Probing nuclear geometry through multi-particle azimuthal correlations and rapidity-even dipolar flow in ^16O+^16O collisions

Abstract We study symmetric and asymmetric cumulants as well as rapidity-even dipolar flow in ^16 16 O+ ^16 16 O collisions at s₍₍ = 200 s NN = 200 GeV to explore α -clustering phenomena in light nuclei within the viscous relativistic hydrodynamics framework. Signatures of α -clustering manifest in the anisotropic flow coefficients and their correlations – particularly in observables involving elliptic-triangular flow correlations. We show that final-state symmetric and asymmetric cumulants – especially NSC (2, 3) NSC (2, 3) and NAC₂, ₁ (2, 3) NAC 2, 1 (2, 3) – are sensitive to the initial nuclear geometry. Additionally, we observe a significant difference in rapidity-even dipolar flow, v₁^ {even} v 1 even, between α -clustered and Woods–Saxon configurations in high-multiplicity events. These findings underscore the pivotal role of nuclear structure in heavy-ion collision dynamics and provide observables for distinguishing nuclear geometries, particularly in ultra-central collisions.