Strange meson enhancement in PbPb collisions

Bearden, I.; Boggild, H.; Boissevain, J.; Conin, L.; Dodd, J.; Erazmus, B.; Esumi, S.; Fabjan, C. W.; Ferenc, D.; Fields, D. E.; Franz, A.; Gaardhoje, J. J.; Hansen, A. G.; Hansen, O.; Hardtke, D.; Van Hecke, H.; Holzer, E. B.; Humanic, T. J.; Hummel, P.; Jacak, B. V.; Jayanti, R.; Kaimi, K.; Kaneta, M.; Kohama, T.; Kopytine, M. L.; Leltchouk, M.; Ljubicic, A.; Lörstad, B.; Maeda, N.; Martin, L.; Medvedev, A.; Murray, M.; Ohnishi, H.; Paic, G.; Pandey, S. U.; Piuz, F.; Pluta, J.; Polychronakos, V.; Potekhin, M.; Poulard, G.; Reichhold, D.; Sakaguchi, A.; Schmidt-Sorensen, J.; Simon-Gillo, J.; Sondheim, W.; Sugitate, T.; Sullivan, J. P.; Sumi, Y.; Willis, W. J.; Wolf, K. L.; Xu, N.; Zachary, D. S.

Strange meson enhancement in PbPb collisions

Date

1999-12-23

Authors

Abstract

The NA44 Collaboration has measured yields and differential distributions of K+, K-, π+, π- in transverse kinetic energy and rapidity around the center-of-mass rapidity in 158 A GeV/c Pb + Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. A considerable enhancement of K+ production per π is observed, as compared to p + p collisions at this energy. To illustrate the importance of secondary hadron rescattering as an enhancement mechanism, we compare strangeness production at the SPS and AGS with predictions of the transport model RQMD. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.