@article{XU2026, 
author = {Junhuai XU and Zhigang XIAO},
title = {GAMMA-RAY SPECTRAL CLUES TO FLEETING PARTNERS INSIDE NUCLEI},
year = {2026},
journal = {Physics and Engineering},
volume = {46},
number = {5},
pages = {17-21},
keywords = {short-range correlation, high-momentum tail, bremsstrahlung gamma ray, heavy-ion collision},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/PHYS.2026.9320503},
doi = {10.26599/PHYS.2026.9320503},
abstract = {Nuclei are not bags of static balls. Most protons and neutrons move under the overall nuclear environment, but a small fraction can form fleeting close-range partners and carry unusually large momenta. These short-range correlations cannot be photographed directly. Instead, they leave statistical clues in the high-energy gamma-ray spectrum emitted at the earliest stage of a heavy-ion collision: faster neutron-proton encounters are more likely to produce energetic gamma rays, hardening the spectral tail. A recent 124Sn+124Sn experiment at 25MeV per nucleon used this idea, together with transport-model comparisons, detector calibration, and background checks, to infer that about 20% of nucleons in 124Sn belong to short-range-correlation-related high-momentum components. The result provides a complementary gamma-ray route for studying short-distance motion inside nuclei.}
}