Distribution of Nuclear Matter and Radiation in the Fragmentation Region

TL;DR

This paper models the fragmentation region in heavy ion collisions, showing how a struck nucleus compresses and evolves with two distinct fluids, affecting baryon and radiation distributions.

Contribution

It introduces a simple classical model to describe the early dynamics of nuclear matter and radiation in the fragmentation region of relativistic heavy ion collisions.

Findings

Struck nucleus undergoes compression during collision.

Early collision dynamics are best described by two separate fluids.

Radiation velocity distribution differs significantly from matter distribution.

Abstract

We study the fragmentation (far forward/backward) region of heavy ion collisions by considering an at-rest nucleus which is struck by a relativistic sheet of colored glass. By means of a simple classical model, we calculate the subsequent evolution of baryons and the associated radiation. We confirm that the struck nucleus undergoes a compression and that the dynamics of the early times of the collision are best described by two separate fluids as the produced radiation's velocity distribution is very different to the velocity distribution of the matter in the struck nucleus.