# Nuclear coalescence from correlation functions

## TL;DR

This paper derives a formula linking light cluster production cross sections to two-proton correlation functions in heavy-ion collisions, generalizing previous models and encouraging combined experimental analyses of correlation and cluster yields.

## Contribution

It introduces a generalized formula connecting coalescence factors with two-proton correlation functions, extending earlier Gaussian source model relations.

## Key findings

- Derived a simple, generalized coalescence-correlation formula
- Links cluster production to measurable two-proton correlations
- Encourages joint analysis of HBT and cluster yields

## Abstract

We derive a simple formula relating the cross section for light cluster production (defined via a coalescence factor) to the two-proton correlation function measured in heavy-ion collisions. The formula generalises earlier coalescence-correlation relations found by Scheibl & Heinz and by Mrowczynski for Gaussian source models. It motivates joint experimental analyses of Hanbury Brown-Twiss (HBT) and cluster yield measurements in existing and future data sets.