Exploiting ^{20}Ne Isotopes for Precision Characterizations of Collectivity in Small Systems

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Physics
• High-Energy Physics
• Quantum Chromodynamics

Background:

• The formation of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in small systems at high-energy colliders remains an open question.
• Proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions have large theoretical uncertainties, hindering conclusive results.
• Oxygen-16 collisions offer potential but may still have uncertainties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate how combining oxygen-16 and neon-20 collision data can precisely characterize QGP formation in small systems.
• To test the hydrodynamic QGP paradigm using ab initio calculations and hydrodynamic simulations.
• To leverage the unique shape of neon-20 to probe collective flow and QGP dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Coupling nuclear lattice effective field theory (NLEFT) and projected generator coordinate method (PGCM) for nuclear structure calculations.
• Performing ab initio descriptions of oxygen-16 and neon-20 nuclei.
• Conducting hydrodynamic simulations of oxygen-16+oxygen-16 and neon-20+neon-20 collisions.
• Analyzing the collective flow of hadrons and isolating the impact of neon-20's shape.

Main Results:

• Predicted enhancement in elliptic flow for neon-20+neon-20 collisions compared to oxygen-16+oxygen-16 collisions.
• Quantified enhancement values: 1.174(8) for NLEFT and 1.139(6) for PGCM for the most central events.
• Demonstrated that theoretical uncertainties largely cancel when studying relative variations between the two collision systems.

Conclusions:

• Collisions involving two light-ion species provide a powerful method for precision characterization of collective dynamics.
• This approach enables quantitative tests of the hydrodynamic QGP paradigm in small systems.
• The study highlights the utility of neon-20 collisions for understanding QGP emergence.