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Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 2438–2441 (1998)

Disappearance of Elliptic Flow: A New Probe for the Nuclear Equation of State

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P. Danielewicz2, Roy A. Lacey1, P.-B. Gossiaux2,3, C. Pinkenburg1, P. Chung1, J. M. Alexander1, and R. L. McGrath1
1Departments of Chemistry and Physics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794-3400
2National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1321
3SUBATECH, Ecole des Mines, F-44070 Nantes, France

Received 26 March 1998; published in the issue dated 21 September 1998

Using a relativistic hadron transport model, we investigate the utility of the elliptic flow excitation function as a probe for the stiffness of nuclear matter and for the onset of a possible quark-gluon-plasma phase transition at alternating-gradient synchrotron energies 1≲Ebeam≲11AGeV. The excitation function shows a strong dependence on the nuclear equation of state, and exhibits characteristic signatures which could signal the onset of the transition.

© 1998 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.2438
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.2438
PACS:
25.75.Ld, 12.38.Mh, 24.10.Jv, 24.85.+p