# Can $\phi$ mesons give an answer to the baryon puzzle at RHIC?

Abstract : The PHENIX experiment at RHIC has observed a large enhancement of baryon and anti-baryon production at ~ 2-5 GeV/c, compared to expectations from jet fragmentation. While a number of theoretical interpretations of the data are available, there is not yet a definitive answer to the “baryon puzzle”. We investigate the centrality dependence of -meson production at mid-rapidity in Au + Au collisions with $sqrt {^{s}NN}=200 GeV$. Comparison with the proton and anti-proton spectra reveal similar shapes, as expected for soft production described by hydrodynamics. However, the absolute yields show a different centrality dependence. The nuclear modification factors for $\phi$ are similar to those of pions, rather than (anti)protons that have similar mass. At intermediate , baryon/meson effects seem to be more important than the mass effects, in support of recombination models.
Document type :
Conference papers

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Submitted on : Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 4:38:28 PM
Last modification on : Tuesday, April 20, 2021 - 12:00:12 PM

### Citation

S.S. Adler, S. Afanasiev, C. Aidala, N.N. Ajitanand, Y. Akiba, et al.. Can $\phi$ mesons give an answer to the baryon puzzle at RHIC?. International Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes of High Energy Nuclear Collisions - Hard Probes 2004, Nov 2004, Ericeira, Portugal. pp.317-322, ⟨10.1140/epjc/s2005-02326-6⟩. ⟨in2p3-00025489⟩

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