Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Letter
  • Open Access

Optimal collision-energy range for realizing macroscopic high-baryon-density matter

Hidetoshi Taya1,2,*, Asanosuke Jinno3,†, Masakiyo Kitazawa4,5,‡, and Yasushi Nara6,§

  • *Contact author: h_taya@keio.jp
  • †Contact author: jinno@ruby.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp
  • ‡Contact author: kitazawa@yukawa.kyoto-u.ac.jp
  • §Contact author: nara@aiu.ac.jp

Phys. Rev. C 112, L011901 – Published 22 July, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rpxm-fql8

Abstract

We investigate the volume and lifetime of the high-baryon-density matter created in heavy-ion collisions and estimate the optimal collision-energy range to realize the high-baryon-density region over a large space-time volume. We simulate central collisions of gold ions for the center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair sNN=2.4−19.6GeV with a microscopic transport model JAM. We discover that the optimal range is around sNN=3−5GeV, where a baryon density exceeding three times the normal nuclear density is realized with a substantially large space-time volume. Higher and lower energies are disfavored due to short lifetime and low density, respectively. We also point out that event-by-event fluctuations of the space-time density profile are large, indicating the importance of the event selection in the experimental analysis.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (94)

  1. B. P. Abbott et al. (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 161101 (2017); B. P. Abbott et al., Astrophys. J. Lett. 848, L12 (2017); B. P. Abbott et al. (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 161101 (2018); Phys. Rev. X 9, 011001 (2019).
  2. M. C. Miller et al., Astrophys. J. Lett. 887, L24 (2019); 918, L28 (2021); T. E. Riley et al., ibid. 887, L21 (2019); 918, L27 (2021).
  3. R. Kumar et al., Living Rev. Rel. 27, 3 (2024).
  4. K. Fukushima and T. Hatsuda, Rept. Prog. Phys. 74, 014001 (2011).
  5. K. Nagata, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 127, 103991 (2022).
  6. I. Tews, J. Carlson, S. Gandolfi, and S. Reddy, Astrophys. J. 860, 149 (2018).
  7. C. Drischler, J. W. Holt, and C. Wellenhofer, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 71, 403 (2021).
  8. H. Koehn et al., arXiv:2402.04172.
  9. X. Luo, Q. Wang, N. Xu, and P. Zhuang, Properties of QCD Matter at High Baryon Density (Springer Nature, Singapore, 2022).
  10. https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-hadron-collider.
  11. J. Chen et al., Nucl. Sci. Tech. 35, 214 (2004).
  12. J. Adamczewski-Musch et al., Nat. Phys. 15, 1040 (2019).
  13. K. Yagi, T. Hatsuda, and Y. Miake, Quark-Gluon Plasma: From Big Bang to Little Bang, Cambridge Monographs on Particle Physics, Nuclear Physics and Cosmology (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005).
  14. A. Aparin (STAR Collaboration), Phys. Atom. Nucl. 86, 758 (2023).
  15. https://shine.web.cern.ch/.
  16. T. Galatyuk, Nucl. Phys. A 982, 163 (2019).
  17. https://nica.jinr.ru/.
  18. https://fair-center.de/.
  19. https://english.imp.cas.cn/research/facilities/HIAF/.
  20. https://asrc.jaea.go.jp/soshiki/gr/hadron/jparc-hi/index.html.
  21. I. G. Bearden et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 102301 (2004).
  22. J. Randrup and J. Cleymans, Phys. Rev. C 74, 047901 (2006).
  23. J. Randrup and J. Cleymans, Eur. Phys. J. A 52, 218 (2016).
  24. V. V. Begun, M. Gazdzicki, and M. I. Gorenstein, Phys. Rev. C 88, 024902 (2013).
  25. D. Blaschke, S. Liebing, G. Röpke, and B. Dönigus, Phys. Lett. B 860, 139206 (2025).
  26. B.-A. Li and C. M. Ko, Phys. Rev. C 52, 2037 (1995).
  27. S. A. Bass et al., Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 41, 255 (1998).
  28. O. Buss, T. Gaitanos, K. Gallmeister, H. van Hees, M. Kaskulov, O. Lalakulich, A. B. Larionov, T. Leitner, J. Weil, and U. Mosel, Phys. Rep. 512, 1 (2012).
  29. J. Weil et al., Phys. Rev. C 94, 054905 (2016).
  30. J. Aichelin, E. Bratkovskaya, A. Le Fèvre, V. Kireyeu, V. Kolesnikov, Y. Leifels, V. Voronyuk, and G. Coci, Phys. Rev. C 101, 044905 (2020).
  31. Y. B. Ivanov, V. N. Russkikh, and V. D. Toneev, Phys. Rev. C 73, 044904 (2006).
  32. Y. B. Ivanov, Phys. Rev. C 87, 064904 (2013).
  33. Y. B. Ivanov, Phys. Rev. C 87, 064905 (2013).
  34. Y. B. Ivanov, Phys. Rev. C 89, 024903 (2014).
  35. H. Petersen, J. Steinheimer, G. Burau, M. Bleicher, and H. Stöcker, Phys. Rev. C 78, 044901 (2008).
  36. P. Batyuk, D. Blaschke, M. Bleicher, Y. B. Ivanov, I. Karpenko, S. Merts, M. Nahrgang, H. Petersen, and O. Rogachevsky, Phys. Rev. C 94, 044917 (2016).
  37. Y. Akamatsu, M. Asakawa, T. Hirano, M. Kitazawa, K. Morita, K. Murase, Y. Nara, C. Nonaka, and A. Ohnishi, Phys. Rev. C 98, 024909 (2018).
  38. J. Cimerman, I. Karpenko, B. Tomasik, and P. Huovinen, Phys. Rev. C 107, 044902 (2023).
  39. T. Mendenhall and Z.-W. Lin, Phys. Rev. C 107, 034909 (2023).
  40. P. Danielewicz, R. A. Lacey, P. B. Gossiaux, C. Pinkenburg, P. Chung, J. M. Alexander, and R. L. McGrath, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 2438 (1998).
  41. I. C. Arsene, L. V. Bravina, W. Cassing, Y. B. Ivanov, A. Larionov, J. Randrup, V. N. Russkikh, V. D. Toneev, G. Zeeb, and D. Zschiesche, Phys. Rev. C 75, 034902 (2007).
  42. A. Ohnishi, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 668, 012004 (2016).
  43. P. P. Bhaduri (CBM Collaboration), PoS CPOD2021, 031 (2022).
  44. B. Friman, W. Norenberg, and V. D. Toneev, Eur. Phys. J. A 3, 165 (1998).
  45. H. Sorge, Phys. Lett. B 373, 16 (1996).
  46. L. V. Bravina et al., Phys. Lett. B 434, 379 (1998).
  47. L. V. Bravina et al., Phys. Rev. C 60, 024904 (1999).
  48. L. V. Bravina, E. E. Zabrodin, S. A. Bass, M. Bleicher, M. Brandstetter, S. Soff, H. Stoecker, and W. Greiner, Phys. Rev. C 62, 064906 (2000).
  49. L. V. Bravina et al., Phys. Rev. C 78, 014907 (2008).
  50. Y. Nara, H. Niemi, A. Ohnishi, J. Steinheimer, X. Luo, and H. Stöcker, Eur. Phys. J. A 54, 18 (2018).
  51. D. E. Kharzeev, J. Liao, S. A. Voloshin, and G. Wang, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 88, 1 (2016).
  52. Y. Nara, N. Otuka, A. Ohnishi, K. Niita, and S. Chiba, Phys. Rev. C 61, 024901 (1999).
  53. https://gitlab.com/transportmodel/jam2.
  54. Y. Nara, A. Jinno, T. Maruyama, K. Murase, and A. Ohnishi, Phys. Rev. C 108, 024910 (2023).
  55. Y. Nara and A. Ohnishi, Phys. Rev. C 105, 014911 (2022).
  56. Y. Nara, A. Jinno, K. Murase, and A. Ohnishi, Phys. Rev. C 106, 044902 (2022).
  57. G. F. Bertsch and S. Das Gupta, Phys. Rept. 160, 189 (1988).
  58. K. Weber, B. Blaettel, W. Cassing, H. C. Doenges, V. Koch, A. Lang, and U. Mosel, Nucl. Phys. A 539, 713 (1992).
  59. C. Fuchs and H. H. Wolter, Nucl. Phys. A 589, 732 (1995).
  60. D. Oliinychenko and H. Petersen, Phys. Rev. C 93, 034905 (2016).
  61. H. Gao and M. Vanderhaeghen, Rev. Mod. Phys. 94, 015002 (2022).
  62. H. Taya, A. Jinno, M. Kitazawa, and Y. Nara (unpublished).
  63. X.-G. Deng, X.-G. Huang, Y.-G. Ma, and S. Zhang, Phys. Rev. C 101, 064908 (2020).
  64. H. Taya, T. Nishimura, and A. Ohnishi, Phys. Rev. C 110, 014901 (2024).
  65. H. Taya, arXiv:2501.18171.
  66. G. Baym, T. Hatsuda, T. Kojo, P. D. Powell, Y. Song, and T. Takatsuka, Rep. Prog. Phys. 81, 056902 (2018).
  67. P. K. Sahu, W. Cassing, U. Mosel, and A. Ohnishi, Nucl. Phys. A 672, 376 (2000).
  68. Y. Nara, H. Niemi, J. Steinheimer, and H. Stöcker, Phys. Lett. B 769, 543 (2017).
  69. T. Nishimura, M. Kitazawa, and T. Kunihiro, arXiv:2201.01963.
  70. O. Savchuk, A. Motornenko, J. Steinheimer, V. Vovchenko, M. Bleicher, M. Gorenstein, and T. Galatyuk, J. Phys. G 50, 125104 (2023).
  71. T. Nishimura, M. Kitazawa, and T. Kunihiro, arXiv:2302.03191.
  72. T. Nishimura, Y. Nara, and J. Steinheimer, Eur. Phys. J. A 60, 82 (2024).
  73. M. Asakawa and M. Kitazawa, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 90, 299 (2016).
  74. X. Luo and N. Xu, Nucl. Sci. Tech. 28, 112 (2017).
  75. M. Bluhm et al., Nucl. Phys. A 1003, 122016 (2020).
  76. R. J. Fries, B. Muller, C. Nonaka, and S. A. Bass, Phys. Rev. C 68, 044902 (2003).
  77. L. Adamczyk et al., Phys. Rev. C 88, 014902 (2013).
  78. L. Adamczyk et al., Phys. Rev. C 93, 014907 (2016).
  79. J. Adam et al., Phys. Rev. C 103, 034908 (2021).
  80. M. S. Abdallah et al., Phys. Lett. B 827, 137003 (2022).
  81. V. P. Konchakovski, E. L. Bratkovskaya, W. Cassing, V. D. Toneev, S. A. Voloshin, and V. Voronyuk, Phys. Rev. C 85, 044922 (2012).
  82. Z.-W. Lin, C. M. Ko, B.-A. Li, B. Zhang, and S. Pal, Phys. Rev. C 72, 064901 (2005).
  83. H.-S. Wang, G.-L. Ma, Z.-W. Lin, and W.-j. Fu, Phys. Rev. C 105, 034912 (2022).
  84. W. Cassing and E. L. Bratkovskaya, Phys. Rev. C 78, 034919 (2008).
  85. W. Cassing and E. L. Bratkovskaya, Nucl. Phys. A 831, 215 (2009).
  86. A.-K. Lei, Y.-L. Yan, D.-M. Zhou, Z.-L. She, L. Zheng, G.-C. Yong, X.-M. Li, G. Chen, X. Cai, and B.-H. Sa, Phys. Rev. C 108, 064909 (2023).
  87. J. Steinheimer and M. Bleicher, Phys. Rev. C 84, 024905 (2011).
  88. A. Schäfer, I. Karpenko, X.-Y. Wu, J. Hammelmann, and H. Elfner, Eur. Phys. J. A 58, 230 (2022).
  89. M. Ege, J. Mohs, J. Staudenmaier, and H. Elfner, arXiv:2409.04209.
  90. O. Savchuk, R. V. Poberezhnyuk, A. Motornenko, J. Steinheimer, M. I. Gorenstein, and V. Vovchenko, Phys. Rev. C 107, 024913 (2023).
  91. P. Li, J. Steinheimer, T. Reichert, A. Kittiratpattana, M. Bleicher, and Q. Li, Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 66, 232011 (2023).
  92. J. Steinheimer, A. Motornenko, A. Sorensen, Y. Nara, V. Koch, and M. Bleicher, Eur. Phys. J. C 82, 911 (2022).
  93. V. Skokov, B. Friman, and K. Redlich, Phys. Rev. C 88, 034911 (2013).
  94. P. Braun-Munzinger, A. Rustamov, and J. Stachel, Nucl. Phys. A 960, 114 (2017).

Outline

Information

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation