Speaker
Description
The search for the chiral magnetic effect (CME) in isobaric collisions of Ru+Ru and Zr+Zr at RHIC was motivated by the assumed similarity of the backgrounds (e.g., $v_n$, $N_{\rm chg}$) for the two isobars. The effects of nuclear structure differences and deformation can lead to essential differences in the backgrounds for the two isobars. Here, we use a quark Glauber model, validated in earlier studies of small and large systems, to study the effects of nuclear distribution uncertainties, especially the details of a Zr halo and nuclear shape fluctuations, on background-related variables such $\varepsilon_n$, and particle production for the isobars. The influence of such uncertainties on both particle production and $\varepsilon_n$ is significant; they provide invaluable constraints for pinning down the requisite differences for CME study in isobaric collisions. They also show that a data-model study of relevant bulk observables could constrain nuclear distribution parameters.
