Strange particle production in nuclear collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon

Multiplicities and spectra of strange particles ( andK ^– produced in central³²S+S,³²S+Ag and³²S+Au collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon are presented and compared with data on strange particle production in protonnucleus and nucleon-nucleon interactions. It is shown that strangeness production in³²S+Ag collisions is enhanced by a factor of two, similar to that found previously in central³²S+S collisions.     

Neutral meson production in p-Be and p-Au collisions at 450 GeV beam energy

In a joint experiment the TAPS and CERES collaborations have studied the production of the neutral mesons and in 450 GeV p-Be and p-Au collisions at the CERN SPS. The mesons were identified by their , , and decay modes. The cross sections were measured down to very low ( 20 MeV/c) near mid-rapidity (). The and cross sections are smaller than expected from extrapolations of earlier data to low . Integrated over all , the ratios and / are lower by about 25% compared to previously published values. The reduction may be attributed to the large number of low pions from decays of heavier mesons. In addition, we have studied the dependence of neutral meson production on the mass of the nuclear target and find it in good agreement with previous measurements of charged mesons. Received: 2 July 1997 / Published online: 5 June 1998     

π 0 andη meson production inπ + p andK + p collisions at 250 GeV/c

We report on a study of inclusiveπ ⁰ and η meson production inπ ⁺ p andK ⁺ p interactions at 250 GeV/c beam momentum. The Feynman-x spectrum ofπ ⁰ is very similar in shape and normalization to that of negatively charged particles produced in the same experiment. The results are compared with data at other energies and with FRITIOF model predictions. This model overestimates the η cross section by a factor of 2.5. It reproduces theπ ⁰ cross section correctly, but predicts a too hardπ ⁰ x distribution.     

Strange meson enhancement in PbPb collisions

The NA44 Collaboration has measured yields and differential distributions of K⁺, K⁻, π⁺, π⁻ in transverse kinetic energy and rapidity, around the center-of-mass rapidity in 158 A GeV/c Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. A considerable enhancement of K⁺ production per π is observed, as compared to p+p collisions at this energy. To illustrate the importance of secondary hadron rescattering as an enhancement mechanism, we compare strangeness production at the SPS and AGS with predictions of the transport model RQMD.     

Strange hadron production in d+Au collisions at RHIC

We report the centrality dependence of transverse mass (m _t ) spectra at mid-rapidity for the identified strange hadrons K _S ⁰ , ? $\Lambda + \bar \Lambda $ and $\Xi ^ - + \bar \Xi ^ + $ in d+Au collisions at RHIC. The measured transverse momentum (p _T ) covers 0.4<p _T <6.0 GeV/c for K _S ⁰ , ø, $\Lambda + \bar \Lambda $ and 0.6<p _T <5.0 GeV/c for $\Xi ^ - + \bar \Xi ^ + $ . The binary collision normalized nuclear modification factors R _CP of these hadrons indicate that the Cronin effect in d+Au collisions has a distinct particle-type dependence. the R _CP ratios show a distinct baryons versus mesons dependence: the R _CP for $\Xi ^ - + \bar \Xi ^ + $ follows that for $\Lambda + \bar \Lambda $ while the R _CP for the ? is close to that for the K _S ⁰ . Similar features have also been observed in Au+Au collisions. Initial parton scattering alone is not sufficient to explain this particle-type dependence. Hadronization processes are likely to be important for determining hadron properties in high-energy collisions as suggested by coalescence and recombination models.     

Strange baryon resonance production in sqrt s NN=200 GeV p+p and Au+Au collisions

We report the measurements of Sigma(1385) and Lambda(1520) production in p+p and Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s{NN}]=200 GeV from the STAR Collaboration. The yields and the p(T) spectra are presented and discussed in terms of chemical and thermal freeze-out conditions and compared to model predictions. Thermal and microscopic models do not adequately describe the yields of all the resonances produced in central Au+Au collisions. Our results indicate that there may be a time span between chemical and thermal freeze-out during which elastic hadronic interactions occur.     

Inclusive meson resonance production inK + p interactions at 250 GeV/c

A detailed analysis of the inclusive production of the vector mesonsφ,K ^*+,0(892) \(\bar K*^0 (892),\rho ^{ + ,0} ,\omega \) and the tensor mesonsK ₂ ^*0 )(1430) andf ₂(1270) inK ⁺ p interactions at 250 GeV/c is presented The data are compared with results at lower energies and with various quark-parton models. The production ofρ ⁰,K ^*0(892) and \(\bar K*^0 (892)\) increases at the same rate as a function ofs, is concentrated in the central region and is not reproduced by the models. Production of the tensor mesonsf ₂(1270) andK ₂ ^*0 (1340) is suppressed relative toρ ⁰ andK ^*0(892) by a factor of about 3.     

Omega- and Omega+ production in central Pb + Pb collisions at 40 and 158A GeV

Results are presented on Omega production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 40 and 158A GeV beam energy. For the first time in heavy ion reactions, rapidity distributions and total yields were measured for the sum Omega(-) + Omega(+) at 40A GeV and for Omega(-) and Omega(+) separately at 158A GeV. The yields are strongly underpredicted by the string-hadronic UrQMD model but agree better with predictions from hadron gas models.     

Antideuteron production in 158A GeV/c Pb + Pb collisions

The invariant cross section as a function of transverse momentum for antideuterons produced in 158A GeV/c per nucleon Pb+Pb central collisions has been measured by the NA44 experiment at CERN. This measurement, together with a measurement of antiprotons, allows for the determination of the antideuteron coalescence parameter. The extracted coalescence radius is found to agree with the deuteron coalescence radius and radii determined from two particle correlations.     

Charged meson rapidity distributions in central Au+Au collisions at square root(sNN) = 200 GeV

We have measured rapidity densities dN/dy of pi+/- and K+/- over a broad rapidity range (-0.1 < y < 3.5) for central Au + Au collisions at square root(sNN) = 200 GeV. These data have significant implications for the chemistry and dynamics of the dense system that is initially created in the collisions. The full phase-space yields are 1660 +/- 15 +/- 133 (pi+), 1683 +/- 16 +/- 135 (pi-), 286 +/- 5 +/- 23 (K+), and 242 +/- 4 +/- 19 (K-). The systematics of the strange to nonstrange meson ratios are found to track the variation of the baryochemical potential with rapidity and energy. Landau-Carruthers hydrodynamics is found to describe the bulk transport of the pions in the longitudinal direction.     

Deuteron production in collisions of 250 GeV/c π+ andK + mesons with Al and Au nuclei

Experimental data are presented on deuteron production in the target fragmentation region for 250 GeV/c π⁺ interactions with Al and Au nuclei, and compared with analogous data on proton production. Indications are observed for narrow structures in the (dπ^-) effective mass system at ～2.04 and ～2.08 GeV.     

Dielectron production in 12C+12C collisions at 2A GeV with the HADES spectrometer

The invariant-mass spectrum of e+e- pairs produced in 12C+12C collisions at an incident energy of 2 GeV per nucleon has been measured for the first time. The measured pair production probabilities span over 5 orders of magnitude from the pi(0)-Dalitz to the rho/omega invariant-mass region. Dalitz decays of pi(0) and eta account for all the yield up to 0.15 GeV/c(2), but for only about 50% above this mass. A comparison with model calculations shows that the excess pair yield is likely due to baryon-resonance and vector-meson decays. Transport calculations based on vacuum spectral functions fail, however, to describe the entire mass region.     

Low-mass lepton pair production in Pb-Au collisions at 40 A.GeV

The CERES/NA45 experiment at the CERN SPS has previously measurede ⁺ e ^- pair production in 160 A.GeV Pb-Au collisions. In the mass regionm > 02 GeV/c², an enhancement of 2.7±04(stat.)±0.5(syst.) compared to the expectation from known hadronic decay sources was observed. In the 40 A.GeV data taken in 1999, an enhancement is again found; a preliminary analysis gives an even larger value of 50 ±13(stat.). The results are compared to theoretical model calculations based on π⁺π^- annihilation with a modified ρ-propagator; they may be related to chiral symmetry restoration.     

K + fragmentation and prompt kaon production inK + p collisions at 70 GeV/c

Zeitschrift für Physik C Particles and Fields - We present data on inclusive production ofK + andK 0 mesons in a 70 GeV/cK + p experiment performed in BEBC filled withH 2. Cross sections and...     

Identified baryon and meson distributions at large transverse momenta from Au + Au collisions at square root sNN=200 GeV

Transverse momentum spectra of pi+/-, p, and p up to 12 GeV/c at midrapidity in centrality selected Au + Au collisions at square root sNN=200 GeV are presented. In central Au + Au collisions, both pi +/- and p(p) show significant suppression with respect to binary scaling at pT approximately >4 GeV/c. Protons and antiprotons are less suppressed than pi+/-, in the range 1.5 approximately < pT approximately < 6 GeV/c. The pi-/pi+ and p/p ratios show at most a weak pT dependence and no significant centrality dependence. The p/pi ratios in central Au + Au collisions approach the values in p + p and d + Au collisions at pT approximately >5 GeV/c. The results at high pT indicate that the partonic sources of pi+/-, p, and p have similar energy loss when traversing the nuclear medium.