Little bang nucleosynthesis and the quest for strange quark matter
We have been using relativistic heavy ion collisions for the past several years as a means of creating within the laboratory, conditions that are believed to have existed in the early universe, and are believed to exist today in neutron stars. In this talk, I will explore some similarities and differences between the-quark matter environments studied in cosmology and astrophysics, and those we believe we create in heavy ion collisions. For the most part, I will discuss experiments to look for strange quark matter (strangelets) in relativistic heavy ion collisions. Studies of composite particle production or little bang nucleosynthesis provide a means of understanding the dynamics of nucleus-nucleus collisions, in particular, probing the properties of the system at freeze out. Several heavy ion experiments have measured the production of light nuclei and light antinuclei, thus paving the way for a better understanding of the coalescence production of composite particles. Coalescence sets a lower limit on the production of composite particles and therefore also of multiply strange composite particles. This allows us to evaluate the significance of the upper limits on fluxes of strange quark matter reported by the E814, E858, E878, and E886 experiments. I will discuss these measurements, and also the status of E864 and NEWMASS, experiments which will soon extend the search for strangelets to greater sensitivities, and to higher energies.
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-91ER40609
- OSTI ID:
- 387229
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-931044--
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the American Physical Society, Journal Name: Bulletin of the American Physical Society Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 38; ISSN 0003-0503; ISSN BAPSA6
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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