Effects of hadronic potentials on elliptic flows in relativistic heavy ion collisions

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that incorporating hadronic mean-field potentials in a transport model explains the observed differences in elliptic flows between particles and antiparticles in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, aligning with experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces the effect of hadronic mean-field potentials on elliptic flow splitting, providing a plausible explanation consistent with RHIC BES observations.

Findings

Hadronic potentials cause elliptic flow splitting between particles and antiparticles.

The model reproduces experimental flow differences observed at RHIC.

Inclusion of mean-field effects improves understanding of hadronic phase dynamics.

Abstract

Within the framework of a multiphase transport (AMPT) model that includes both initial partonic and final hadronic interactions, we show that including mean-field potentials in the hadronic phase leads to a splitting of the elliptic flows of particles and their antiparticles, providing thus a plausible explanation of the different elliptic flows between $p$ and ${\bar p}$, $K^+$ and $K^-$, and $\pi^+$ and $\pi^-$ observed in recent Beam Energy Scan (BES) program at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC).