Event generators for heavy-ion physics, recent developments

Abstract

A short review is presented for the most commonly used general purpose event generators for heavy ion physics, HIJING, AMPT, and EPOS. A new model, called Angantyr, is presented. It is (similar to HIJING) an extrapolation of pp dynamics to collisions with nuclei. Diffractive excitation of individual nucleons has significant effects in nucleus collisions, and here Angantyr is the first model which accounts for nucleon excitation in both projectile and target nuclei. General features in pA and AA collisions are well reproduced. Future studies aim to investigate effects of fluctuations in more detail, and to also include effects of a high string density on collective effects, like high strangeness production and transverse flow.