Enhancement of flow anisotropies due to magnetic field in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how strong magnetic fields in early-stage relativistic heavy-ion collisions can significantly influence flow anisotropies, especially enhancing the elliptic flow coefficient $v_2$, due to plasma wave effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates that magnetic fields in heavy-ion collisions can notably alter flow coefficients, highlighting the importance of magnetic effects in plasma evolution.

Findings

Magnetic fields can enhance the elliptic flow coefficient $v_2$.

Flow anisotropies are sensitive to magnetic field strength during early plasma stages.

Magnetic effects depend on the angle between magnetic field and wave vector.

Abstract

It is known that the presence of background magnetic field in cosmic plasma distorts the acoustic peaks in CMBR. This primarily results from different types of waves in the plasma with velocities depending on the angle between the magnetic field and the wave vector. We consider the consequences of these effects in relativistic heavy-ion collisions where very strong magnetic fields arise during early stages of the plasma evolution. We show that flow coefficients can be significantly affected by these effects when the magnetic field remains strong during early stages due to strong induced fields in the conducting plasma. In particular, the presence of magnetic field can lead to enhancement in the elliptic flow coefficient $v_2$.