Fundamental geometric limitations on disentangling nuclear-surface properties in relativistic heavy ion collisions

Abstract

The extraction of the nuclear surface diffuseness from relativistic heavy ion collisions is limited by the intertwined responses of geometry-driven observables to surface diffuseness and intrinsic nuclear deformation. We investigate this limitation using event-by-event Monte Carlo Glauber simulations, focusing on the sensitivity of multiparticle correlations to the Woods--Saxon surface diffuseness $a_0$ in intrinsically deformed nuclei. We systematically examine the local correlations between $a_0$ and quadrupole and octupole deformation parameters, $β_2$ and $β_3$, and determine how these correlations affect the ability of different observables to constrain $a_0$. We find that observables dominated by elliptic geometry exhibit a strong response to quadrupole deformation, leading to a local $a_0$--$β_2$ degeneracy that substantially limits their sensitivity to the nuclear surface diffuseness. Triangular correlations provide a more independent response to the nuclear surface and therefore retain additional information on $a_0$, although their sensitivity can also be modified by intrinsic deformation. Extending the analysis to simultaneous quadrupole and octupole deformation shows that the local degeneracy and least-constrained directions depend on the nuclear configuration, demonstrating that the limitation on extracting $a_0$ is not described by a single global parameter correlation. We quantify these effects using multidimensional response maps, local sensitivity and information-geometric measures, and a Bayesian analysis of the resulting parameter constraints. The results clarify the fundamental limitations imposed by intrinsic multipole deformation on the determination of nuclear surface diffuseness from relativistic heavy ion collisions and identify multiparticle correlations that provide more independent information on $a_0$.