In this RUI (Research in Undergraduate Institutions) renewal proposal, the PI proposes to undertake two new projects, i.e., (1) development and application of a transport theory with Bose-Einstein statistics for ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions at Brookhaven's Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) and (2) investigations of nov- el properties of dense neutron-rich matter with energetic radioactive beams. The large number of pions produced and thus the high value of pion phase-space density reached in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC requires a proper inclusion of the Bose-Einstein s- tatistics (multi-boson symmetrization) in the reaction dynamics. The Bose-Einstein statistics is currently neglected in essentially all dynamical models for RHIC. The focus of the PI's work on the first project is to include the Bose-Einstein statistics in both the hadronization and the subsequent dynamical evolution of hadrons, most importantly pions, within a multi-phase transport model. The transport theory with Bose-Einstein statistics will be a useful tool for predicting reliably and interpreting critically nuclear collision data at RHIC, especially the single-particle spectra, multi- particle correlation functions and the collective ow of pions. It might also beuseful for solving the Hanbury Brown/Twiss (HBT) puzzle found in experiments at RHIC. The ultimate goals of the second project are to determine accurately the isospin dependence of the nuclear equation of state (EOS) and to investigate novel properties of dense neutron-rich matter that was not in reach in terrestrial laboratories before. These are important issues identified in the most recent U.S. long-range plan (LRP) for nuclear physics and foundamental properties that govern many aspects of neutron stars. To extract crucial information about the isospin-dependence of the nuclear EOS, the PI proposes to investigate several experimental observables in nuclear reac- tions induced by energetic neutron-rich nuclei at existing radioactive beam facilities and the future Rare Isotope Accelerator, identified as the top priority for new con- struction in the U.S. LRP for nuclear physics. Moreover, several novel properties of dense neutron-rich matter will be explored. These include the isospin separation instability, the unique 0
