Description
Title: Probing the Quark–Gluon Plasma Droplets through Anisotropic Flow in Small Symmetric and Asymmetric Systems
Abstract: Understanding the formation criteria of quark–gluon plasma (QGP) droplets represents
a key frontier in heavy ion physics. Whether a QGP droplet on the femtometer scale can be formed, and how its properties emerge, remain open questions. In this talk, I will present a comparative measurement of elliptic (v2) and triangular (v3) flow in asymmetric d+Au and symmetric 16O+16O collisions at sNN=200 GeV. By selecting systems that include the most elongated light nucleus—the deuteron—these collisions produce media of comparable size but with very different initial geometries. The observed v2(d+Au)>v2(O+O) reflects the dominant elliptic geometry in d+Au collisions, while the similar v3(d+Au)≈v3(O+O) is naturally explained by subnucleonic fluctuations. The data are well described by state-of-the-art hydrodynamic models tuned to large-system collisions, suggesting the formation of QGP droplets with similar properties across different system sizes. This study demonstrates that comparing asymmetric and symmetric systems provides a powerful way to engineer droplet shapes with unprecedented geometric control, offering enhanced sensitivity to final-state responses and the properties of the QGP.
