Dynamics of dilute nuclear matter with light clusters and in-medium effects

The treatment of particle correlations and the description of clusters in the nuclear medium are important aspects that need to be better understood in the theoretical description of nuclear matter and the simulation of heavy-ion collisions. The authors propose a novel treatment of clustering for transport calculations based on a mechanism that suppresses cluster formation due to the Pauli principle via a medium-dependent cutoff in the momentum distribution of the clusters. The impact of clusters on the dynamics of unstable nuclear matter is clearly seen, and a `distillation' mechanism is observed that affects the distribution of clusters between the low- and high-density regions. Although the approach has room for improvements, it captures the essential physics, and promises to have an impact on the further development of the field.