Study of neutron density fluctuation and neutron-proton correlation in Au+Au collisions using PYTHIA8/Angantyr*

Abstract

Abstract Utilizing the PYTHIA8 Angantyr model, which incorporates the multiple-parton interaction (MPI) based color reconnection (CR) mechanism, we study the relative neutron density fluctuation and neutron-proton correlation in Au+Au collisions at = 7.7, 11.5, 14.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4, and 200 GeV. In this study, we not only delve into the dependence of these two remarkable observations on rapidity, centrality, and energy, but also analyze their interplay with the MPI and CR. Our results show that the light nuclei yield ratio of protons, deuterons, and tritons, expressed by the elegant expression , remains unchanged even as the rapidity coverage and collision centrality increase. Interestingly, we also reveal that the effect of CR is entirely dependent on the presence of the MPI; CR has no impact on the yield ratio if the MPI is off. Our findings further demonstrate that the light nuclei yield ratio experiences a slight increase with increasing collision energy, as predicted by the PYTHIA8 Angantyr model; however, it cannot describe the non-monotonic trend observed by the STAR experiment. Based on the Angantyr model simulation results, it is essential not to overlook the correlation between neutron and proton fluctuations. The Angantyr model is a good baseline for studying collisions in the absence of a quark-gluon plasma system, given its lack of flow and jet quenching.