Disappearance of Elliptic Flow: A New Probe for the Nuclear Equation of State
Abstract
Using a relativistic hadron transport model, we investigate the utility of the elliptic flow excitation function as a probe for the stiffness of nuclear matter and for the onset of a possible quark-gluon-plasma phase transition at alternating-gradient synchrotron energies 1<~Ebeam<~11A GeV. The excitation function shows a strong dependence on the nuclear equation of state, and exhibits characteristic signatures which could signal the onset of the transition.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- September 1998
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.2438
- arXiv:
- arXiv:nucl-th/9803047
- Bibcode:
- 1998PhRvL..81.2438D
- Keywords:
-
- Nuclear Theory
- E-Print:
- 11 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses epsf.sty, submitted to Physical Review Letters