Blind spots of probing the high-density symmetry energy in heavy-ion collisions

Abstract

The nuclear symmetry energy, especially at suprasaturation densities, plays crucial roles in many astrophysical studies. However, nowadays the high-density behavior of the symmetry energy is still very controversial in nuclear community. To constrain the high-density behavior of the symmetry energy, neutron-rich nuclei collisions at medium energies are considered to be one of the most effective methods. While probing the high-density symmetry energy by using heavy-ion collisions, blind spots may exist. In the framework of the Isospin-dependent Boltzmann–Uehling–Uhlenbeck (IBUU) transport model, the blind spots of probing the high-density symmetry energy by the n/p ratio in the central Au + Au reaction at 300MeV/nucleon are demonstrated. It is found that the nucleon observable neutron to proton ratio n/p in heavy-ion collisions cannot effectively probe the high-density symmetry energy when the high-density symmetry energy is less density-dependent.