Universal Energy Dependence of Measured Temperatures for Baryons Produced in Heavy-ion Collisions

TL;DR

The paper reveals a universal exponential energy dependence of baryon temperatures in heavy-ion collisions, demonstrating a scaling law across energies and centralities, supported by a recombination model and verified predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a universal scaling law for baryon temperatures across collision energies and centralities, suggesting a self-similar thermal source in heavy-ion collisions.

Findings

Existence of measurable functions for baryon types depending exponentially on transverse momentum.

A universal scaling law for temperatures with collision energy, with a common exponent.

Successful prediction and verification of $$ meson production data.

Abstract

From the data on baryon production in heavy-ion collisions it is shown that a set of measurable functions exist, one for each baryon type, that depend exponentially on transverse momenta up to the maximum values detected for all collision energies ranging from the low end of RHIC BES to the high end of CERN LHC. The implied temperatures satisfy a scaling law in collision energy with a universal exponent for all baryon types which is the novel discovery. A self-similar thermal source is implied. Furthermore, it is shown how the scaling behavior depends on centralities. Those features in the data are related to simple properties of light and strange quarks by use of the recombination model. Prediction of $\phi$ meson production is made and then verified by existing data.