Imaging shapes of atomic nuclei in high-energy nuclear collisions

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dc.citation.firstpage67en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber8037en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleNatureen_US
dc.citation.lastpage72en_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber635en_US
dc.contributor.authorSTAR Collaborationen_US
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-09T20:17:04Zen_US
dc.date.available2025-01-09T20:17:04Zen_US
dc.date.issued2024en_US
dc.description.abstractAtomic nuclei are self-organized, many-body quantum systems bound by strong nuclear forces within femtometre-scale space. These complex systems manifest a variety of shapes1–3, traditionally explored using non-invasive spectroscopic techniques at low energies4,5. However, at these energies, their instantaneous shapes are obscured by long-timescale quantum fluctuations, making direct observation challenging. Here we introduce the collective-flow-assisted nuclear shape-imaging method, which images the nuclear global shape by colliding them at ultrarelativistic speeds and analysing the collective response of outgoing debris. This technique captures a collision-specific snapshot of the spatial matter distribution within the nuclei, which, through the hydrodynamic expansion, imprints patterns on the particle momentum distribution observed in detectors6,7. We benchmark this method in collisions of ground-state uranium-238 nuclei, known for their elongated, axial-symmetric shape. Our findings show a large deformation with a slight deviation from axial symmetry in the nuclear ground state, aligning broadly with previous low-energy experiments. This approach offers a new method for imaging nuclear shapes, enhances our understanding of the initial conditions in high-energy collisions and addresses the important issue of nuclear structure evolution across energy scales.en_US
dc.identifier.citationSTAR Collaboration. (2024). Imaging shapes of atomic nuclei in high-energy nuclear collisions. Nature, 635(8037), 67–72. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08097-2en_US
dc.identifier.digitals41586-024-08097-2en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08097-2en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/118146en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherSpringer Natureen_US
dc.rightsExcept where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the terms of the license or beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_US
dc.titleImaging shapes of atomic nuclei in high-energy nuclear collisionsen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
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