Decay widths of bottomonium states in matter -- a field theoretic model for composite hadrons

TL;DR

This paper calculates how bottomonium decay widths change in dense, asymmetric hadronic matter using a field theoretic model, with implications for heavy ion collision experiments at FAIR and SPS energies.

Contribution

It introduces a field theoretical model for composite hadrons to compute in-medium bottomonium decay widths considering mass modifications and medium effects.

Findings

Decay widths increase with density and isospin asymmetry.

Significant effects observed at high densities, relevant for heavy ion collision experiments.

Density effects influence bottomonium production and dilepton spectra.

Abstract

We compute the in-medium partial decay widths of the bottomonium states to open bottom mesons ($B\bar B$) using a field theoretical model for composite hadrons with quark constituents. These decay widths are calculated by using the explicit constructions for the bottomonium states and the open bottom mesons ($B$ and $\bar B$), and, the quark antiquark pair creation term of the free Dirac Hamiltonian written in terms of the constituent quark field operators. These decay widths in the hadronic medium are calculated as arising from the mass modifications of the bottomonium states and the $B$ and $\bar B$ mesons, obtained in a chiral effective model. The decay amplitude in the present model is multiplied with a strength parameter for the light quark pair creation, which is fitted from the observed vacuum partial decay width of the bottomonium state, $\Upsilon (4S)$ to $B\bar B$. The effects of the isospin asymmetry, the strangeness fraction of the hadronic matter on the decay widths, arising due to the mass modifications due to these effects, have also been studied. There is observed to be appreciable effects from density, and the effects from isospin asymmetry on the parital decay widths of $\Upsilon \rightarrow B\bar B$ are observed to be quite pronounced at high densities. These effects should show up in the asymmetric heavy ion collisions in Compressed baryonic matter (CBM) experiments planned at the future facility at FAIR. The study of the $\Upsilon$ states will, however, require access to energies higher than the energy regime planned at the CBM experiment. The density effects on the decay widths of the bottomonium states should show up in the production of these states, as well as, in dilepton spectra at the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) energies.