Eur. Phys. J. A (2012) 48: 30
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2012-12030-9

Regular Article - Theoretical Physics

Effect of the momentum dependence of nuclear symmetry potential on the transverse and elliptic flows

¹ School of Information Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, 310018, Hangzhou, China
² School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, 730000, Lanzhou, China
³ Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000, Lanzhou, China

Received: 5 January 2012
Accepted: 27 February 2012
Published online: 12 March 2012

Abstract

In the framework of the isospin-dependent Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck transport model, the effect of the momentum dependence of nuclear symmetry potential on nuclear transverse and elliptic flows in the neutron-rich reaction ¹³²Sn+¹²⁴Sn at a beam energy of 400MeV/nucleon is studied. We find that the momentum dependence of nuclear symmetry potential affects the rapidity distribution of the free neutron to proton ratio, the neutron and the proton transverse flows as a function of rapidity. The momentum dependence of nuclear symmetry potential affects the neutron-proton differential transverse flow more evidently than the difference of neutron and proton transverse flows as well as the difference of proton and neutron elliptic flows. It is thus better to probe the symmetry energy by using the difference of neutron and proton flows since the momentum dependence of nuclear symmetry potential is still an open question. And it is better to probe the momentum dependence of nuclear symmetry potential by using the neutron-proton differential transverse flow the rapidity distribution of the free neutron to proton ratio.