Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A set of different equations of state is implemented in the molecular dynamics part of a non-equilibrium transport simulation (UrQMD) of heavy-ion collisions. It is shown how different flow observables are affected by the density dependence of the equation of state. In particular, the effects of a phase transition at high density are explored, including an expected reduction in mean mT. We also show that an increase in v2 is characteristic for a strong softening of the equation of state. The phase transitions with a low coexistence density, nCE< 4 n, show a distinct minimum in the slope of the directed flow as a function of the beam energy, which would be a clear experimental signal. By comparing our results with experimental data, we can exclude any strong phase transition at densities below 4 n.