Vorticity in peripheral collisions at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research and at the JINR Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility

Abstract

The flow vorticity development is studied in the reaction plane of peripheral relativistic heavy-ion reactions at energies just above the threshold of the transition to a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Earlier calculations at higher energies with larger initial angular momentum predicted significant vorticity leading to measurable $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ polarization. Here we discuss the possibility of vorticity and circulation in dense plasma at lower temperatures. In low-viscosity QGP this vorticity still remains significant.