On $pp \to p K \Lambda, N K \Sigma, pp \phi$ -- the basic ingredients for strangeness production in heavy ion collisions

TL;DR

This paper emphasizes the importance of including specific resonance contributions in modeling basic proton-proton reactions that produce strange particles, crucial for understanding strangeness production in heavy ion collisions.

Contribution

It highlights the significance of previously ignored $N^*(1535)$ and $ riangle^*(1620)$ resonances in modeling key reactions for strangeness production.

Findings

Resonance contributions are vital near threshold energies.

Including these resonances improves reaction modeling accuracy.

These ingredients are essential for reliable heavy ion collision predictions.

Abstract

The strangeness production in heavy ion collisions was proposed to be probes of the nuclear equation of state, Kaon potential in nuclear medium, strange quark matter and quark-gluon plasma, etc. However, to act as reliable probes, proper understanding of the basic ingredients for the strangeness production, such as $pp \to pK^+\Lambda$, $pp \to pp \phi$ and $pp \to nK^+\Sigma^+$ is necessary. Recent study of these reactions clearly shows that previously ignored contributions from the spin-parity $1/2^-$ resonances, $N^*(1535)$ and $\Delta^*(1620)$, are in fact very important for these reactions, especially for near-threshold energies. It is necessary to include these contributions for getting reliable calculation for the strangeness production in heavy ion collisions.