$K^*(892)$ and $\phi(1020)$ production and their decay into the hadronic medium at the Large Hadron Collider

TL;DR

This paper investigates the production and decay of $K^*(892)$ and $\,phi(1020)$ resonances in heavy-ion collisions at LHC and RHIC energies, analyzing rescattering effects and medium modifications using the iHKM model.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of $K^*(892)$ and $\,phi(1020)$ production considering medium effects and rescattering within the integrated hydrokinetic model.

Findings

Rescattering significantly affects $K^*(892)$ identification.

Recombination processes influence resonance yields.

Longer-lived $\,phi(1020)$$ shows different medium interactions.

Abstract

The production of the $K^*(892)$ strange resonance in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=2.76$ TeV LHC energy is analyzed within the integrated hydrokinetic model (iHKM) at different equations of state of superdense matter. The similar analysis is done also for the RHIC top energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV for comparison purposes. A modification of experimental $K^*(892)$-identification is studied for different centralities in view of possible re-scattering of the decay products at the afterburner stage of the fireball evolution. We see quite intensive rescattering of the decay products as well as recombination processes for $K^*(892)$. In addition, the production of the much longer-long-lived $\phi(1020)$ resonance with hidden strange quark content is investigated.