshold in the dipole response is created by the halo effect, and its strength can be used to identify the magnitude of deformation and the halo configuration in the Nilsson level scheme.
2604.00637Apr 2026
View2604.00619Triaxial shapes and the angular structure of nuclear three-body correlations
Relativistic nuclear collisions have emerged as a new tool for probing many-body correlations of nucleons in the ground states of atomic nuclei. Here, we investigate the connection between three-nucleon correlations inside nuclei and three-particle correlations measured in collider final states. We work within a classical rigid-rotor picture of the colliding ions, whereby correlations in the lab frame arise solely from the averaging over orientations of an intrinsic-frame nucleon density with a triaxial quadrupole deformation, characterized by Bohr parameters $β_2$ and $γ$. With a Gaussian Ansatz for the density, we derive the leading-order form of the resulting two- and three-body nucleon distributions and perform a detailed analysis of their harmonic structure. With this, we provide an analytical understanding of empirical results linking shape parameters to final-state observables, notably, the fact that the covariance of the squared elliptic flow ($v_2^2$) with the mean transverse momentum ($[p_T]$), as well as the skewness of $[p_T]$ fluctuations, are to leading order proportional to $β_2^3 \cos(3γ)$. This elucidates the connection between three-nucleon densities, nuclear triaxiality, and three-particle correlations in high-energy nuclear collisions.
2604.00619Apr 2026
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Absorption of 1$P$-wave heavy charmonium $χ_{c1}(1P)$ in nuclei
We study the inclusive heavy charmonium $χ_{c1}(1P)$ photoproduction from nuclei near the kinematic threshold within the collision model, based on the nuclear spectral function, for incoherent direct photon--nucleon charmonium creation processes. The model accounts for the final $χ_{c1}(1P)$ absorption in nuclear medium, target nucleon binding and Fermi motion. We calculate the absolute and relative excitation functions on $^{12}$C and $^{184}$W target nuclei at near-threshold photon beam energies of 8.25--16.0 GeV, the absolute momentum differential cross sections and ratios of them for its production off these target nuclei at laboratory polar angles of 0$^{\circ}$--10$^{\circ}$ and for photon energy of 13 GeV as well as the A-dependences of the transparency ratios for the $χ_{c1}(1P)$ at photon energy of 13 GeV within the different scenarios for its absorption cross section in nuclei. We demonstrate that the absolute and relative observables considered reveal distinct sensitivity to these scenarios. Therefore, they might be useful for the determination of this cross section from the comparison of them with the experimental data from the future experiments at the upgraded up to 22 GeV CEBAF facility, which is of crucial importance in understanding of charmonium production and suppression in high-energy heavy--ion collisions in a search for the quark-gluon plasma.
2604.00618Apr 2026
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