Lambda-to-kaon ratio enhancement in heavy ion collisions at several TeV

Area of Science:

• High-energy nuclear physics
• Quantum chromodynamics
• Hadronization

Background:

• Understanding particle production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions is crucial.
• Existing models struggle to explain hadron yields at intermediate transverse momentum (p(t)).
• The interplay between bulk matter, jets, and particle production mechanisms requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce a novel theoretical framework for hydrodynamically expanding matter and jets.
• Investigate the role of jet hadrons interacting with the quark-gluon plasma in particle production.
• Explain the observed peak in the Lambda-to-kaon ratio at intermediate p(t).

Main Methods:

• Developed a theoretical scheme incorporating hydrodynamics, jets, and their interactions.
• Modeled hadron production via pickup of quarks/antiquarks from thermal matter by jet segments.
• Analyzed the impact of plasma properties (flavor, flow) and string momentum on hadron p(t).

Main Results:

• The proposed mechanism predicts a pronounced peak in the Lambda-to-kaon ratio at intermediate p(t).
• This peak arises from jet hadrons picking up constituents from the thermal medium.
• The effect's magnitude increases significantly with collision centrality, correlating with the bulk matter's transverse size.

Conclusions:

• The new theoretical scheme successfully explains the Lambda-to-kaon ratio anomaly.
• Jet-medium interaction provides a viable mechanism for hadron production at intermediate p(t).
• Centrality dependence offers a unique signature for this production mechanism.