We study the influence of global baryon number conservation on the non-critical baseline of net baryon cumulants in heavy-ion collisions in a given acceptance, accounting for the asymmetry between ...the mean-numbers of baryons and antibaryons. We derive the probability distribution of net baryon number in a restricted phase space from the canonical partition function that incorporates exact conservation of baryon number in the full system. Furthermore, we provide tools to compute cumulants of any order from the generating function of uncorrelated baryons constrained by exact baryon number conservation. The results are applied to quantify the non-critical baseline for cumulants of net proton number fluctuations obtained in heavy-ion collisions by the STAR collaboration at different RHIC energies and by the ALICE collaboration at the LHC. Furthermore, volume fluctuations are added by a Monte Carlo procedure based on the centrality dependence of charged particle production as measured experimentally. Compared to the predictions based on the hadron resonance gas model or Skellam distribution a clear suppression of fluctuations is observed due to exact baryon-number conservation. The suppression increases with the order of the cumulant and towards lower collision energies. Predictions for net proton cumulants up to the eight order in heavy-ion collisions are given for experimentally accessible collision energies.
We present, in the framework of the interacting hadron resonance gas, an evaluation of thermodynamical quantities. The interaction is modelled via a correction for the finite size of the hadrons. We ...investigate the sensitivity of the model calculations on the radius of the hadrons, which is a parameter of the model. Our calculations for thermodynamical quantities as energy and entropy densities and pressure are confronted with predictions using the lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) formalism.
We present, using the statistical model, a new analysis of hadron production in central collisions of heavy nuclei. This study is motivated by the availability of final measurements both for the SPS ...(beam energies 20–160 AGeV) and for the RHIC energies (sNN=130 and 200 GeV) and by updates in the hadron mass spectrum, which is a crucial input for statistical models. Extending previous studies by inclusion of very high-mass resonances (m>2 GeV), and the up-to-now neglected scalar σ meson leads to an improved description of the data. In particular, the hitherto poorly reproduced energy dependence of the K+/π+ ratio at SPS energies (“the horn”) is now well described through the connection to the hadronic mass spectrum and, implicitly, Hagedorn's limiting temperature. We thereby demonstrate the intimate connection between the horn and the QCD phase transition.
We develop methods to deal with non-dynamical contributions to event-by-event fluctuation measurements of net-particle numbers in relativistic nuclear collisions. These contributions arise from ...impact parameter fluctuations and from the requirement of overall net-baryon number or net-charge conservation and may mask the dynamical fluctuations of interest, such as those due to critical endpoints in the QCD phase diagram. Within a model of independent particle sources we derive formulae for net-particle fluctuations and develop a rigorous approach to take into account contributions from participant fluctuations in realistic experimental environments and at any cumulant order. Interestingly, contributions from participant fluctuations to the second and third cumulants of net-baryon distributions are found to vanish at mid-rapidity for LHC energies while higher cumulants of even order are non-zero even when the net-baryon number at mid-rapidity is zero. At lower beam energies the effect of participant fluctuations increases and induces spurious higher moments. The necessary corrections become large and need to be carefully taken into account before comparison to theory. We also provide a procedure for selecting the optimal phase–space coverage of particles for fluctuation analyses and discuss quantitatively the necessary correction due to global charge conservation.
The most recent data from the CERN LHC are compared with calculations within the statistical hadronization model. The parameters temperature und baryon chemical potential are fitted to the data. The ...best fit yields a temperature of 156 MeV, slightly below the expectation from RHIC data. Proton yields are nearly three standard deviations below this fit and possible reasons are discussed.
We present, using the statistical model, an analysis of the production of light nuclei, hypernuclei and their antiparticles in central collisions of heavy nuclei. Based on these studies we provide ...predictions for the production yields of multiply-strange light nuclei.
We present the status of the chemical freeze-out, determined from fits of hadron yields with the statistical hadronization (thermal) model, with focus on the data at the LHC. A description of the ...yields of hadrons containing light quarks as well as the application of the model for the production of the J/ψ meson is presented. The implications for the QCD phase diagram are discussed.
Calculations and predictions are presented within the framework of the statistical hadronization model for transverse momentum spectra of the charmonium states J/ψ, ψ(2S) and X(3872) produced in ...nucleus-nucleus collisions at LHC energies. The results are confronted with available data and exhibit very good agreement by using particle flow profiles from state-of-the-art hydrodynamic calculations. For X(3872) production in Pb–Pb collisions we predict a transverse momentum distribution similar in shape to that for J/ψ with a strong enhancement at low transverse momenta and a production yield of about 1% relative to that for J/ψ.