Effect of magnetic fields on pairs of oppositely charged particles in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how strong magnetic fields in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions affect the angular distribution of oppositely charged particle pairs, proposing observables to quantify these effects.

Contribution

It introduces two experimental observables based on hyperon polarization and balance function to measure magnetic field effects on particle pairs in heavy-ion collisions.

Findings

Proposes observables to detect magnetic field effects.

Discusses optimization and expected magnitude of signals.

Provides a framework for experimental measurement.

Abstract

The initial strong magnetic field produced in high-energy nuclear collisions will distort the distribution of the relative angle between oppositely charged particles within a pair. In this paper, two experimental observables are examined to quantify such effects: one based on the framework for detecting the hyperon global polarization, and the other based on the balance function. We also discuss the optimization of the signal, as well as the expected magnitude ranges for the two observables.