Probing the Symmetry Energy with Heavy Ions

TL;DR

This paper reviews how heavy ion collisions, both neutron-deficient and neutron-rich, are used to constrain the equation of state for nuclear matter across different densities, informing nuclear physics and astrophysics.

Contribution

It introduces new constraints on the symmetry energy of nuclear matter derived from recent heavy ion collision experiments.

Findings

Constraints on the EoS for symmetric matter at high densities.

Initial constraints on the EoS for neutron-rich matter at sub-saturation densities.

Comparison of heavy ion collision constraints with other methods.

Abstract

Constraints on the EoS for symmetric matter (equal neutron and proton numbers) at supra-saturation densities have been extracted from energetic collisions of heavy ions. Collisions of neutron-deficient and neutron-rich heavy ions now provide initial constraints on the EoS of neutron-rich matter at sub-saturation densities. Comparisons are made to other available constraints.