What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to investigate the effects of system size and initial geometry on flow harmonics in Xe-Xe and Pb-Pb collisions.

April 22, 2026

Characterizing the initial state and dynamical evolution in Xe-Xe and Pb-Pb collisions using multiparticle cumulants

Key Points

This research aims to investigate the effects of system size and initial geometry on flow harmonics in Xe-Xe and Pb-Pb collisions.
Analyzed Xe-Xe and Pb-Pb collisions at LHC with energies 5.44 TeV and 5.36 TeV respectively.
Measured higher-order mixed harmonic cumulants for flow harmonics v2, v3, and v4 across different centrality classes.
Compared experimental results with theoretical models to explore implications on nuclear deformation.
Flow harmonics exhibit a strong dependence on the initial geometry of the collision systems.
Significant correlations between multiple flow harmonics were established, offering new insights into QGP characteristics.
The findings provide constraints on the deformation of Xe nuclei in heavy-ion collisions.

Abstract

Xenon-xenon (Xe-Xe) collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair √sNN = 5.44 TeV provide a unique probe of nuclear deformation at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). By comparing with lead-lead (Pb–Pb) collisions at √sNN = 5.36 TeV, the dependence of flow harmonics (vn) on system size and initial geometry is studied. For the first time, correlations between multiple flow harmonics (v2, v3, and v4) using higher-order mixed harmonic cumulants are measured and compared across centrality classes between Xe-Xe and Pb-Pb collisions. The results, obtained with charged particles in |η| < 2.4 and 0.5 < pT < 3.0 GeV/c, are compared to theoretical models, offering constraints on Xe deformation and insights into the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) evolution.

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