Quark number scaling of hadronic $p_T$ spectra and constituent quark degree of freedom in $p$-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=5.02$ TeV

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the transverse momentum spectra of identified hadrons in high-energy p-Pb collisions exhibit quark number scaling, indicating the presence of constituent quark degrees of freedom and supporting quark recombination as the hadronization mechanism.

Contribution

It provides evidence of quark number scaling in p-Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV, linking it to quark recombination and constituent quark degrees of freedom.

Findings

Quark number scaling observed in p-Pb collision data.

Scaling consistent with quark recombination mechanism.

Predictions made for production of other hadrons.

Abstract

We show that the experimental data of $p_T$ spectra of identified hadrons released recently by ALICE collaboration for $p$-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=5.02$ TeV exhibit a distinct universal behavior --- the quark number scaling. We further show that the scaling is a direct consequence of quark (re-)combination mechanism of hadronization and can be regarded as a strong indication of the existence of the underlying source with constituent quark degree of freedom for the production of hadrons in $p$-Pb collisions at such high energies. We make also predictions for production of other hadrons.