Spacetime profile of electromagnetic fields in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions

TL;DR

This paper numerically estimates the spacetime profile of electromagnetic fields generated in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions, revealing their strength, extent, and topological configurations using a hadronic cascade model.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed numerical analysis of electromagnetic field profiles in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies, highlighting their magnitude, spatial-temporal extent, and topological features.

Findings

Electromagnetic fields reach magnitudes of about (50 MeV)^2.

Fields extend over approximately 10 fm in spacetime.

Magnetic fields dominate near the collision point, electric fields elsewhere.

Abstract

I numerically estimate the spacetime profile of the electromagnetic fields produced in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions at $\sqsNN=2.4\,\mathchar`-\,7.7\;{\rm GeV}$ for a wide range of impact parameters $b=0\,\mathchar`-\,9\;{\rm fm}$, using a hadronic cascade model, JAM (Jet AA Microscopic transport model). I demonstrate that (1) the produced electromagnetic fields are as strong as $eE, eB = {\mathcal O}((50\;{\rm MeV})^2)$; (2) that the produced fields extend in spacetime about $V_4 = {\mathcal O}((10\;{\rm fm})^4)$; (3) that the magnetic field dominates around the collision point, while the other broad regions of spacetime are dominated by the electric field; and (4) that a topological electromagnetic-field configuration such that ${\bm E}\cdot {\bm B} \neq 0$ is realized.