Statistical Hadronization of Multistrange Particles

TL;DR

This paper analyzes multistrange hadron production in heavy ion collisions across various energies, using statistical models to understand the conditions of the hot dense fireball and predict outcomes at LHC.

Contribution

It introduces a statistical hadronization framework to interpret multistrange hadron yields and explores chemical equilibrium states before and after hadronization.

Findings

Yields of {\Xi}, {\Xi}-bar, and {\phi} constrain fireball conditions

Evidence for chemical non-equilibrium of quark flavors

Predictions for multistrange hadron production at LHC

Abstract

We study multistrange hadrons produced in NA49 and STAR experiments at center of mass energies varying from \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 7.61 GeV to 200 GeV. We show that the yields of {\Xi}, {\Xi}-bar and {\phi} can help to constrain the physical conditions present in the hot dense fireball source of these multistrange hadrons created in heavy ion collision. We address the question of chemical equilibrium of individual quark flavors before and after hadronization and offer a few predictions for LHC.