nucl-ex

Geometric bias and centrality dependence of jet quenching in high-energy nuclear collisions

Probing the neutron-skin thickness through $J/\psi$ photoproduction in ultra-peripheral collisions

This study demonstrates that the neutron-skin thickness in ultra-peripheral $^{208}\mathrm{Pb}+{}^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$ collisions significantly influences $J/\psi$ photoproduction by suppressing coherent cross sections at large momentum transfer while enhancing incoherent ones, thereby establishing the ratio of incoherent to coherent cross sections as a robust observable for constraining neutron-skin thickness and transverse gluon distributions.

Data-driven method to estimate contamination from light ion beam transmutation at colliders

This paper proposes a data-driven method that utilizes the distinct time dependence and smaller size of beam contaminants to define control regions for quantifying and mitigating the impact of light-ion beam transmutation on physics analyses at colliders like the LHC and RHIC.

Accessing nucleon transversity with one-point energy correlators

This paper proposes using the one-point energy correlator (OPEC) in transversely polarized proton-proton collisions as a novel, infrared-and-collinear safe method to probe the nucleon's transversity distribution with a clean angular asymmetry over a wider kinematic range than traditional hadron transverse momentum measurements.

Bayesian Constraints on Pre-Equilibrium Jet Quenching and Predictions for Oxygen Collisions

This paper employs a Bayesian analysis of a semi-analytic jet quenching framework coupled with hydrodynamics and pre-equilibrium energy loss to constrain early-time quenching mechanisms in large systems and predict significant jet and hadron suppression in future oxygen-oxygen collisions.

The size of the quark-gluon plasma in ultracentral collisions: impact of initial density fluctuations on the average transverse momentum

This paper analytically demonstrates that the variation of the quark-gluon plasma volume in ultracentral collisions depends on initial density fluctuations and is negligible when total entropy scales with the mass number, thereby establishing that measurements of average transverse momentum can probe detailed nuclear structure and pre-equilibrium dynamics.

The Maximal Entanglement Limit in Statistical and High Energy Physics

This paper proposes that quantum entanglement serves as a unifying foundation for statistical and high-energy physics, arguing that systems naturally evolve toward a Maximal Entanglement Limit where thermalization and probabilistic behaviors emerge from the geometry of high-dimensional Hilbert spaces without requiring ergodicity or classical randomness.

Unified Description of Pseudoscalar Meson Structure from Light to Heavy Quarks

This paper presents a comprehensive review of an algebraic light-front model that provides a unified, symmetry-consistent description of the structure of pseudoscalar mesons across light, heavy-light, and heavy-heavy quark regimes, demonstrating how increasing quark mass drives a transition from broad, asymmetric momentum distributions to compact, symmetric configurations.

PHENIX Measurements of Light Hadron and Vector Meson Production at RHIC

This paper presents recent PHENIX measurements of identified light hadrons and low-mass vector mesons across various collision systems and rapidities at RHIC to investigate final-state effects, hadronization mechanisms, and initial-state geometry through comparisons with empirical scaling laws and theoretical models.

Isospin Decomposition of Vector and Axial Two-Body Currents via Polarized Electron--Deuteron and Electron--$^3$He Scattering at the Electron-Ion Collider

This paper proposes a measurement program at the Electron-Ion Collider using polarized electron scattering on deuteron and $^3$He to directly constrain the axial two-body current and resolve current discrepancies in meson-exchange current models, which are critical for reducing uncertainties in long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments.