Charmonium-state production in heavy-ion collisions

An overview of existing experimental data on the production of charmonium states (J/ψ and ψ′) at the superproton synchrotron (SPS, CERN) and the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC, Brookhaven National Laboratory, United States) is given. The production of J/ψ mesons shows an anomalous suppression discovered by the NA50 Collaboration (CERN) in collisions of lead nuclei at an energy of 158 GeV per nucleon and confirmed in the NA60 experiment (CERN) in collisions of indium nuclei at the same energy. The suppression of J/ψ production depends on interaction centrality and becomes anomalous at about 122 participant nucleons in PbPb collisions and at about 86 participant nucleons in InIn collisions. The experimental data in question are compared with the predictions of existing theoretical models. None of the models is able to simultaneously describe data on PbPb and InIn collisions. Data obtained in the PHENIX experiment at RHIC from measurements of J/ψ production in AuAu and CuCu collisions at an energy of 200 GeV (in the nucleon-nucleon c.m. frame) indicate that the suppression of J/ψ production at such energies approximately corresponds to the suppression of J/ψ production in PbPb collisions at SPS. Theoretical models that describe SPS data on PbPb collisions predict a stronger suppression of J/ψ production. Models that take into account J/ψ-meson regeneration better describe experimental data obtained at RHIC. Measurement of cross sections for charmonium and bottomonium production at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC, CERN) would make it possible to study the properties of matter and to explore the mechanism of quarkonium production at ultrahigh energy densities and temperature and high transverse momenta, as well as to investigate the effect of the regeneration and suppression of quarkonium production as the energy increases.     

Strangeness production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Kaon production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions is studied. Particular attention is paid to situations in which high densities are obtained, such as in the Brookhaven AGS experiments with 14.6 GeV/nucleon Si on Au. Because of the explicit chiral-symmetry breaking terms in chiral Langrangians, kaons acquire an effective mass m _K ^* which goes to zero at the critical baryon density. Well before such densities, m _K ^* is sufficiently reduced to greatly facilitate kaon production through processes like K¯K. Previous expressions for the decreasing kaon mass were arrived at by linear chiral perturbation theory. Whereas we cannot systematically proceed to higher order, we use physical models to suggest how relevant quantities will behave in higher order. We present arguments that m _K ^* effectively goes to zero in the present AGS experiments.Supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy Grant No. DE-FG02-88ER40388     

Direct hadron production in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

Hadrons emitted by the pre-surface layer of a quark-gluon plasma (QGP) before the phase transition into a hadronic gas are considered as possible sources of direct information about QGP. It is shown that if QGP is created in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions, then these hadrons strongly contribute at soft p_t at SpS energy and dominate up to an order of magnitude at LHC energy.     

Double meson production in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions

The double-meson production in ultraperipheral heavy-ions collisions is addressed, focusing on the particular case of from two-photon reactions. The cross section at photon level is obtained using distinct parameterizations for the gluon distribution on the light meson. The resulting estimates for the nuclear case are presented and discussed. As a by-product, we estimate the double production cross section using the pomeron-exchange factorization relations. Received: 20 March 2003 / Published online: 2 June 2003     

Theoretical estimates for the production of transuranium elements in heavy-ion collisions

A thick target experiment of the U+U reaction at 7.5 MeV/u is analyzed within the diffusion model for dissipative heavy-ion collisions. Cross sections for the production of superheavy elements as well as probability distributions of excitation energies and spins as function of fragment charge are estimated. The influence from changes of incident energy and projectile-target combination is studied.     

Similarity of hadron production inpp and heavy-ion collisions

The characteristic features of pseudorapidity distributions of hadron production are investigated in terms of a geometrical parameterh≡(dn/dη)₀/Φ, Φ being the phase space covered by the η distribution. It is found thath is about the same for the heavy-ion (HI) andpp collisions at the same energy, the same for π andK production and behaves ash～E _cm ^?1/3 . This similarity property yieldsK ^?/π^?=0.041±0.004 andK ⁺/K ^?=4.5±0.6 for HI collisions at 14.6 GeV/A in agreement with BNL experiments.     

Di-lepton production in heavy-ion collisions and the QCD phase diagram

We reproduce di-electron spectra in the region of 0 < m _e+e < 4 GeV in both minimum bias and central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } $ = 200 GeV measured by the STAR experiment. A cocktail simulation, incorporating STAR acceptance and detector responses, is able to describe the ??enhancement?? of the low mass region by including an in-medium modification of vector mesons and a thermal di-lepton calculation. We also predict the di-lepton mass spectra in RHIC lower energies via an extrapolation method. The evolution of Di-lepton mass spectra, effective temperature, and possible medium modifications versus colliding energies are studied to explore the QCD phase diagram.     

Estimating the particle-antiparticle correlation effect for pion production in heavy-ion collisions

Back-to-back ππ correlations arising owing to the evolution of the pionic field in the course of the pion-production process are estimated for central heavy-ion collisions at moderate energies.     

A particle-hole calculation for pion production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

A differential cross section for π-meson production in peripheral heavy-ion collisions is formulated within the context of a particle-hole model in the Tamm-Dancoff approximation. This is the first attempt at a fully quantum-mechanical particle-hole calculation for pion production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The particular reaction studied is an ¹⁶O projectile colliding with a ¹²C target at rest. In the projectile we form a linear combination of isobar-hole states, with the possibility of a coherent isobar giant resonance. The target can be excited to its giant M1 resonance (J^π = 1⁺, T = 1) at 15.11 MeV, or to its isobar analog neighbours, ¹²B at 13.4 MeV and ¹²N at 17.5 MeV. The theory is compared to recent experimental results.     

In-medium effects on charmonium production in heavy-ion collisions

Charmonium production in heavy-ion collisions is investigated within a kinetic theory framework incorporating in-medium properties of open- and hidden-charm states in line with recent QCD lattice calculations. A continuously decreasing open-charm threshold across the phase boundary of hadronic and quark-gluon matter is found to have important implications for the equilibrium abundance of charmonium states. The survival of J/psi resonance states above the transition temperature enables their recreation also in the quark-gluon plasma. Including effects of chemical and thermal off-equilibrium, we compare our model results to available experimental data at CERN SPS and BNL RHIC energies. In particular, earlier found discrepancies in the psi(')/psi ratio can be resolved.     

Hadron production and phase changes in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study soft hadron production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions in a wide range of reaction energy, 4.8 GeV < < 200 GeV, and make predictions about yields of particles using the statistical hadronization model. In fits to experimental data, we obtain both the statistical parameters as well as physical properties of the hadron source. We identify the properties of the fireball at the critical energy threshold, 6.26 GeV < < 7.61 GeV, marking for higher energies the hadronization of an entropy-rich phase. In terms of the chemical composition, one sees a phase which at low energy is chemically under-saturated, and which turns into a chemically over-saturated state persisting up to the maximum accessible energy. Assuming that there is no change in physical mechanisms in the energy range 15 > ≥200 GeV, we use continuity of particle yields and statistical parameters to predict the hadron production at = 62.4 GeV, and obtain total yields of hadrons at = 130 GeV. We consider, in depth, the pattern we uncover within the hadronization condition, and discuss possible mechanisms associated with the identified rapid change in system properties at . We propose that the chemically over-saturated 2 + 1 flavor hadron matter system undergoes a 1st-order phase transition.