Calibrating the Medium Effects of Light Clusters in Heavy-Ion Collisions

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Physics
• High-Energy Nuclear Collisions

Background:

• Understanding the behavior of nuclear matter under extreme conditions is crucial.
• Investigating in-medium modifications of nuclear properties provides insights into fundamental interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate in-medium modifications of cluster self-energies using light nuclei multiplicities.
• To determine the temperature dependence of cluster-sigma-meson coupling.

Main Methods:

• Bayesian inference applied to light nuclei multiplicities from ^{136,124}Xe+^{124,112}Sn collisions.
• Interpretation using a relativistic quasiparticle cluster approach in the mean-field approximation.

Main Results:

• Excellent reproduction of H and He isotope multiplicities.
• Compatible posterior distributions for thermal parameters.
• Demonstrated temperature-dependent cluster-sigma-meson coupling, weakening with increasing temperature.

Conclusions:

• The cluster-sigma-meson coupling strength decreases with rising temperature.
• Light cluster abundances diminish more rapidly with temperature than previously estimated.
• Findings align with microscopic quantum statistical calculations.