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At least 343 records · Page 19

Symmetric Nuclear Matter from the Strong Interaction

We study the equation of state of symmetric nuclear matter at zero temperature over a wide range of densities using two complementary theoretical approaches. At low densities, up to twice nuclear saturation density, we compute the energy per particle based on modern nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon interactions derived within chiral effective field theory. For higher densities, we derive for the first time constraints in a Fierz-complete setting directly based on quantum chromodynamics using functional renormalization group techniques. Here, we find remarkable consistency of the results obtained from both approaches as they come together in density and the natural emergence of a maximum in the speed of sound 𝑐𝑆 at supranuclear densities. The presence of this maximum appears tightly connected to the formation of a diquark gap. Notably, this maximum is observed to exceed the asymptotic value 𝑐$^{2}_{𝑆}$ =1/3 while its exact position in terms of the density cannot yet be determined conclusively.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Ruling out Color Transparency in Quasielastic 12 C(e,e'p) up to Q 2 of 14.2 (GeV/c) 2

Quasielastic $^{12}$C$(e,e'p)$ scattering was measured at space-like 4-momentum transfer squared $Q^2$ = 8, 9.4, 11.4, and 14.2 (GeV/c)$^2$, the highest ever achieved to date. Nuclear transparency for this reaction was extracted by comparing the measured yield to that expected from a plane-wave impulse approximation calculation without any final state interactions. Additionally, the measured transparency was consistent with no $Q^2$ dependence, up to proton momenta of 8.5 GeV/c, ruling out the quantum chromodynamics effect of color transparency at the measured $Q^2$ scales in exclusive $(e,e'p)$ reactions. Furthermore, these results impose strict constraints on models of color transparency for protons.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Search for the Chiral Magnetic Effect via Charge-Dependent Azimuthal Correlations Relative to Spectator and Participant Planes in Au + Au Collisions at s N N = 200 GeV

The chiral magnetic effect (CME) refers to charge separation along a strong magnetic field due to imbalanced chirality of quarks in local parity and charge-parity violating domains in quantum chromodynamics. The experimental measurement of the charge separation is made difficult by the presence of a major background from elliptic azimuthal anisotropy. This background and the CME signal have different sensitivities to the spectator and participant planes, and could thus be determined by measurements with respect to these planes. We report such measurements in Au+Au collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 200 GeV at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider. It is found that the charge separation, with the flow background removed, is consistent with zero in peripheral (large impact parameter) collisions. Some indication of finite CME signals is seen with a significance of 1–3 standard deviations in mid-central (intermediate impact parameter) collisions. Furthermore, significant residual background effects may, however, still be present.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Observation of W Z γ Production in p p Collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

This Letter reports the observation of W Z γ production and a measurement of its cross section using 140.1 ± 1.2 fb − 1 of proton-proton collision data recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The W Z γ production cross section, with both the W and Z bosons decaying leptonically, p p → W Z γ → ℓ ′ ± ν ℓ + ℓ − γ ( ℓ ( ′ ) = e , μ ), is measured in a fiducial phase-space region defined such that the leptons and the photon have high transverse momentum and the photon is isolated. The cross section is found to be 2.01 ± 0.30 ( stat ) ± 0.16 ( syst ) fb . The corresponding standard model predicted cross section calculated at next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics and at leading order in the electroweak coupling constant is 1.50 ± 0.06 fb . The observed significance of the W Z γ signal is 6.3 σ , compared with an expected significance of 5.0 σ . © 2024 CERN, for the ATLAS Collaboration 2024 CERN

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Viscosities of the Baryon-Rich Quark-Gluon Plasma from Beam Energy Scan Data

Here, this work presents the first Bayesian inference study of the (3 + 1)D dynamics of relativistic heavy-ion collisions and quark-gluon plasma viscosities using an event-by-event (3 + 1)D hydrodynamics + hadronic transport theoretical framework and data from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider Beam energy scan program. Robust constraints on initial state nuclear stopping and the baryon chemical potential-dependent shear viscosity of the produced quantum chromodynamic (QCD) matter are obtained. The specific bulk viscosity of the QCD matter is found to exhibit a preferred maximum around $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 19.6 GeV . This result allows for the alternative interpretation of a reduction (and/or increase) of the speed of sound relative to that of the employed lattice-QCD based equation of state for net baryon chemical potential μ B ~0.2(0.4) GeV .

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Transversity Distributions and Tensor Charges of the Nucleon: Extraction from Dihadron Production and Their Universal Nature

We perform the first global quantum chromodynamics (QCD) analysis of dihadron production for a comprehensive set of data in electron-positron annihilation, semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering, and proton-proton collisions, from which we extract simultaneously the transversity distributions of the nucleon and π + π − dihadron fragmentation functions. We incorporate in our fits known theoretical constraints on transversity, namely, its small- x asymptotic behavior and the Soffer bound. We furthermore show that lattice-QCD results for the tensor charges can be successfully included in the analysis. This resolves the previously reported incompatibility between the tensor charges extracted from dihadron production data and lattice QCD. We also find agreement with results for the transversity and tensor charges obtained from measurements on single-hadron production. Overall, our work demonstrates for the first time the universal nature of all available information for the transversity distributions and the tensor charges of the nucleon. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Observation of W W γ Production and Search for H γ Production in Proton-Proton Collisions at s = 13 TeV

The observation of W W γ production in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb − 1 is presented. The observed (expected) significance is 5.6 (5.1) standard deviations. Events are selected by requiring exactly two leptons (one electron and one muon) of opposite charge, moderate missing transverse momentum, and a photon. The measured fiducial cross section for W W γ is 5.9 ± 0.8 ( stat ) ± 0.8 ( syst ) ± 0.7 ( modeling ) fb , in agreement with the next-to-leading order quantum chromodynamics prediction. The analysis is extended with a search for the associated production of the Higgs boson and a photon, which is generated by a coupling of the Higgs boson to light quarks. The result is used to constrain the Higgs boson couplings to light quarks. © 2024 CERN, for the CMS Collaboration 2024 CERN

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Determination of the Collins-Soper Kernel from Lattice QCD

This Letter presents a determination of the quark Collins-Soper kernel, which relates transverse-momentum-dependent parton distributions (TMDs) at different rapidity scales, using lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD). This is the first such determination with systematic control of quark mass, operator mixing, and discretization effects. Next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic matching is used to match lattice-calculable distributions to the corresponding TMDs. The continuum-extrapolated lattice QCD results are consistent with several recent phenomenological parametrizations of the Collins-Soper kernel and are precise enough to disfavor other parametrizations. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Simulations of Stochastic Fluid Dynamics near a Critical Point in the Phase Diagram

Here, we present simulations of stochastic fluid dynamics in the vicinity of a critical endpoint belonging to the universality class of the Ising model. This study is motivated by the challenge of modeling the dynamics of critical fluctuations near a conjectured critical endpoint in the phase diagram of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). We focus on the interaction of shear modes with a conserved scalar density, which is known as model H. We show that the observed dynamical scaling behavior depends on the correlation length and the shear viscosity of the fluid. As the correlation length is increased or the viscosity is decreased we observe a crossover from the dynamical exponent of critical diffusion, z≃4, to the expected scaling exponent of model H, z≃3. We use our method to investigate the time-dependent correlation function of non-Gaussian moments M n (t) of the order parameter. We find that the relaxation time depends in a nontrivial manner on the power n.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Search for Soft Unclustered Energy Patterns in Proton-Proton Collisions at 13 TeV

The first search for soft unclustered energy patterns (SUEPs) is performed using an integrated luminosity of 138 fb −1 of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{𝑠}$ = 13 TeV, collected in 2016–2018 by the CMS detector at the LHC. Such SUEPs are predicted by hidden valley models with a new, confining force with a large ’t Hooft coupling. In events with boosted topologies, selected by high-threshold hadronic triggers, the multiplicity and sphericity of clustered tracks are used to reject the background from standard model quantum chromodynamics. With no observed excess of events over the standard model expectation, limits are set on the cross section for production via gluon fusion of a scalar mediator with SUEP-like decays.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Supernova Axions Convert to Gamma Rays in Magnetic Fields of Progenitor Stars

It has long been established that axions could have been produced within the nascent proto-neutron star formed following the type II supernova SN1987A, escaped the star due to their weak interactions, and then converted to gamma rays in the Galactic magnetic fields; the nonobservation of a gamma-ray flash coincident with the neutrino burst leads to strong constraints on the axion-photon coupling for axion masses m a ≲10 –10 eV. In this Letter, we use SN1987A to constrain higher mass axions, all the way to m a ~10 –3 eV, by accounting for axion production from the Primakoff process, nucleon bremsstrahlung, and pion conversion along with axion-photon conversion on the still-intact magnetic fields of the progenitor star. Moreover, we show that gamma-ray observations of the next Galactic supernova, leveraging the magnetic fields of the progenitor star, could detect quantum chromodynamics axions for masses above roughly 50 μ⁢eV, depending on the supernova. We propose a new full-sky gamma-ray satellite constellation that we call the GALactic AXion Instrument for Supernova (GALAXIS) to search for such future signals along with related signals from extragalactic neutron star mergers.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

QCD Constraints on Isospin-Dense Matter and the Nuclear Equation of State

Understanding the behavior of dense hadronic matter is a central goal in nuclear physics as it governs the nature and dynamics of astrophysical objects such as supernovae and neutron stars. Because of the nonperturbative nature of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), little is known rigorously about hadronic matter in these extreme conditions. Here, lattice QCD calculations are used to compute thermodynamic quantities and the equation of state of QCD over a wide range of isospin chemical potentials with controlled systematic uncertainties. Agreement is seen with chiral perturbation theory when the chemical potential is small. Comparison to perturbative QCD at large chemical potential allows for an estimate of the gap in the superconducting phase, and this quantity is seen to agree with perturbative determinations. Since the partition function for an isospin chemical potential μ I bounds the partition function for a baryon chemical potential μ B = 3 μ I / 2 , these calculations also provide rigorous nonperturbative QCD bounds on the symmetric nuclear matter equation of state over a wide range of baryon densities for the first time. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Light and Strange Vector Resonances from Lattice QCD at Physical Quark Masses

We present the first ab initio calculation at physical quark masses of scattering amplitudes describing the lightest pseudoscalar mesons interacting via the strong force in the vector channel. Using lattice quantum chromodynamics, we postdict the defining parameters for two short-lived resonances, the ρ(770) and K*(892) which manifest as complex energy poles in ππ and Kπ scattering amplitudes, respectively. The calculation proceeds by first computing the finite-volume energy spectrum of the two-hadron systems and then determining the amplitudes from the energies using the Lüscher formalism. The error budget includes a data-driven systematic error, obtained by scanning possible fit ranges and fit models to extract the spectrum from Euclidean correlators, as well as the scattering amplitudes from the latter. The final results, obtained by analytically continuing multiple parametrizations into the complex energy plane, are M ρ = 796(5)(50)MeV, Γ ρ = 192(10)(31) MeV, M K* = 893(2)(54) MeV, and Γ K = 51(2)(11) MeV, where the subscript indicates the resonance and M and Γ stand for the mass and width, respectively, and where the first bracket indicates the statistical and the second bracket the systematic uncertainty.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Entanglement enabled intensity interferometry in ultrarelativistic ultraperipheral nuclear collisions

An important tool in studying the subfemtoscale spacetime structure of matter in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions is Hanbury Brown–Twiss (HBT) intensity interferometry of identical particles in the final state of the collisions. We propose that a variant of the entanglement enabled intensity interferometry (𝐸 2 ⁢𝐼 2 ) framework introduced by Cotler and Wilczek can provide a powerful alternative to HBT interferometry in extracting fundamental nonperturbative features of quantum chromodynamics at high energies. We apply this framework to demonstrate that the spatial distributions of color singlet (pomeron) configurations in nuclei are sensitive to measurements of exclusive resonant decays of 𝜌 mesons into 𝜋 ± pairs in ultrarelativistic ultraperipheral nuclear collisions (UPCs) at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider. A preliminary analysis suggests that the model-independent extraction of pomeron distributions will require careful treatment of the interplay of 𝐸 2 ⁢𝐼 2 in the vector meson exclusive decay with the incoherent cross section for exclusive vector meson production. The 𝐸 2 ⁢𝐼 2 framework developed here is quite general. It can also be employed as a tool to extract information on the spin structure of pomeron couplings as well as enhance the discovery potential for rare odderon configurations from exclusive vector meson decays into few-particle final states both in UPCs and at the Electron-Ion Collider.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Multiscale Physics of Atomic Nuclei from First Principles

Atomic nuclei exhibit multiple energy scales ranging from hundreds of MeV in binding energies to fractions of an MeV for low-lying collective excitations. As the limits of nuclear binding are approached near the neutron and proton drip lines, traditional shell structure starts to melt with an onset of deformation and an emergence of coexisting shapes. It is a long-standing challenge to describe this multiscale physics starting from nuclear forces with roots in quantum chromodynamics. Here, we achieve this within a unified and nonperturbative quantum many-body framework that captures both short- and long-range correlations starting from modern nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon forces from chiral effective field theory. The short-range (dynamic) correlations which account for the bulk of the binding energy are included within a symmetry-breaking framework, while long-range (static) correlations (and fine details about the collective structure) are included by employing symmetry projection techniques. Our calculations accurately reproduce—within theoretical error bars—available experimental data for low-lying collective states and the electromagnetic quadrupole transitions in 20−30 Ne. In addition, we reveal coexisting spherical and deformed shapes in 30 Ne, which indicates the breakdown of the magic neutron number 𝑁 = 20 as the key nucleus 28 O is approached, and we predict that the drip line nuclei 32,34 Ne are strongly deformed and collective. By developing reduced-order models for symmetry-projected states, we perform a global sensitivity analysis and find that the subleading singlet 𝑆-wave contact and a pion-nucleon coupling strongly impact nuclear deformation in chiral effective field theory. The techniques developed in this work clarify how microscopic nuclear forces generate the multiscale physics of nuclei spanning collective phenomena as well as short-range correlations and allow one to capture emergent and dynamical phenomena in finite fermion systems such as atom clusters, molecules, and atomic nuclei.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

From Existing and New Nuclear and Astrophysical Constraints to Stringent Limits on the Equation of State of Neutron-Rich Dense Matter

Through continuous progress in nuclear theory and experiment and an increasing number of neutron-star (NS) observations, a multitude of information about the equation of state (EOS) for matter at extreme densities is available. To constrain the EOS across its entire density range, this information needs to be combined consistently. However, the impact and model dependency of individual observations vary. Given their growing number, assessing the various methods is crucial to compare the respective effects on the EOS and discover potential biases. For this purpose, we present a broad compendium of different constraints and apply them individually to a large set of EOS candidates within a Bayesian framework. Specifically, we explore different ways of how chiral effective field theory and perturbative quantum chromodynamics can be used to place a likelihood on EOS candidates. We also investigate the impact of nuclear experimental constraints, as well as different radio and x-ray observations of NS masses and radii. This is augmented by reanalyses of the existing data from binary neutron star coalescences, in particular of GW170817, with improved models for the tidal waveform and kilonova light curves, which we also utilize to construct a tight upper limit of 2.39 M ⊙ on the TOV mass based on GW170817’s remnant. Our diverse set of constraints is eventually combined to obtain stringent limits on NS properties. We organize the combination in a way to distinguish between constraints where the systematic uncertainties are deemed small and those that rely on less conservative assumptions. For the former, we find the radius of the canonical 1.4 M ⊙ neutron star to be R 1.4 = 12.2 6 − 0.91 + 0.80 km and the TOV mass at M TOV = 2.2 5 − 0.22 + 0.42 M ⊙ (95% credibility). Including all the presented constraints yields R 1.4 = 12.2 0 − 0.48 + 0.50 km and M TOV = 2.3 0 − 0.20 + 0.07 M ⊙ . When comparing these limits to individual data points, we find that the quoted radius of HESS J1731-347 displays noticeable tension with other constraints. Constraining microphysical properties of the EOS proves more challenging. For instance, the symmetry energy slope is restricted to L sym = 48 − 25 + 21 MeV , where this constraint is mainly dominated by our reanalysis of the PREX-II and CREX experiment. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Search for the chiral magnetic effect through beam energy dependence of charge separation using event shape selection

High-energy, heavy-ion collisions can create local domains of chirality-imbalanced quarks, reflecting the topological features of quantum chromodynamics. The chiral magnetic effect (CME) predicts an electric charge separation of quarks in such topological domains along the magnetic field ($\vec{B}$) generated by the passing of two high-Z nuclei. Here, we use a correlation observable Δ⁢𝛾$^{112}$ between charged meson pairs to detect the CME-induced charge separation and a novel event shape selection (ESS) method to mitigate the background effects related to elliptic flow (𝑣 2 ). The ESS method classifies events based on the emission pattern of final-state particles and determines Δ⁢𝛾$^{112}_{ESS}$ from the zero-flow limit. We reconstruct the $\vec{B}$ field direction from the spectator nucleons, which minimizes backgrounds unrelated to the collective motion of the system. In this work, we report the measurements of Δ⁢𝛾$^{112}$ and a background indicator Δ⁢𝛾$^{132}$ in Au+Au collisions from the Brookhaven National Laboratory Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) Beam Energy Scan phase II and at the top RHIC energy. After background suppression, Δ⁢𝛾$^{132}_{ESS}$ aligns with zero, and Δ⁢𝛾$^{112}_{ESS}$ is reduced to no more than 20% of Δ⁢𝛾$^{112}$. We observe a finite residual charge separation with 2.5⁢𝜎, 3⁢𝜎, and 3.2⁢𝜎 significance in the 20–50% centrality range of Au + Au collisions at 11.5, 14.6, and 19.6 GeV. The results at 17.3 and 27 GeV also show positive values but with a lower significance of 1.3⁢𝜎 and 1.1⁢𝜎, respectively. The corresponding Δ⁢𝛾$^{112}_{ESS}$ values at 7.7, 9.2, and 200 GeV are consistent with zero within uncertainties.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Exactness of the normal-ordered two-body truncation of three-nucleon forces

Reference-state-based many-body methods start from Hamiltonians that are normal ordered with respect to the reference state. In low-energy nuclear physics applications, normal-ordered Hamiltonians consisting of two- and three-nucleon forces are usually truncated at the two-body rank with residual three-nucleon operators being discarded. Benchmark computations have shown that this truncation is accurate, but we lack an understanding about why it works. Here, we show that the normal-ordered two-body truncation is exact for zero-range three-body forces when nuclei are computed using the coupled cluster with singles and doubles method. As the nuclear three-nucleon force is short ranged and a three-body contact is a leading term in effective field theories of quantum chromodynamics, our result provides an analytical basis for the popular normal-ordered two-body approximation.

Rothman, Maxwell [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, T↗