Spectator nucleons in most central collisions of heavy nuclei at NICA

Abstract

Properties of spectator matter created in central (of 0-5% centrality) 197Au– 197Au and 208Pb– 208Pb collisions with energies typical for the Nuclotron based Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) accelerator complex are calculated with a recently developed Abrasion-Ablation Monte Carlo for Colliders (AAMCC) model. The sensitivity of cross-sections of emission of spectator neutrons to the nuclear deformation of 197Au and to the presence of neutron skin in 208Pb is demonstrated. The influence of the nuclear deformation of the 197Au on the forward-backward asymmetry of free spectator nucleons and on the asymmetry of the total volume of spectator matter is investigated.