About 10 μs after the Big Bang, the universe was filled—in addition to photons and leptons—with strong-interaction matter consisting of quarks and gluons, which transitioned to hadrons at ...temperatures close to kT = 150 MeV and densities several times higher than those found in nuclei. This quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matter can be created in the laboratory as a transient state by colliding heavy ions at relativistic energies. The different phases in which QCD matter may exist depend for example on temperature, pressure or baryochemical potential, and can be probed by studying the emission of electromagnetic radiation. Electron–positron pairs emerge from the decay of virtual photons, which immediately decouple from the strong interaction, and thus provide information about the properties of QCD matter at various stages. Here, we report the observation of virtual photon emission from baryon-rich QCD matter. The spectral distribution of the electron–positron pairs is nearly exponential, providing evidence for a source of temperature in excess of 70 MeV with constituents whose properties have been modified, thus reflecting peculiarities of strong-interaction QCD matter. Its bulk properties are similar to the dense matter formed in the final state of a neutron star merger, as apparent from recent multimessenger observation.
.
The centrality determination for Au + Au collisions at 1.23
A
GeV, as measured with HADES at the GSI-SIS18, is described. In order to extract collision geometry related quantities, such as the ...average impact parameter or number of participating nucleons, a Glauber Monte Carlo approach is employed. For the application of this model to collisions at this relatively low centre-of-mass energy of
s
NN
=
2
.
42
GeV special investigations were performed. As a result a well defined procedure to determine centrality classes for ongoing analyses of heavy-ion data is established.
A main emphasis of the HADES program is on the dielectron signal from the early phase of heavy-ion collisions. We discuss the data with respect to the emission of charged hadrons, specifically the ...production of π+ and π− mesons, which are related to neutral pions representing a dominant contribution to the dielectron yield. In addition, inclusive pion production obtained with the photon-conversion method is disscused. Preliminary results from Au+Au at 1.23 AGeV are presented.
A feasibility study has been performed in order to investigate the performance of the HADES detector to measure the electromagnetic decays of the hyperon resonances
Σ
(
1385
)
0
,
Λ
(
1405
)
and
...Λ
(
1520
)
as well as the production of double strange baryon systems
Ξ
-
and
Λ
Λ
in p + p reactions at a beam kinetic energy of
4.5
GeV
. The existing HADES detector will be upgraded by a new Forward Detector, which extends the detector acceptance into a range of polar angles that plays a crucial role for these investigations. The analysis of each channel is preceded by a consideration of the production cross-sections. Afterwards the expected signal count rates using a target consisting of either liquid hydrogen or polyethylene are summarized.
Results on the production of the double strange cascade hyperon Ξ^{-} are reported for collisions of p(3.5 GeV)+Nb, studied with the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES) at SIS18 at GSI ...Helmholtzzentrum for Heavy-Ion Research, Darmstadt. For the first time, subthreshold Ξ^{-} production is observed in proton-nucleus interactions. Assuming a Ξ^{-} phase-space distribution similar to that of Λ hyperons, the production probability amounts to P_{Ξ^{-}}=2.0±0.4(stat)±0.3(norm)±0.6(syst)×10^{-4} resulting in a Ξ^{-}/(Λ+Σ^{0}) ratio of P_{Ξ^{-}}/P_{Λ+Σ^{0}}=1.2±0.3(stat)±0.4(syst)×10^{-2}. Available model predictions are significantly lower than the measured Ξ^{-} yield.
HADES is a high acceptance di-electron spectrometer operating at SIS18, GSI, Germany aimed at study of hadron-proton, hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at 1-4 AGeV beam energies. The new ...electromagnetic calorimeter (ECal) was added to the experimental setup in order to measure γ-quanta and thus extend its capabilities in study of π0-, η-mesons, production of neutral hyperons and to improve electron-to-hadron separation for the partcles with momenta p > 300 MeV/c. The first data taking with the ECal detector was carried out in March 2019 when Ag+Ag collisions at 1.23 AGeV and 1.58 AGeV beam energies were studied. The methods of reconstruction of the γγ invariant mass spectra from these data are discussed. The analysis includes several steps: calibration of each module of the ECal detector, identification of γ-quanta, reconstruction of γγ invariant mass spectra and subtraction of combinatorial background. The obtained results show experimental capabilities of the new detector and, after efficiency corrections, will allow to normalize yields of other particles.
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The combination of a production target for secondary beams, an optimized ion optical beam line setting, in-beam detectors for minimum ionizing particles with high rate capability, and an efficient ...large acceptance spectrometer around the reaction target constitutes an experimental opportunity to study in detail hadronic interactions utilizing pion beams impinging on nucleons and nuclei. For the 0.4-2.0GeV/c pion momentum regime such a facility is located at the heavy ion synchrotron accelerator SIS18 in Darmstadt (Germany). The layout of the apparatus, performance of its components and encouraging results from a first commissioning run are presented.
We present data on dielectron emission in proton induced reactions on a Nb target at 3.5 GeV kinetic beam energy measured with HADES installed at GSI. The data represent the first high statistics ...measurement of proton-induced dielectron radiation from cold nuclear matter in a kinematic regime, where strong medium effects are expected. Combined with the good mass resolution of 2%, it is the first measurement sensitive to changes of the spectral functions of vector mesons, as predicted by models for hadrons at rest or small relative momenta. Comparing the e+e− invariant mass spectra to elementary p+p data, we observe for e+e− momenta Pee<0.8 GeV/c a strong modification of the shape of the spectrum, which we attribute to an additional ρ-like contribution and a decrease of ω yield. These opposite trends are tentatively interpreted as a strong coupling of the ρ meson to baryonic resonances and an absorption of the ω meson, which are two aspects of in-medium modification of vector mesons.
HADES (High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer) is located at the GSI (Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung) Darmstadt. It is an experiment focused on the study of the hot and dense nuclear ...matter mainly via the detection of the di-lepton pairs. Electromagnetic CALorimeter (ECAL) was recently added to the HADES setup. This new subdetector allows measuring of photons from the decay of neutral mesons and resonances. It also allows to discriminate between electrons and pions in the high-momenta region over 400 MeV/c. ECAL follows same hexagonal geometry as HADES, i.e. it consists of six sectors in azimuth. The first four sectors were finished and commissioned in 2018. The first experiment with ECAL included in HADES setup took place on March 2019, investigating the Ag+Ag reaction at beam energy of 1.65 A GeV. During the commissioning, several issues popped up and they were addressed. The issues and their solution will be described in the article.
HADES is a large acceptance spectrometer operating at SIS18, GSI, Germany. It is aimed at exploration of QCD phase diagram at the ion beam energies of 1-2 AGeV in the region of high baryonic ...densities. The new segmented electromagnetic calorimeter (ECal) was built to extend experimental opportunities of the HADES detector. The electromagnetic calorimeter will allow to study new reaction channels involving the production of neutral mesons and neu-tral resonances in elementary and heavy-ion reactions via detection of their two photon decay. An additional advantage of such a device is the resulting improvement of the electron-to-pion separation at large momenta. The detector is based on 978 Cherenkov lead glass modules divided into 6 sectors, and it covers forward angles of 12° < θ < 45° and almost full azimuthal angle. Currently four out of six sectors planned are assembled in the experimental area. The first raw beam data obtained with the ECal detector in Ag+Ag reactions at 1.65 AGeV beam are presented.