Antiflow of nucleons at the softest point of the equation of state - art. no. 024909

We investigate flow in semiperipheral nuclear collisions at Alternating Gra dient Synchrotron and Super Proton Synchrotron energies within macroscopic as well as microscopic transport models. The hot and dense zone assumes the shape of an ellipsoid which is tilted by an angle Theta with respect to th e beam axis. If matter is close to the softest point of the equation of sla te, this ellipsoid expands predominantly orthogonal to the direction given by Theta. This antiflow component is responsible for the previously predict ed reduction of the directed transverse momentum around the softest point o f the equation of state.