Evidence of Nuclear Geometry-Driven Anisotropic Flow in O + O and Ne + Ne Collisions at s NN = 5.36 TeV

@article{abualrob2026evidence,
  title = {{Evidence of Nuclear Geometry-Driven Anisotropic Flow in O + O and Ne + Ne Collisions at s NN = 5.36 TeV}},
  author = {Ibrahim Jaser Abualrob and S. Acharya and G. Aglieri Rinella and Luca Aglietta and N. Agrawal and Z. Ahammed and S. Ahmad and I. Ahuja and Z. Akbar and A. Akindinov and V. Akishina and M. Al-Turany and D. Aleksandrov and B. Alessandro and Ruben Jose Alfaro and Bushra Ali and A. Alici and A. Alkin and J. Alme and G. Alocco and T. Alt and I. Altsybeev and C. Andrei and N. Andreou and A. Andronic and Evgeny Andronov and Massimo Angeletti and V. Anguelov and F. Antinori and P. Antonioli and N. Apadula and H. Appelshäuser and S. Arcelli and R. Arnaldi and I. C. Arsene and M. Arslandok and A. Augustinus and R. Averbeck and M. D. Azmi and H. Baba and A. R. J. Babu and Angela Badalá and Joonsuk Bae and Y. Bae and Y. W. Baek and X. Bai and R. Bailhache and Y. Bailung and Renu Bala and Alberto Baldisseri and Bartosz Baliś and S. Bangalia and Z. Banoo and Veronika Barbasová and F. Barile and L. Barioglio and M. Barlou and Banajit Barman and G. G. Barnaföldi and L. S. Barnby},
  journal = {Physical Review Letters},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  doi = {10.1103/gymp-vp87},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1103/gymp-vp87},
  note = {CC BY},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Evidence of Nuclear Geometry-Driven Anisotropic Flow in O + O and Ne + Ne Collisions at s NN = 5.36 TeV
AU  - Ibrahim Jaser Abualrob
AU  - S. Acharya
AU  - G. Aglieri Rinella
AU  - Luca Aglietta
AU  - N. Agrawal
AU  - Z. Ahammed
AU  - S. Ahmad
AU  - I. Ahuja
AU  - Z. Akbar
AU  - A. Akindinov
AU  - V. Akishina
AU  - M. Al-Turany
AU  - D. Aleksandrov
AU  - B. Alessandro
AU  - Ruben Jose Alfaro
AU  - Bushra Ali
AU  - A. Alici
AU  - A. Alkin
AU  - J. Alme
AU  - G. Alocco
AU  - T. Alt
AU  - I. Altsybeev
AU  - C. Andrei
AU  - N. Andreou
AU  - A. Andronic
AU  - Evgeny Andronov
AU  - Massimo Angeletti
AU  - V. Anguelov
AU  - F. Antinori
AU  - P. Antonioli
AU  - N. Apadula
AU  - H. Appelshäuser
AU  - S. Arcelli
AU  - R. Arnaldi
AU  - I. C. Arsene
AU  - M. Arslandok
AU  - A. Augustinus
AU  - R. Averbeck
AU  - M. D. Azmi
AU  - H. Baba
AU  - A. R. J. Babu
AU  - Angela Badalá
AU  - Joonsuk Bae
AU  - Y. Bae
AU  - Y. W. Baek
AU  - X. Bai
AU  - R. Bailhache
AU  - Y. Bailung
AU  - Renu Bala
AU  - Alberto Baldisseri
AU  - Bartosz Baliś
AU  - S. Bangalia
AU  - Z. Banoo
AU  - Veronika Barbasová
AU  - F. Barile
AU  - L. Barioglio
AU  - M. Barlou
AU  - Banajit Barman
AU  - G. G. Barnaföldi
AU  - L. S. Barnby
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/15
JO  - Physical Review Letters
DO  - 10.1103/gymp-vp87
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1103/gymp-vp87
AB  - A central question in strong-interaction physics, governed by quantum chromodynamics (QCD), is whether femtoscale droplets of quark-gluon plasma form in small collision systems involving projectiles significantly smaller than heavy ions. Collisions of light ions such as ^{16}O and ^{20}Ne offer a unique opportunity to probe the emergence of collective behavior in QCD matter. This Letter presents the first measurements of the elliptic (v_{2}) and triangular (v_{3}) flow of charged particles in ^{16}O-^{16}O and ^{20}Ne-^{20}Ne collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.36 TeV with the ALICE detector. The hydrodynamic model predictions, explicitly incorporating the nuclear structures of ^{16}O and ^{20}Ne, exhibit a good agreement with the flow measurements presented. The observed increase of v_{2} in central Ne-Ne collisions relative to OO collisions, driven by the nuclear geometries, highlights the importance of utilizing light nuclei with well-defined geometric shapes to constrain the initial conditions. These findings support the presence of nuclear geometry-driven hydrodynamic flow in light-ion collisions at the LHC.
SN  - 0031-9007
SN  - 1079-7114
SN  - 1092-0145
ER  -