Significant in-medium {eta}{sup '} mass reduction in {radical}(s{sub NN}) = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

Journal Article · Sun May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVC.83.054903· OSTI ID:21502496

Vertesi, R; Sziklai, J ^[1]; Csoergo, T ^[2]

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1. MTA KFKI RMKI, H-1515 Budapest 114, P.O. Box 49 (Hungary)
2. Department of Physics, Harvard University, 17 Oxford St, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States)

In high-energy heavy ion collisions a hot and dense medium is formed, where the U{sub A}(1) or chiral symmetry may temporarily be restored. As a consequence, the mass of the {eta}{sup '}(958) mesons may be reduced to its quark model value, and the abundance of {eta}{sup '} mesons at low p{sub T} may be enhanced by more than a factor of 10. The intercept parameter {lambda}{sub *} of the charged pion Bose Einstein correlations provides a sensitive observable of the possibly enhanced {eta}{sup '} abundance. We have analyzed {lambda}{sub *}(m{sub T}) data from {radical}(s{sub N{sub N}})=200 GeV central Au+Au reactions measured at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), using extensive Monte Carlo simulations based on six popular models for hadronic multiplicities. Based on the combined STAR and PHENIX data set, and on various systematic investigations of resonance multiplicities and model parameters, we conclude that in {radical}(s{sub N{sub N}})=200 GeV central Au+Au reactions the mass of the {eta}{sup '} meson is reduced by {Delta}m{sub {eta}}{sup '*}>200 MeV, at the 99.9% confidence level in the considered model class. Such a significant {eta}{sup '} mass modification may indicate the restoration of the U{sub A}(1) symmetry in a hot and dense hadronic matter and the return of the ninth ''prodigal'' Goldstone boson. A similar analysis of NA44 S+Pb data at top CERN Super Proton Synchroton (SPS) energies showed no significant in-medium {eta}{sup '} mass modification.

• OSTI ID: 21502496
• Journal Information: Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics, Vol. 83, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.83.054903; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0556-2813
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ATOM-ATOM COLLISIONS
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BROOKHAVEN RHIC
CHIRAL SYMMETRY
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ETA PRIME-958 MESONS
GEV RANGE 100-1000
GOLD
GOLDSTONE BOSONS
HEAVY ION REACTIONS
MASS
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PIONS
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QUARK MODEL
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ATOM COLLISIONS
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COLLISIONS
COMPOSITE MODELS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY RANGE
FERMIONS
GEV RANGE
HADRONS
HEAVY ION ACCELERATORS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MESONS
METALS
MEV RANGE
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEONS
PARTICLE MODELS
POSTULATED PARTICLES
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SIMULATION
STORAGE RINGS
SYMMETRY
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US AEC
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