Imprint of light nuclei structure in relativistic nuclear collisions

The “imaging-by-smashing” technique [1] has been developed recently in relativistic nuclear collisions. By smashing heavy nuclei at RHIC and the LHC and analysing the anisotropic expansion (flow) of the final state produced particles, unique information on the structure of the collided nuclei can be obtained. Existing efforts primarily focus on the colliding mode of heavy nuclei collisions. In contrast, nuclear structure studies with collisions of light nuclei and the fixed target mode have not been thoroughly explored despite their significant impact and broad interest. In this Letter, we investigate the nuclear structure of 20 Ne and 16 O in the fixed-target 208 Pb– 20 Ne and 208 Pb– 16 O collisions at s NN = 68.5 GeV, using the parton transport model AMPT. The results of two- and four-particle cumulants of anisotropic flow demonstrate a robust signature of nuclear structure effect that persists regardless of the complex dynamic evolution of the created systems. The comparison to the recent hydrodynamic calculations reveals a new possibility of uncovering the origins of collective flow in small systems. This study highlights the significant impact of the light nuclei collisions at the LHCb SMOG (SMOG2) project.