Spin alignment of vector mesons in heavy ion and proton - proton collisions
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
2009-12-22 v1
Abstract
The spin alignment matrix element rho_{00} for the vector mesons K^{*0} and phi(1020) has been measured in RHIC at central rapidities. These measurements are consistent with the absence of polarization with respect to the reaction plane in mid-central Au + Au collisions whereas, when measured with respect to the production plane in the same reactions and in p + p collisions, a non-vanishing and p_perp-dependent rho_{00} is found. We show that this behavior can be understood in a simple model of vector meson production where the spin of their constituent quarks is oriented during hadronization as the result of Thomas precession.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0906.4295,
title = {Spin alignment of vector mesons in heavy ion and proton - proton collisions},
author = {Alejandro Ayala and Eleazar Cuautle and G. Herrera Corral and J. Magnin and Luis Manuel Montano},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0906.4295},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
5 pages, two figures