Relativistic Hydrodynamic Theory of Heavy-Ion Collisions

By use of finite-difference methods we solve the classical relativistic equations of motion for the head-on collision of two heavy nuclei. For ${}_{}{}^{16}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{O}$ projectiles incident onto various targets at laboratory bombarding energies per nucleon ≤2.1 GeV, curved shock waves develop. The target and projectile are deformed and compressed into crescents of revolution. This is followed by rarefaction waves and an overall expansion of the matter into a moderately wide distribution of angles.