Constraining the nuclear matter equation of state around twice saturation density

TL;DR

This paper uses experimental data from heavy-ion collisions and a transport model to constrain the nuclear matter equation of state at densities around twice the saturation density, providing insights into nuclear compressibility.

Contribution

It introduces a new observable based on elliptic flow evolution to robustly constrain the nuclear EOS at high densities using experimental data.

Findings

Constraints on the nuclear EOS up to 2 times saturation density.

Demonstration of the observable's sensitivity to the nuclear compressibility.

Improved understanding of the behavior of symmetric nuclear matter under extreme conditions.

Abstract

Using FOPI data on elliptic flow in Au+Au collisions between 0.4 and 1.5A GeV we extract constraints for the equation of state (EOS) of compressed symmetric nuclear matter using the transport code IQMD by introducing an observable describing the evolution of the size of the elliptic flow as a function of rapidity. This observable is sensitive to the nuclear EOS and a robust tool to constrain the compressibility of nuclear matter up to 2 $\rho_0$.