The beam energy dependence of collective flow in heavy ion collisions

TL;DR

This paper reviews how the collective flow of particles in heavy ion collisions varies with beam energy, providing insights into the quark-gluon plasma and the QCD phase diagram.

Contribution

It summarizes the current understanding of the beam energy dependence of the first three flow coefficients using hybrid transport and hydrodynamics models.

Findings

Beam energy influences the magnitude and shape of flow coefficients.

Flow coefficients provide insights into the properties of the quark-gluon plasma.

The study highlights the importance of collective flow as an observable in heavy ion collisions.

Abstract

The major goals of heavy ion research are to explore the phase diagram of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and to investigate the properties of the quark gluon plasma (QGP), a new state of matter created at high temperatures and/or densities. Collective anisotropic flow is one of the most promising observables to gain insights about the properties of the system created in relativistic heavy ion reactions. The current status of the beam energy dependence of the first three Fourier coefficients of the azimuthal distribution of the produced particles $v_1$ to $v_3$ within hybrid transport plus hydrodynamics approaches are summarized.