φ meson production in p+Al, p+Au, d+Au, and He 3 +Au collisions at sNN =200 GeV

Summary, in English

Small nuclear collisions are mainly sensitive to cold-nuclear-matter effects; however, the collective behavior observed in these collisions shows a hint of hot-nuclear-matter effects. The identified-particle spectra, especially the ϕ mesons which contain strange and antistrange quarks and have a relatively small hadronic-interaction cross section, are a good tool to study these effects. The PHENIX experiment has measured ϕ mesons in a specific set of small collision systems p+Al, p+Au, and 3He+Au, as well as d+Au [Adare et al., Phys. Rev. C 83, 024909 (2011)], at √sNN=200 GeV. The transverse-momentum spectra and nuclear-modification factors are presented and compared to theoretical-model predictions. The comparisons with different calculations suggest that quark-gluon plasma may be formed in these small collision systems at √sNN=200 GeV. However, the volume and the lifetime of the produced medium may be insufficient for observing strangeness-enhancement and jet-quenching effects. The comparison with calculations suggests that the main production mechanisms of ϕ mesons at midrapidity may be different in p+Al versus p/d/3He+Au collisions at √sNN=200 GeV. While thermal quark recombination seems to dominate in p/d/3He+Au collisions, fragmentation seems to be the main production mechanism in p+Al collisions.

• Author: U. Acharya; A. Oskarsson; D. Silvermyr; L. Zou
• Department/s: Particle and nuclear physics
• Publishing year: 2022
• Language: English
• Publication/Series: Physical Review C
• Volume: 106
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.106.014908
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Topic: Subatomic Physics
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 2469-9985