Atomic nuclei are self-organized, many-body quantum systems bound by strong nuclear forces within femtometre-scale space. These complex systems manifest a variety of shapes^1,2,3, traditionally explored using non-invasive spectroscopic techniques at low energies^4,5. However, at these energies, their instantaneous shapes are obscured by long-timescale quantum fluctuations, making direct observation challenging. Here we introduce the collective-flow-assisted nuclear shape-imaging method, which images the nuclear global shape by colliding them at ultrarelativistic speeds and analysing the collective response of outgoing debris. This technique captures a collision-specific snapshot of the spatial matter distribution within the nuclei, which, through the hydrodynamic expansion, imprints patterns on the particle momentum distribution observed in detectors^6,7. We benchmark this method in collisions of ground-state uranium-238 nuclei, known for their elongated, axial-symmetric shape. Our findings show a large deformation with a slight deviation from axial symmetry in the nuclear ground state, aligning broadly with previous low-energy experiments. This approach offers a new method for imaging nuclear shapes, enhances our understanding of the initial conditions in high-energy collisions and addresses the important issue of nuclear structure evolution across energy scales.

原子核是飞米级空间内由强核力束缚的自组织多体量子系统。这些复杂的系统表现出各种形状^{1,2,3，传统}上使用低能量的非侵入性光谱技术进行探索^4,5。然而，在这些能量下，它们的瞬时形状被长时间尺度的量子涨落所掩盖，这使得直接观察具有挑战性。在这里，我们介绍了集体流辅助核形状成像方法，该方法通过以超相对论速度对核全局形状进行碰撞并分析传出碎片的集体响应来对核全局形状进行成像。该技术捕获了原子核内空间物质分布的碰撞特异性快照，通过流体动力学膨胀，在探测器中观察到的粒子动量分布上印记了模式^6,7。我们在基态铀 238 原子核的碰撞中对这种方法进行了基准测试，该原子核以其细长的轴对称形状而闻名。我们的研究结果表明，在核基态下，存在较大的变形，与轴对称性略有偏差，这与之前的低能实验大致一致。这种方法提供了一种对核形状进行成像的新方法，增强了我们对高能碰撞初始条件的理解，并解决了跨能量尺度核结构演变的重要问题。