Sub-threshold charm production in nuclear collisions

TL;DR

This paper predicts the production of open charm and charmonium particles in nuclear collisions below the energy threshold, highlighting the potential for new experimental insights at FAIR's SIS100 accelerator.

Contribution

First predictions for sub-threshold charm production in nuclear collisions, emphasizing multi-step nucleon scatterings as the production mechanism.

Findings

Significant production of charmed hadrons expected at SIS100

Potential to explore charm dynamics and charmed nuclei formation

Implications for the CBM experiment at FAIR

Abstract

We present the first predictions for sub-threshold open charm and charmonium production in nuclear collisions. The production mechanism is driven by multi-step scatterings of nucleons and their resonance states, accumulating sufficient energy for the production of $J/\Psi$, $\Lambda_c + \overline{D}$ and $D+\overline{D}$. Our results are of particular importance for the CBM experiment at FAIR, as they indicate that already at the SIS100 accelerator one can expect a significant number of charmed hadrons to be produced. This opens new possibilities to explore charm dynamics and the formation of charmed nuclei.