# Measurements of phi meson production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC)

Abstract : We present results for the measurement of $\phi$ meson production via its charged kaon decay channel $\Phi$ -> K+K- in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{S_{NN}}$=62.4,130, and 200 GeV, and in p+p and d+Au collisions at $\sqrt{S_{NN}}$=200 GeV from the STAR experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The midrapidity (|y|<0.5)$\Phi$ meson transverse momentum (pT) spectra in central Au+Au collisions are found to be well described by a single exponential distribution. On the other hand, the pT spectra from p+p, d+Au, and peripheral Au+Au collisions show power-law tails at intermediate and high pT and are described better by Levy distributions. The constant $\Phi$/K- yield ratio vs beam species, collision centrality, and colliding energy is in contradiction with expectations from models having kaon coalescence as the dominant mechanism for $\Phi$ production at RHIC. The $\Omega/\Phi$ yield ratio as a function of pT is consistent with a model based on the recombination of thermal s quarks up to pT~4 GeV/c, but disagrees at higher transverse momenta. The measured nuclear modification factor, RdAu, for the $\Phi$ meson increases above unity at intermediate pT, similar to that for pions and protons, while RAA is suppressed due to the energy loss effect in central Au+Au collisions. Number of constituent quark scaling of both Rcp and v2 for the $\Phi$ meson with respect to other hadrons in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{S_{NN}}$=200 GeV at intermediate pT is observed. These observations support quark coalescence as being the dominant mechanism of hadronization in the intermediate pT region at RHIC
Document type :
Journal articles
Complete list of metadata

http://hal.in2p3.fr/in2p3-00407379
Contributor : Yvette Heyd <>
Submitted on : Friday, July 24, 2009 - 3:16:25 PM
Last modification on : Tuesday, May 4, 2021 - 11:26:07 AM

### Citation

B.I. Abelev, M.M. Aggarwal, Z. Ahammed, B.D. Anderson, D. Arkhipkin, et al.. Measurements of phi meson production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Physical Review C, American Physical Society, 2009, 79, pp.064903. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevC.79.064903⟩. ⟨in2p3-00407379⟩

Record views