https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-024-01432-1
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
A study of nuclear structure of light nuclei at the electron–ion collider
1
Department of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, 11794, Stony Brook, NY, USA
2
Center for Frontiers in Nuclear Science at SBU, 11794, Stony Brook, NY, USA
3
Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, 37996, Knoxville, TN, USA
4
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, 12613, Giza, Egypt
5
Department of Physics, The American University in Cairo, 11835, New Cairo, Egypt
6
Department of Physics, Stony Brook University, 11794, Stony Brook, NY, USA
7
Department of Physics, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 11973, Upton, NY, USA
Received:
27
July
2024
Accepted:
30
September
2024
Published online:
28
October
2024
Understanding the substructure of atomic nuclei, particularly the clustering of nucleons inside them, is essential for comprehending nuclear dynamics. Various cluster configurations can emerge depending on excitation energy, the number and types of core clusters, and the presence of excess neutrons. Despite the prevalence of tightly bound cluster formations in low-lying states, understanding the correlation between clusters and their formation mechanisms remains incomplete. This exploring study investigates nuclear clustering at the electron–ion collider (EIC) using simulations based on the modified BeAGLE model. By simulating collisions involving 
Be, 
C, and 
O nuclei, we find that the average energy of particles 
and the system size ratios of particles at forward rapidity exhibit sensitivity to alpha clustering and its various configurations. These findings offer valuable insights into the dynamics of nuclear clustering and its implications for future studies at the EIC.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
