NA60 results on phi production in the hadronic and leptonic channels in In-In collisions at 158 GeV

TL;DR

The NA60 experiment measured phi meson production in In-In collisions at 158 GeV through muon and kaon decay channels, providing new data that helps resolve the phi puzzle by comparing hadronic and leptonic results.

Contribution

First-time presentation of phi meson production results in the hadronic channel in In-In collisions at CERN SPS, and comparison with muon channel data to address the phi puzzle.

Findings

Yield and inverse m_T slopes are compatible in both channels.

Discrepancies seen in Pb-Pb collisions are not observed in In-In data.

Results support consistency between hadronic and leptonic decay channels.

Abstract

The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS studied phi meson production in In-In collisions at 158 A GeV via muon and kaon decay channels. Results in the hadronic channel are presented for the first time. These are discussed in the framework of the so-called phi puzzle through the comparison with the previous NA60 measurements in the muon channel. The yield and inverse m_T slopes observed in the two channels are compatible within errors, showing that the large discrepancies seen in Pb-Pb collisions between NA50 (muon pairs) and NA49 (kaon pairs) are not seen in the NA60 In-In data.