Detectability of strange matter in heavy ion experiments
- The Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, DK-2100 Copenhagen (Denmark)
- Institut fuer Theoretische Physic, J.W. Goethe-Universitaet, D-60054 Frankfurt (Germany)
- Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, Justus-Liebig Universitaet, D-35392 Giessen (Germany)
We discuss the properties of two distinct forms of hypothetical strange matter, small lumps of strange quark matter (strangelets) and of hyperon matter [metastable exotic multihypernuclear objects (MEMO{close_quote}s)], with special emphasis on their relevance for present and future heavy ion experiments. The masses of small strangelets up to A{sub B}=40 are calculated using the MIT bag model with shell mode filling for various bag parameters. The strangelets are checked for possible strong and weak hadronic decays, also taking into account multiple hadron decays. It is found that strangelets which are stable against strong decay are most likely highly negatively charged, contrary to previous findings. Strangelets can be stable against weak hadronic decay but their masses and charges are still rather high. This has serious impact on the present high sensitivity searches in heavy ion experiments at the AGS and CERN facilities. On the other hand, highly charged MEMO{close_quote}s are predicted on the basis of an extended relativistic mean-field model. Those objects could be detected in future experiments searching for short-lived, rare composites. It is demonstrated that future experiments can be sensitive to a much wider variety of strangelets. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 657398
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review, C, Vol. 55, Issue 6; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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