Bayesian inference of the incompressibility, skewness and kurtosis of nuclear matter from empirical pressures in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Journal Article · Tue Jan 19 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Journal of Physics. G, Nuclear and Particle Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6471/abd25a· OSTI ID:1837904

Xie, Wen-Jie ^[1]; Li, Bao-An  ^[2]

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1. Yuncheng University, Yuncheng (China)
2. Texas A & M Univ., Commerce, TX (United States)

Within the Bayesian statistical framework we infer the incompressibility K₀, skewness J₀ and kurtosis Z₀ parameters of symmetric nuclear matter (SNM) at its saturation density ρ₀ using the constraining bands on the pressure in cold SNM in the density range of 1.3ρ₀ to 4.5ρ₀ from transport model analyses of kaon production and nuclear collective flow in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. As the default option assuming the K₀, J₀ and Z₀ have Gaussian prior probability distribution functions (PDFs) with the means and variances of 235±30, -200±200 and -146±1728 MeV, their posterior most probable values are narrowed down to 192$$^{+12}_{-16}$$ MeV, -180$$^{+100}_{-110}$$ MeV and $${\mathrm{200}}_{-250}^{+250}$$ at 68% confidence level, respectively. The results are largely independent of the prior PDFs of J₀ and Z₀ used. However, if one adopts the strong belief that the incompressibility K₀ has a uniform prior PDF within its absolute boundary of 220–260 MeV as one can find easily in the literature, the posterior most probable values of K₀, J₀ and Z₀ shift to $${K}_{0}=22{0}_{-0}^{+6}$$ MeV, $${J}_{0}=-39{0}_{-70}^{+60}$$ MeV and $${Z}_{0}=60{0}_{-200}^{+200}$$ MeV, respectively. While the posterior PDFs of the SNM EOS parameters depend somewhat on the prior PDF of K₀ used, the results from using different prior PDFs are qualitatively consistent. The uncertainties of all three parameters are significantly reduced especially for the J₀ and Z₀ parameters compared to their current values.

• Research Organization: Texas A & M Univ., Commerce, TX (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0013702; SC0009971
• OSTI ID: 1837904
• Journal Information: Journal of Physics. G, Nuclear and Particle Physics, Vol. 48, Issue 2; ISSN 0954-3899
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
equation of state
incompressibility
skewness
heavy-ion collisions
kurtosis