Subthreshold pion production: The effects of three body collisions the Fermi momentum, and the nuclear equation of state

The authors study pion production at subthreshold energies in nucleus-collisions using the extended Boltzmann-Nordheim-Vlasov (BNV) model. The extreme sensitivity of the pion yield to the initial momentum space Fermi distribution is demonstrated. The effect of the three body collision term is also shown to be substantial. However, the nuclear equation of state has no significant effect at these energies. Details and implications of the nuclear kinetic equation simulation are discussed