Statistical Model and the mesonic-baryonic transition region

TL;DR

This paper examines the statistical model's effectiveness in describing strange particle production across energy regimes, highlighting a sharp deviation at the mesonic-baryonic transition point and its impact on particle ratios.

Contribution

It analyzes how the statistical model's predictions deviate at the mesonic-baryonic transition, revealing a change in freeze-out regimes and their effects on observables.

Findings

Maximum in K+/pi+ ratio sharper than model predictions

Transition from baryon-dominated to meson-dominated freeze-out

Observable changes in particle ratios at transition energy

Abstract

The statistical model assuming chemical equilibriumand local strangeness conservation describes most of the observed features of strange particle production from SIS up to RHIC. Deviations are found as the maximum in the measured K+/pi+ ratio is much sharper than in the model calculations. At the incident energy of the maximum, the statistical model shows that freeze out changes regime from one being dominated by baryons at the lower energies toward one being dominated by mesons. It will be shown how deviations from the usual freeze-out curve influence the various particle ratios. Furthermore, other observables exhibit also changes just in this energy regime.