Latest results from the NA61/SHINE beam energy scan with p+p and Be+Be collisions

TL;DR

This paper reports on the latest results from the NA61/SHINE experiment, analyzing hadron production, fluctuations, and correlations in p+p and Be+Be collisions to explore the critical point and deconfinement phenomena in strongly interacting matter.

Contribution

It provides new measurements of hadron spectra, yields, and fluctuations in p+p and Be+Be collisions across various energies, comparing signals of deconfinement and testing string-hadronic models.

Findings

Energy dependence of hadron spectra and yields analyzed.

Fluctuations and correlations studied as a function of collision energy.

Comparison of deconfinement signals between p+p, Be+Be, and Pb+Pb collisions.

Abstract

The NA61/SHINE experiment aims to discover the critical point of strongly interacting matter and study the properties of the onset of deconfinement by measurements of hadron production properties in proton-proton, proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions in the CERN SPS energy range. This contribution presents results on the energy dependence of hadron spectra and yields as well as on fluctuations and two-particle correlations in p+p and centrality selected Be+Be collisions. In particular, the energy dependence of the signal of deconfinement, the "horn", observed in central Pb+Pb collisions is compared with the corresponding results from p+p interactions. Also string-hadronic models are tested using hadron spectra and fluctuations measured in p+p interactions. Results on fluctuations (multiplicity and transverse momentum) are presented as a function of the collision energy for Be+Be and p+p collisions in search for the critical point of strongly interacting matter.