Production of light nuclei in the thermal and coalescence models

TL;DR

This paper compares thermal and coalescence models for light nuclei production in heavy-ion collisions, showing their predictions are similar and proposing ways to distinguish between them.

Contribution

It provides a direct comparison of thermal and coalescence models, deriving analytic formulas and suggesting experimental tests to differentiate their validity.

Findings

Thermal and coalescence models yield similar predictions.

Derived simple analytic formulas for light nuclei production.

Proposed experimental tests to falsify one of the models.

Abstract

The thermal model properly describes the production yields of light nuclei in relativistic heavy-ion collisions even so the loosely bound sizable nuclei cannot exist in the dense and hot hadron gas at a chemical freeze-out. Within the coalescence model, light nuclei are formed at the latest stage of nuclear collisions - a kinetic freeze-out - due to final state interactions. After discussing the models, we derive simple analytic formulas and, using model parameters directly inferred from experimental data, we show that the thermal and coalescence model predictions are quantitatively close to each other. A possibility to falsify one of the two models is suggested.