Effects of the centrality determination method for the equation of state and nucleonic observables from <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>Au</mml:mi> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mi>Au</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:

Centrality determination remains one of the major sources of systematic uncertainty in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collision analyses, especially for probing the nuclear equation of state (EoS) at supra-saturation densities. To quantitatively assess the uncertainties associated with different centrality determination methods and to investigate their effects on final-state EoS-sensitive observables. Within the ultra-relativistic quantum molecular dynamics (UrQMD) model, Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=2.4 GeV are performed within a soft and a hard EoS. Event centrality is determined using the multiplicity of all charged particles ($M_\mathrm{ch}$) and two impact parameter-based centrality filters, one based on a geometrical interpretation and the other based on the Glauber Monte Carlo (MC) model, denoted as $b_{f}$ and $b_{r}$, respectively. It is shown that there exist significant differences between the real impact parameter distributions of event samples selected by $M_\mathrm{ch}$, $b_{f}$, and $b_{r}$, particularly between $M_\mathrm{ch}$ and $b_{r}$. When the $b_{f}$ is employed, uncertainties associated with centrality selection have a weaker influence on observables than the effects induced by the EoS. In contrast, when the $b_{r}$ is used, the influence of centrality-related uncertainties becomes more pronounced than that of the EoS. These results demonstrate that a rigorous and consistent mapping between $M_\mathrm{ch}$ and impact parameter is essential to impose quantitative constraints on the high-density nuclear EoS. Furthermore, our study indicates that the geometrical interpretation of centrality remains valid and consistent with dynamical multiplicity selection, whereas the Glauber MC-based centrality determination becomes unreliable at the investigated energy.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical review. C
Published
2026-01-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/k2vx-4898
Primary Topic
High-Energy Particle Collisions Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Effects of the centrality determination method for the equation of state and nucleonic observables from <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>Au</mml:mi> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mi>Au</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:

P. C. Li, Q. Li, Anonymous, Fuhu Liu et al.
Physical review. C
High-Energy Particle Collisions Research
article

Effects of the centrality determination method for the equation of state and nucleonic observables from <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>Au</mml:mi> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mi>Au</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:

P. C. Li, Q. Li, Anonymous, Fuhu Liu, Yongjia wang
article en

Abstract

Centrality determination remains one of the major sources of systematic uncertainty in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collision analyses, especially for probing the nuclear equation of state (EoS) at supra-saturation densities. To quantitatively assess the uncertainties associated with different centrality determination methods and to investigate their effects on final-state EoS-sensitive observables. Within the ultra-relativistic quantum molecular dynamics (UrQMD) model, Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=2.4 GeV are performed within a soft and a hard EoS. Event centrality is determined using the multiplicity of all charged particles ($M_\mathrm{ch}$) and two impact parameter-based centrality filters, one based on a geometrical interpretation and the other based on the Glauber Monte Carlo (MC) model, denoted as $b_{f}$ and $b_{r}$, respectively. It is shown that there exist significant differences between the real impact parameter distributions of event samples selected by $M_\mathrm{ch}$, $b_{f}$, and $b_{r}$, particularly between $M_\mathrm{ch}$ and $b_{r}$. When the $b_{f}$ is employed, uncertainties associated with centrality selection have a weaker influence on observables than the effects induced by the EoS. In contrast, when the $b_{r}$ is used, the influence of centrality-related uncertainties becomes more pronounced than that of the EoS. These results demonstrate that a rigorous and consistent mapping between $M_\mathrm{ch}$ and impact parameter is essential to impose quantitative constraints on the high-density nuclear EoS. Furthermore, our study indicates that the geometrical interpretation of centrality remains valid and consistent with dynamical multiplicity selection, whereas the Glauber MC-based centrality determination becomes unreliable at the investigated energy.

Physical review. CVol. 113(2)
Huzhou Normal University (CN), Shanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CN)
Huzhou University, National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province
Openalex Percentile: Top 73%
High-Energy Particle Collisions Research
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