NBI Heavy-ion Physics Junior Seminar: Nuclear Imaging of Competing Geometric Cluster at the LHC

Monday 9 Mar 2026, 13:00 → 14:30 Europe/Copenhagen

NBB 2.4.G.092 (NBI)

You Zhou (Niels Bohr Institute)

Title:  Nuclear Imaging of Competing Geometric Clusters at the LHC 

Speaker: Pei Li (Fudan University)

Abstract: 

The transition between mean-field shell structures and localized alpha-clustering remains one of the most intriguing challenges in nuclear many-body physics. While conventional low-energy experiments often struggle to isolate these complex geometric arrangements, ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the LHC offer a transformative nuclear imaging platform. By imprinting the geometry of light nuclei onto the initial state of the quark-gluon plasma, we can explore nuclear structure through the lens of collective flow. In this presentation, I will discuss a novel approach to identifying the cluster configurations of ²⁰Ne using ultracentral collisions. We contrast two competing hypotheses: a symmetric 5α bipyramidal structure and α+¹⁶O configuration by utilizing hydrodynamic simulations and correlation observables. These results provide a new paradigm for probing the cluster structure and offer critical theoretical inputs for the recent experimental programs at the LHC.