Circumstantial evidence for a soft nuclear symmetry energy at supra-saturation densities

Abstract

Within an isospin- and momentum-dependent hadronic transport model it is shown that the recent FOPI data on the $π^-/π^+$ ratio in central heavy-ion collisions at SIS/GSI energies (Willy Reisdorf {\it et al.}, NPA {\bf 781}, 459 (2007)) provide circumstantial evidence suggesting a rather soft nuclear symmetry energy \esym at $ρ\geq 2ρ_0$ compared to the Akmal-Pandharipande-Ravenhall prediction. Some astrophysical implications and the need for further experimental confirmations are discussed.

Version to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett