Exploring the double-slit interference with linearly polarized photons

TL;DR

This paper investigates double-slit interference effects in polarized photon-induced vector meson production during heavy-ion collisions, revealing polarization-dependent asymmetries and oscillations that explain experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces the study of polarization effects in interference patterns of vector meson photoproduction, linking polarization asymmetries to observed azimuthal modulations.

Findings

Periodic oscillation of interference pattern with transverse momentum.

Polarization asymmetries influence decay angular distributions.

Explains the transverse momentum dependence observed by STAR.

Abstract

The linearly polarized quasi-real photons from the highly Lorentz-contracted Coulomb fields of relativistic heavy ions can fluctuate to quark-antiquark pairs, scatter off a target nucleus and emerge as vector mesons. In the process, the two colliding nuclei can switch roles to act as photon emitter or target, forming a double-slit interference pattern. The product from photoproduction inherits the photon polarization states, leading to the asymmetries of the decay angular distributions. In this letter, we study the interference effect in polarization dimension from the asymmetries of the decay angular distributions for photoprodution in heavy-ion collisions and find a periodic oscillation with the transverse momentum of vector meson, which could reasonably explain the transverse momentum dependence of the 2nd-order modulation in azimuth for the $\rho^{0}$ decay observed by the STAR collaboration.