Seminar In Hadronic Physics

Imaging the nuclear structure in high-energy heavy-ion collisions

Jiangyong Jia

Stony Brook University

High-energy heavy-ion collisions, a branch of nuclear physics that focus on study of quark-gluon plama (QGP) and nuclear phase diagram, have always assumed an initial condition from the nuclear structure physics, e.g. the Woods-Saxon geometry. Recent progress in hydrodynamic modeling together with the wealth of precision collective flow data, however, allow us to not only perform quantitative extractions of the transport properties of the QGP, but also to strongly constrain the shape and radial structure of the colliding nuclei. In this talk, I will discuss the exciting possibility of imaging the structure of atomic nuclei using precision flow measurements, including the quadruple, triaxial and octupole deformations and neutron skin effects. In particular, I show this imaging is a precision tool in collisions of isobar nuclei. I will discuss how the nuclear structure information probed by heavy ion collision might be different or complementary to those obtained in the nuclear structure experiments. I welcome your thoughts on how a scan of stable nuclei in the nuclear chart via high-energy isobar collisions may lead to new direction of research in nuclear physics.