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Kaon production in Au+Au collisions at11.6A GeV/c

Physical Review C1998Vol. 58(6), pp. 3523–3538

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 1998 papers

Abstract

A systematic study of the spectra and yields of ${K}^{+}$ and ${K}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ is reported by experiment E866 as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at $11.6A \mathrm{GeV}/c.$ The invariant transverse spectra for both kaon species are well described by exponentials in ${m}_{t},$ with inverse slope parameters that are largest at midrapidity and which increase with centrality. The inverse slopes of the ${K}^{+}$ spectra are slightly larger than the inverse slopes of the ${K}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ spectra. The kaon rapidity density peaks at midrapidity with the ${K}^{+}$ distribution wider in rapidity than ${K}^{\ensuremath{-}}.$ The integrated total yields of ${K}^{+}$ and ${K}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ increase nonlinearly and steadily with the number of projectile participants. The yield per participant for kaons is two to three times larger than the yield from $N\ensuremath{-}N$ collisions. This enhancement suggests that the majority of kaons in central Au+Au reactions are produced in secondary hadronic collisions. There is no evidence for an onset of additional kaon production from a possible small volume of baryon-rich quark-gluon plasma. The differences between ${K}^{+}$ and ${K}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ rapidity distributions and transverse spectra are consistent with a lower phase space for ${K}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ production due to a higher energy threshold. These differences also exclude simple thermal models that assume emission from a common equilibrated system.

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 1998 papers

Abstract

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