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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
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DOE OSTI2025

Constraining color-charge effects of partonic energy loss with jet-axis-based inclusive jet substructure measurement

This study investigates the color-charge dependence of parton energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) medium and the associated relative modifications of quark and gluon jet fractions compared to vacuum, using jet axis decorrelation observables. Recent CMS jet axis decorrelation measurements in PbPb collisions at 5.02 TeV are interpreted using Pythia simulations with varied quark/gluon jet compositions and emulated color-charge dependent energy loss. A template-fit procedure is employed to estimate the limits on gluon jet fractions in the published CMS data and average shift in jet momentum due to quenching for quark- and gluon-initiated jets traversing the QGP. The extracted gluon jet fractions and the estimated quark and gluon energy losses based on this study of jet axis decorrelations are found to be consistent with other model calculations based on inclusive observables. This work illustrates the use of jet substructure measurements for providing constraints on the color-charge dependence of parton energy loss and offers valuable insights for jet quenching models.

jet quenching↗
DOE OSTI2025

Accessing the deuteron source with pion-deuteron femtoscopy in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV

Femtoscopy of nonidentical particle pairs has been instrumental for precision measurements of both two-particle sources and the final-state interactions in high-energy elementary and heavy-ion collisions. The majority of measurements assessing the source properties are based on identical particle pairs, providing direct access to the characteristics of the single-particle source. The work in this paper demonstrates, via femtoscopy measurements of charged pion-deuteron pairs in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV, the feasibility of accessing the characteristics of the single-particle femtoscopic source by using particle pairs with large mass differences such as pions and deuterons. The first experimental results of the measurement of deuteron source sizes in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions are presented. The results show good agreement with the trend derived from other charged hadrons such as pions, kaons, and protons as a function of transverse mass, indicating similar source properties.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Evidence of Spin-Interference Effects in Exclusive 𝐽/𝜓 → 𝑒 + ⁢𝑒 − Photoproduction in Ultraperipheral Heavy-Ion Collisions

Here, we report the first evidence of spin interference in exclusive 𝐽/𝜓 → 𝑒 + ⁢𝑒 − photoproduction in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions at STAR at $\sqrt{𝑠_{𝑁⁢𝑁}}$ = 200 GeV. In Au + Au collisions, a negative cos⁡(2⁢𝜙) modulation is found for 𝑝 𝑇 < 120 MeV/𝑐 with a significance of 3.2⁢𝜎, while the isobar data (Ru + Ru, Zr + Zr) show a consistent negative modulation with a significance of 1.9⁢𝜎, opposite in sign to that in 𝜌 0 → 𝜋 + ⁢𝜋 − photoproduction. This establishes for the first time that the interference sign is controlled by the spin structure of the final-state daughters, resolving the ambiguity present in the all-boson 𝜌 0 channel. The compact 𝐽/𝜓 probes gluon distributions at perturbative scales, resulting in a weaker modulation and providing stringent constraints on color glass condensate calculations. These findings demonstrate that spin-dependent interference in heavy vector mesons provides a new, experimentally accessible handle on gluon structure beyond traditional cross-section measurements.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Measurement of fifth- and sixth-order fluctuations of (net-)proton number in Au + Au collisions from phase II of the beam energy scan program at RHIC

We report high-statistics measurements of fifth- and sixth-order factorial cumulants and cumulant ratios of (net-)proton multiplicity distributions in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 7.7–27GeV, using data from the STAR experiment collected during the Beam Energy Scan Phase II at RHIC. Protons and antiprotons are identified at midrapidity (|𝑦| < 0.5) with transverse momentum 0.4 < 𝑝 𝑇 < 2.0GeV/𝑐. The proton factorial cumulants 𝜅 4 , 𝜅 5 , and 𝜅 6 increase with order but exhibit no sign alternation within current uncertainties, offering no evidence for a two-component structure in the proton multiplicity distribution, as might be expected near a first-order phase transition. The cumulant ratios 𝐶 5 /𝐶 1 and 𝐶 6 /𝐶 2 fluctuate around zero in collisions at 0–40% centrality. The results are consistent with both the negative predictions from lattice QCD and the positive trends obtained from the ultrarelativistic quantum molecular dynamics (UrQMD) model. At $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ ≳ 27GeV, the 𝐶 4 /𝐶 2 and 𝐶 5 /𝐶 1 results are compatible with predictions from lattice QCD, functional renormalization group (FRG), and hadron resonance gas (HRG) models, while UrQMD describes the data better at lower energies. Here, these measurements place constraints on baryon number fluctuations and offer valuable insights into the QCD phase structure.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Measurement of medium-induced acoplanarity in central Au-Au and 𝑝⁢𝑝 collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV using direct-photon + jet and 𝜋 0 + jet correlations

The STAR Collaboration reports measurements of acoplanarity using semi-inclusive distributions of charged-particle jets recoiling from direct photon and 𝜋 0 triggers, in central Au–Au and 𝑝⁢𝑝 collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV. Significant medium-induced acoplanarity broadening is observed for large but not small recoil jet resolution parameter, corresponding to recoil jet yield enhancement up to a factor of ≈ 20 for trigger-recoil azimuthal separation far from 𝜋. This phenomenology is indicative of the response of the quark-gluon plasma to excitation, but not the scattering of jets off of its quasiparticles. As a result, the measurements are not well described by current theoretical models which incorporate jet quenching.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Measurement of 𝐷 0 Meson Photoproduction in Ultraperipheral Heavy Ion Collisions

This Letter reports the first measurement of photonuclear 𝐷 0 meson production in ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions. The study is performed using lead-lead collision data, with an integrated luminosity of 1.34 nb −1 , collected by the CMS experiment at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.36 TeV. Photonuclear events, where one of the colliding nuclei breaks up and the other remains intact, are selected based on breakup neutron emissions and by requiring no particle activity in a large rapidity interval in the direction of the photon-emitting nucleus. The 𝐷 0 mesons are reconstructed via the 𝐷 0 → 𝐾 −⁢ 𝜋 + decay channel, with the cross section measured as a function of 𝐷 0 meson transverse momentum and rapidity. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations that employ recent parametrizations of the lead nuclear parton distribution functions, as well as with predictions based on the color glass condensate framework. This measurement is the first photonuclear collision study characterizing parton distribution functions of lead nuclei for parton fractional momenta 𝑥 (relative to the nucleon) ranging approximately from a few 10 −4 to 10 −2 for different hard energy scale 𝑄 2 selections.

charm quark↗
DOE OSTI2026

Observation of Suppressed Charged-Particle Production in Ultrarelativistic Oxygen-Oxygen Collisions

A hot and dense state of nuclear matter, known as the quark-gluon plasma, is created in collisions of ultrarelativistic heavy nuclei. Highly energetic quarks and gluons, collectively referred to as partons, lose energy as they travel through this matter, leading to suppressed production of particles with large transverse momenta (𝑝 T ). Conversely, high-𝑝 T particle suppression has not been seen in proton-lead collisions, raising questions regarding the minimum system size required to observe parton energy loss. Oxygen-oxygen (OO) collisions examine a region of effective system size that lies between these two extreme cases. The CMS detector at the CERN LHC has been used to quantify charged-particle production in inclusive OO collisions for the first time via measurements of the nuclear modification factor (𝑅 AA ). The 𝑅 AA is derived by comparing particle production to expectations based on proton-proton (𝑝⁢𝑝) data and has a value of unity in the absence of nuclear effects. The data for OO and 𝑝⁢𝑝 collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.36 TeV correspond to integrated luminosities of 6.1 nb −1 and 1.02 pb −1 , respectively. The 𝑅 AA is below unity with a minimum of 0.69 ± 0.04 around 𝑝 T = 6 GeV. The data exhibit better agreement with theoretical models incorporating parton energy loss as compared to baseline models without energy loss.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

Observation of Coherent 𝜙⁡(1020) Meson Photoproduction in Ultraperipheral PbPb Collisions at $\sqrt{𝑠_{NN}}$ = 5.36 TeV

The first observation of coherent 𝜙⁡(1020) meson photoproduction off heavy nuclei is presented using ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.36 TeV. The data were collected by the CMS experiment and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.62 μ⁢𝑏 −1 . The 𝜙⁡(1020) meson signals are reconstructed via the 𝐾 + ⁢𝐾 − decay channel. The production cross section is presented as a function of the 𝜙⁡(1020) meson rapidity in the range 0.3 < |𝑦| < 1.0, probing gluons that carry a fraction of the nucleon momentum (𝑥) around 10 −4 . The observed cross section exhibits little dependence on rapidity and is significantly suppressed, by a factor of ∼5, compared to a baseline model that treats a nucleus as a collection of free nucleons. Theoretical models that incorporate the nuclear shadowing effect generally provide a better description of the 𝜙⁡(1020) data than those incorporating gluon saturation. This study establishes a powerful new tool for exploring nuclear effects and nuclear gluonic structure in the small-𝑥 regime at a unique energy scale bridging the perturbative and nonperturbative quantum chromodynamics domains.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dielectron production in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02TeV

The first measurement of the 𝑒 + ⁢𝑒 − pair production at midrapidity and low invariant mass in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. The yield of 𝑒 + ⁢𝑒 − pairs is compared with a cocktail of expected hadronic decay contributions in the invariant mass (𝑚𝑒⁢𝑒) and pair transverse momentum (𝑝 T,𝑒⁢𝑒 ) ranges 𝑚 𝑒⁢𝑒 < 3.5 GeV/𝑐 2 and 𝑝 T,𝑒⁢𝑒 < 8 GeV/𝑐. For 0.18 < 𝑚 𝑒⁢𝑒 < 0.5 GeV/𝑐 2 the ratio of data to the cocktail of hadronic contributions amounts to 1.40 ± 0.11⁢(stat.) ± 0.23 ⁢(syst.) ± 0.16⁢ (cocktail) and 1.42 ± 0.11⁢ (stat.) ± 0.23 (syst.)$^{+0.24}_{−0.29}$ ⁢(cocktail), including or not including medium effects in the estimation of the heavy-flavor background, respectively. It is consistent with predictions from two different models for an additional contribution of thermal 𝑒+⁢𝑒− pairs from the hadronic and partonic phases. In the intermediate-mass range (1.2 < 𝑚 𝑒⁢𝑒 < 2.6 GeV/𝑐 2 ), the pair transverse impact parameter of the 𝑒 + ⁢𝑒 − pairs (DCA𝑒⁢𝑒, where “DCA” denotes “distance of closest approach”) is used for the first time in Pb-Pb collisions to separate displaced dielectrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays from a possible (thermal) contribution produced at the interaction point. The data are consistent with a suppression of 𝑒 + ⁢𝑒 − pairs from $𝑐\bar{𝑐}$ and an additional prompt component. Finally, the first direct-photon measurement in the 10% most central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV is reported via the study of virtual direct photons in the transverse momentum range 1 < 𝑝 T < 5 GeV/𝑐. A model including prompt photons, as well as photons from the preequilibrium and fluid-dynamic phases, can reproduce the result, while being at the upper edge of the data uncertainties.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Rotating synchrotron radiation: Photon emission from magnetized and rotating quark-gluon plasma

This paper investigates the production of nonprompt photons originating from rotating synchrotron radiation (RoSyRa), specifically the emission of photons by a rigidly rotating quark-gluon plasma in thermal equilibrium, in the presence of an external magnetic field. We compute the nonprompt photon spectrum and its elliptic flow (𝑣 2 ) at midrapidity. In particular, we investigate the finite-volume effects. We find that at low transverse momentum, the magnetic field induces a significant 𝑣 2 , while the plasma rotation boosts the synchrotron radiation of negatively charged quarks. These findings make RoSyRa a viable candidate mechanism to resolve the “direct photon puzzle.”

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Enhancement of the photon emission rate near the QCD critical point

We compute photon emission rate enhancement near the QCD critical point using an effective theory of dynamic critical phenomena and derive a universal photon spectrum. The emission rate scales similar to conductivity, increasing with the correlation length (𝜉), diverging at the critical point. The spectrum exhibits 𝜔⁢𝑑⁢𝑁 𝛾 /𝑑 3 ⁢𝑘 ∝ 𝜔 −1/2 in the scaling regime, with the transition occurring at a frequency comparable to shear damping rate 𝜔 ∼ 𝛾 𝜂 /𝜉 2 , reflecting the nonequilibrium properties of the near-critical liquid.

dynamic critical phenomena↗
DOE OSTI2026

Data-driven method to estimate contamination from light ion beam transmutation at colliders

Collisions of relativistic light ions, such as oxygen, neon, and magnesium, have been proposed as a way to examine the system-size dependence of dynamics typically associated with the quark-gluon plasma produced in collisions of heavier ions such as xenon, gold, or lead. Recent efforts at both the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have produced large datasets of proton-oxygen, oxygen-oxygen, and neon-neon collisions, catalyzing intense interest in experimental backgrounds associated with light-ion collisions. In particular, electromagnetic dissociation of light ions while they are circulating in a collider can result in beam contamination that is difficult to simulate precisely. Here we propose a data-driven method for evaluating the potential impact of beam contaminants on physics analyses. The method exploits the time dependence and smaller size of contaminant ion species to define control regions that can be used to quantify potential contamination effects. A simple model is used to illustrate the method and to study its robustness. Furthermore, this method can inform studies of recent LHC and RHIC data and could also be useful for future light-ion programs at the LHC and beyond.

Beam loss↗
DOE OSTI2025

Perfect spinfluid: A divergence-type approach

We present a new formulation of nondissipative relativistic spin hydrodynamics that incorporates spin degrees of freedom into the divergence-type theory framework. Due to the divergence-type structure, it is straightforward to enforce nonlinear causality and symmetric hyperbolicity of the equations of motion, ensuring local well-posedness of the initial-value problem and stability of the theory. Furthermore, in a specific realization based on spin kinetic theory, we prove that the equations of motion remain nonlinearly causal and symmetric-hyperbolic to all orders in the spin potential, provided a specific thermodynamic constraint is satisfied. Here, this framework can be applied for numerical simulations to study the dynamics of spin-polarized fluids, such as the quark-gluon plasma in heavy-ion collisions.

Chirality↗
DOE OSTI2026

Signatures of QCD conductivities in heavy-ion collisions

Dissipative processes are pivotal for understanding the hydrodynamic evolution of hot and dense quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matter created in relativistic nuclear collisions. The interplay of multiple conserved charges—net baryon, strangeness, and electric charge—is of particular interest. Here, we simulate the longitudinal hydrodynamic evolution with the three diffusion currents in a hydrodynamic model with a lattice-QCD-based equation of state, NEOS -4 D , and estimate rapidity distributions including diffusive corrections to the phase-space distribution in the presence of multiple charges, which ensure charge conservation at particlization. We determine the response of particle yields at midrapidity to changes in the diagonal and off-diagonal conductivities. Inversely, we find that most components of the conductivity matrix can be constrained experimentally using identified particle multiplicities at different collision energies.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Nonlinear causality and strong hyperbolicity of baryon-rich Israel-Stewart hydrodynamics

We present the first set of fully-nonlinear, necessary and sufficient conditions guaranteeing causal evolution of the initial data for the Israel-Stewart hydrodynamic equations with shear and bulk viscosity coupled to a nonzero baryon current. These constraints not only provide nonlinear causality: they also (a) guarantee the existence of a locally well-posed evolution of the initial data (they enforce strong hyperbolicity) when excluding the endpoints of the bounds, (b) arise from purely algebraic constraints that make no underlying symmetry assumptions on the degrees of freedom and (c) propagate the relevant symmetries of the degrees of freedom over the entire evolution of the problem. Our work enforces a mathematically rigorous foundation for future studies of viscous relativistic hydrodynamics with baryon-rich matter including neutron star mergers and heavy-ion collisions.

Cordeiro, Ian [University of Illinois Urbana-Champ↗
DOE OSTI2026

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↗
DOE OSTI2026

The high level trigger and express data production at STAR

To meet the demands of the Beam Energy Scan phase-II (BES-II) program, the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) developed a dual real-time framework consisting of a High Level Trigger (HLT) and an Express Data Production system (xProduction). The HLT operates online within the Data Acquisition (DAQ) chain on a dedicated multi-core CPU cluster with the option to offload compute-intensive kernels to Xeon Phi coprocessors. It uses parallelized algorithms, such as the Cellular Automaton (CA) Track Finder, to perform rapid tracking, vertexing, and event filtering. This allows it to select events of interest in real time and provide immediate feedback on detector and beam conditions. In contrast, the xProduction workflow runs concurrently and independently of the DAQ loop. It applies near offline-quality calibration and reconstruction within hours of data collection. The xProduction input is the express data stream, whose content can be enriched by HLT trigger/priority selections under DAQ/HLT resource constraints, and it uses the STAR calibration/conditions framework, incorporating online calibration/QA information when available. This enables early preliminary physics analysis, including the reconstruction of rare signals, such as hyperons and hypernuclei. It also provides collaboration-wide access to analysis-ready datasets. Together, the HLT and xProduction systems form a complementary architecture: the HLT performs online event selection while the xProduction chain delivers high-quality results within a short amount of time. This integrated framework has enabled the prompt reconstruction of the $^5_Λ$ He hypernucleus with high statistical significance and the efficient processing of hundreds of millions of heavy-ion collision events. In conclusion, its demonstrated scalability and robustness establish a model for future high-luminosity experiments requiring both online event filtering and rapid access to analysis-quality data.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Measurement of inclusive $J/ψ$ production in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}$ = 54.4 GeV at STAR

This article presents measurements of inclusive J/ψ production at midrapidity (|y| < 1.0) in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}$ = 54.4 GeV with the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. A suppression of the J/ψ yield, quantified using the nuclear modification factors (R AA , R CP ), is observed with respect to the scaled production p + p in collisions. The dependence of R AA on collision centrality and J/ψ transverse momentum is measured with improved precision compared to previous measurements at 39 and 62.4 GeV, while the centrality dependence of R CP is measured and compared to the same results at 39, 62.4, and 200 GeV. In central collisions, no significant collision energy dependence of R AA is found within uncertainties for collision energies between 17.3 and 200 GeV. Two transport model calculations that include dissociation and regeneration contributions are consistent with the experimental results within uncertainties. Although no significant collision energy dependence of the J/ψ suppression in high energy heavy-ion collisions up to $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV is observed within uncertainties, the newly measured results at 54.4 GeV Au+Au collisions provide additional constraints on theoretical calculations of the hot medium evolution and cold nuclear matter effects.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗