We present data on charged kaons (K+-) and {\phi} mesons in Au(1.23A GeV)+Au collisions. It is the first simultaneous measurement of K and {\phi} mesons in central heavy-ion collisions below a kinetic beam energy of 10A GeV. The {\phi}/K- multiplicity ratio is found to be surprisingly high with a value of 0.52 +- 0.16 and shows no dependence on the centrality of the collision. Consequently, the different slopes of the K+ and K- transverse-mass spectra can be explained solely by feed- down, which substantially softens the spectra of K- mesons. Hence, in contrast to the commonly adapted argumentation in literature, the different slopes do not necessarily imply diverging freeze- out temperatures of K+ and K- mesons caused by different couplings to baryons.
Acceptance and efficiency corrected transverse-mass spectra around mid-rapidity.
Acceptance and efficiency corrected transverse-mass spectra around mid-rapidity.
Acceptance and efficiency corrected transverse-mass spectra around mid-rapidity.
We present measurements of $\Omega$ and $\phi$ production at mid-rapidity from Au+Au collisions at nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27 and 39 GeV by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Motivated by the coalescence formation mechanism for these strange hadrons, we study the ratios of $N(\Omega^{-}+\Omega^{+})/(2N(\phi))$. These ratios as a function of transverse momentum ($p_T$) fall on a consistent trend at high collision energies, but start to show deviations in peripheral collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 19.6, 27 and 39 GeV, and in central collisions at 11.5 GeV in the intermediate $p_T$ region of 2.4-3.6 GeV/c. We further evaluate empirically the strange quark $p_T$ distributions at hadronization by studying the $\Omega/\phi$ ratios scaled by the number of constituent quarks. The NCQ-scaled $\Omega/\phi$ ratios show a suppression of strange quark production in central collisions at 11.5 GeV compared to $\sqrt{s_{NN}} >= 19.6$ GeV. The shapes of the presumably thermal strange quark distributions in 0-60% most central collisions at 7.7 GeV show significant deviations from those in 0-10% most central collisions at higher energies. These features suggest that there is likely a change of the underlying strange quark dynamics in the transition from quark-matter to hadronic matter at collision energies below 19.6 GeV.
Phi Meson Spectra.
Phi Meson Spectra.
Phi Meson Spectra.
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