Bayesian inference of the incompressibility, skewness and kurtosis of nuclear matter from empirical pressures in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

10 Jan 2020 Wen-Jie Xie Bao-An Li

Within the Bayesian statistical framework we infer the incompressibility $K_0$, skewness $J_0$ and kurtosis $Z_0$ parameters of symmetric nuclear matter (SNM) at its saturation density $\rho_0$ using the constraining bands on the pressure in cold SNM in the density range of 1.3$\rho_0$ to 4.5$\rho_0$ from transport model analyses of kaon production and nuclear collective flow in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. As the default option assuming the $K_0$, $J_0$ and $Z_0$ have Gaussian prior probability distribution functions (PDFs) with the means and variances of $235\pm 30$, $-200\pm 200$ and $-146\pm 1728$ MeV, their posterior most probable values are narrowed down to 192$^{+12}_{-16}$ MeV, -180$^{+100}_{-110}$ MeV and 200$^{+250}_{-250}$ at 68\% confidence level, respectively... (read more)

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