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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 523 records · Page 29
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
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 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

Electromagnetic Tomography of Radial Flow in the Quark-Gluon Plasma

We present a novel multimessenger approach to extract the effective radial flow of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) by jointly analyzing thermal photon and dilepton spectra in heavy-ion collisions. A key feature of this method is that it circumvents the need for a directly unmeasurable reference—the photon temperature in the absence of flow—by establishing, within a calibrated model framework, a stable, approximately linear correlation with the dilepton-inferred temperature. This construction defines an experimentally constructible quantity, 𝑣$^{eff}_{𝑟}$, which reflects early-time collectivity and exhibits a strong correlation with the spacetime-averaged radial velocity of the QGP. Together with previous results linking dilepton slopes to the initial QGP temperature, our work establishes a consistent framework for electromagnetic tomography of the QGP. Here, our framework quantifies the experimental precision target, thereby providing a concrete road map for future measurements at RHIC and the LHC and opening a new avenue to probe the early-time dynamics of hot QCD matter.

Collective flow↗
DOE OSTI2021

Multiplicative noise and the diffusion of conserved densities

Stochastic fluid dynamics governs the long time tails of hydrodynamic correlation functions, and the critical slowing down of relaxation phenomena in the vicinity of a critical point in the phase diagram. In this work we study the role of multiplicative noise in stochastic fluid dynamics. Multiplicative noise arises from the dependence of transport coefficients, such as the diffusion constants for charge and momentum, on fluctuating hydrodynamic variables. We study long time tails and relaxation in the diffusion of a conserved density (model B), and a conserved density coupled to the transverse momentum density (model H). Careful attention is paid to fluctuation-dissipation relations. We observe that multiplicative noise contributes at the same order as non-linear interactions in model B, but is a higher order correction to the relaxation of a scalar density and the tail of the stress tensor correlation function in model H.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Search for a heavy charged Higgs boson decaying into a W boson and a Higgs boson in final states with leptons and b-jets in s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

This article presents a search for a heavy charged Higgs boson produced in association with a top quark and a bottom quark, and decaying into a W boson and a 125 GeV Higgs boson h. The search is performed in final states with one charged lepton, missing transverse momentum, and jets using proton-proton collision data at s$$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the LHC at CERN. This data set corresponds to a total integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. The search is conducted by examining the reconstructed invariant mass distribution of the Wh candidates for evidence of a localised excess in the charged Higgs boson mass range from 250 GeV to 3 TeV. No significant excess of data over the expected background is observed and 95% confidence-level upper limits between 2.8 pb and 1.2 fb are placed on the production cross-section times branching ratio for charged Higgs bosons decaying into Wh.

Aad, G↗
DOE OSTI2025

A method for correcting the substructure of multiprong jets using the Lund jet plane

Many analyses at the CERN LHC exploit the substructure of jets to identify heavy resonances produced with high momenta that decay into multiple quarks and/or gluons. This paper presents a new technique for correcting the substructure of simulated large-radius jets from multiprong decays. The technique is based on reclustering the jet constituents into several subjets such that each subjet represents a single prong, and separately correcting the radiation pattern in the Lund jet plane of each subjet using a correction derived from data. The data presented here correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb −1 collected by the CMS experiment between 2016–2018 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The correction procedure improves the agreement between data and simulation for several different substructure observables of multiprong jets. This technique establishes, for the first time, a robust calibration for the substructure of jets with four or more prongs, enabling future measurements and searches for new phenomena containing these signatures.

Hadron-Hadron Scattering↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Problem of overlapping formation times: In-medium virtual corrections for QCD

High energy particles traversing through medium primarily lose energy by showering through hard bremsstrahlung and pair production. These splitting processes are coherent over large distances in the very high energy limit, leading to suppression from the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect. Avoiding soft-emission approximations, we study the cases where the coherence lengths of two consecutive splittings overlap (which is important for calculating corrections to LPM effect in QCD). Here, we will show how to compute in-medium virtual corrections to the leading order LPM emission rates for QCD. These loop corrections will be necessary for calculating properties of in-medium high energy parton showers. To simplify the calculations, we will focus on the all-gluon case and work in the large-Nc limit of QCD, where Nc is the number of colors.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

The BEST framework for the search for the QCD critical point and the chiral magnetic effect

The Beam Energy Scan Theory (BEST) Collaboration was formed with the goal of providing a theoretical framework for analyzing data from the Beam Energy Scan (BES) program at the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The physics goal of the BES program is the search for a conjectured QCD critical point as well as for manifestations of the chiral magnetic effect. We describe progress that has been made over the previous five years. This includes studies of the equation of state and equilibrium susceptibilities, the development of suitable initial state models, progress in constructing a hydrodynamic framework that includes fluctuations and anomalous transport effects, as well as the development of freezeout prescriptions and hadronic transport models. Lastly, we address the challenge of integrating these components into a complete analysis framework. This document describes the collective effort of the BEST Collaboration and its collaborators around the world.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Light nuclei collectivity from s NN = 3 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC

In high-energy heavy-ion collisions, partonic collectivity is evidenced by the constituent quark number scaling of elliptic flow anisotropy for identified hadrons. A breaking of this scaling and dominance of baryonic interactions is found for identified hadron collective flow measurements in sNN = 3 GeV Au+Au collisions. In this paper, we report measurements of the first- and second-order azimuthal anisotropic parameters, v1 and v2, of light nuclei (d, t, 3He, 4He) produced in sNN = 3 GeV Au+Au collisions at the STAR experiment. An atomic mass number scaling is found in the measured v1 slopes of light nuclei at mid-rapidity. For the measured v2 magnitude, a strong rapidity dependence is observed. Unlike v2 at higher collision energies, the v2 values at mid-rapidity for all light nuclei are negative and no scaling is observed with the atomic mass number. Calculations by the Jet AA Microscopic Transport Model (JAM), with baryonic mean-field plus nucleon coalescence, are in good agreement with our observations, implying baryonic interactions dominate the collective dynamics in 3 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC.

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 OSTI2025

Charged-hadron and identified-hadron (𝐾$^{0}_{𝑆}$, Λ, $Ξ$ − ) yield measurements in photonuclear Pb + Pb and 𝑝 + Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV with ATLAS

This paper presents the measurement of charged-hadron and identified-hadron (𝐾$^{0}_{𝑆}$, Λ, $Ξ$ − ) yields in photonuclear collisions using 1.7nb −1 of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV Pb + Pb data collected in 2018 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Candidate photonuclear events are selected using a combination of tracking and calorimeter information, including the zero-degree calorimeter. The yields as a function of transverse momentum and rapidity are measured in these photonuclear collisions as a function of charged-particle multiplicity. These photonuclear results are compared with 0.1 nb −1 of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV p + Pb data collected in 2016 by ATLAS using similar charged-particle multiplicity selections. These photonuclear measurements shed light on potential quark-gluon plasma formation in photonuclear collisions via observables sensitive to radial flow, enhanced baryon-to-meson ratios, and strangeness enhancement. The results are also compared with the Monte Carlo generator and hydrodynamic calculations to test whether such photonuclear collisions may produce small droplets of quark-gluon plasma that flow collectively.

H & He induced nuclear reactions↗
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 OSTI2026

Nonlinear causality of Israel-Stewart theory with diffusion

We present the first fully nonlinear causality constraints in D = 3 + 1 dimensions for Israel-Stewart theory in the presence of energy and number diffusion in the Eckart and Landau hydrodynamic frames, respectively. These constraints are algebraic inequalities that make no assumption on the underlying geometry of the spacetime or the equation of state. In order to highlight the distinct physical and structural behavior of the two hydrodynamic frames, we discuss the special ultrarelativistic ideal gas equation of state considered in earlier literature in D = 1 + 1 dimensions, and show that our general D = 3 + 1 constraints reduce to their results upon an appropriate choice of angles. For this equation of state in both D = 1 + 1 and D = 3 + 1 dimensions one can show that: (i) there exists a region allowed by nonlinear causality in which the baryon current transitions into a spacelike vector in the Landau frame, and (ii) an analogous argument shows that the solutions of the Eckart frame equations of motion never violate the dominant energy condition, assuming nonlinear causality holds. Furthermore, we then compare our results with those from linearized Israel-Stewart theory and show that the linear causality bounds fail to capture the new physical constraints on energy and number diffusion that are successfully obtained through our nonlinear causality approach.

Quark-gluon plasma↗
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 OSTI2025

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

Whether or not femto-scale droplets of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) are formed in so-called small systems at high-energy colliders is a pressing question in the phenomenology of the strong interaction. For proton-proton or proton-nucleus collisions the answer is inconclusive due to the large theoretical uncertainties plaguing the description of these processes. While upcoming data on collisions of 16 O nuclei may mitigate these uncertainties in the near future, here we demonstrate the unique possibilities offered by complementing 16 O + 16 O data with collisions of 20 Ne ions. We couple both nuclear lattice effective field theory (NLEFT) and projected generator coordinate method (PGCM) ab initio descriptions of the structure of 20 Ne and 16 O to hydrodynamic simulations of 16 O + 16 O and 20 Ne + 20 Ne collisions at high energy. We isolate the imprints of the bowling-pin shape of 20 Ne on the collective flow of hadrons, which can be used to perform quantitative tests of the hydrodynamic QGP paradigm. In particular, we predict that the elliptic flow of 20 Ne + 20 Ne collisions is enhanced by as much as 1.174⁢(8) stat ⁢(31) syst for NLEFT and 1.139⁢(6) stat ⁢(39) syst for PGCM relative to 16 O + 16 O collisions for the 1% most central events. At the same time, theoretical uncertainties largely cancel when studying relative variations of observables between two systems. This demonstrates a method based on experiments with two light-ion species for precision characterizations of the collective dynamics and its emergence in a small system.

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 OSTI2025

Measurement of 𝜔 meson production in 𝑝⁢𝑝 and 𝑝-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV

We present the measurement of the 𝑝 T -differential production cross section of 𝜔 mesons in pp and 𝑝-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV at midrapidity by ALICE. In addition, the first measurement of the nuclear modification factor 𝑅 𝑝⁢Pb for 𝜔 mesons at LHC energies is presented, complementing the existing measurements of lighter neutral mesons such as the 𝜋 0 and 𝜂. Within the measured 𝑝 T range, the 𝑅 𝑝⁢Pb of 𝜔 mesons is compatible with no cold nuclear matter effects within the uncertainties, consistent with previous measurements at lower energies. The 𝜔/𝜋 0 ratio is presented for both collision systems, showing no collision system dependence within the uncertainties. The comparison to previously published 𝜔/𝜋 0 ratios at lower and higher collision energies in pp collisions suggests a decreasing trend of the ratio above 𝑝T = 4 GeV/𝑐 with increasing collision energy. The data in both collision systems are compared to predictions from PYTHIA 8, EPOS LHC, and DPMJET event generators, revealing significant shortcomings in these models’ ability to describe the production of 𝜔 mesons.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗