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Nuclear Theory·nucl-th

Wednesday·March 13, 2024

12 papers—2 primary·10 cross-listed

All12Primary2Cross-lists10
  1. 01

    [Submitted on 12 Mar 2024]

    Exploring the Nuclear Shape Phase Transition in Ultra-Relativistic Xe+Xe Collisions at the LHC

    Shujun Zhao🇨🇳 · Hao-jie Xu🇨🇳 · You Zhou🇩🇰 · Yu-Xin Liu🇨🇳 · Huichao Song🇨🇳

    The shape phase transition for certain isotope or isotone chains, associated with the quantum phase transition of finite nuclei, is an intriguing phenomenon in nuclear physics. A notable case is the Xe isotope chain, where the structure transits from a -soft rotor to a spherical vibrator, with the second-order shape phase transition occurring in the vicinity of Xe. In this letter, we focus on investigating the -soft deformation of Xe associated with the second-order shape phase transition by constructing novel correlators for ultra-relativistic Xe+Xe collisions. In particular, our iEBE-VISHNU model calculations show that the correlation and the mean transverse momentum fluctuation , which were previously interpreted as the evidence for the rigid triaxial deformation of Xe, can also be well explained by the -soft deformation of Xe. We also propose two novel correlators and , which carry non-trivial higher-order correlations and show unique capabilities to distinguish between the -soft and the rigid triaxial deformation of Xe in Xe+Xe collisions at the LHC. The present study also provides a novel way to explore the second-order shape phase transition of finite nuclei with ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions.

    Subjects:
    Nuclear Theory (nucl-th); High Energy Physics — Phenomenology (hep-ph); Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex)
    arXiv:
    2403.07441 [pdf]
    PRL(2024)·42 citations
  2. 02

    [Submitted on 12 Mar 2024]

    Gapless superfluidity in neutron stars: Thermal properties

    Valentin Allard · Nicolas Chamel

    The interior of mature neutron stars is expected to contain superfluid neutrons and superconducting protons. The influence of temperature and currents on superfluid properties is studied within the self-consistent time-dependent nuclear energy-density functional theory. We find that this theory predicts the existence of a regime in which nucleons are superfluid (the order parameter remains finite) even though the energy spectrum of quasiparticle excitations exhibits no gap. We show that the disappearance of the gap leads to a specific heat that is not exponentially suppressed at low temperatures as in the BCS regime but can be comparable to that in the normal phase. Introducing some dimensionless effective superfluid velocity, we show that the behavior of the specific heat is essentially universal and we derive general approximate analytical formulas for applications to neutron-star cooling simulations.

    Comments:
    28 pages, 6 figures
    Subjects:
    Nuclear Theory (nucl-th); High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
    arXiv:
    2403.07766 [pdf]
    Phys. Rev. C 108, 015801 (2023)

Affiliations

first authorsco-authorsvia INSPIRE