Correlations of Baryon and Charge Stopping in Heavy Ion Collisions

TL;DR

This study investigates the correlation between baryon and charge stopping in heavy-ion collisions using the UrQMD model, providing a baseline for understanding valence quark transport and testing baryon number carrier theories.

Contribution

It offers the first detailed simulation-based analysis of charge and baryon stopping correlations across various heavy-ion collisions, supporting valence quark transport as the primary mechanism.

Findings

Charge stopping exceeds baryon stopping in all cases.

Universal trend observed between charge and baryon stopping.

Provides a baseline for future experimental comparisons.

Abstract

Baryon numbers are carried by valence quarks in the standard QCD picture of the baryon structure, while some theory proposed an alternative baryon number carrier, a non-perturbative Y-shaped configuration of the gluon field, called the baryon junction in the 1970s. However, neither of the theories has been verified experimentally. It was recently suggested to search for the baryon junction by investigating the correlation of net-charge and net-baryon yields at midrapidity in heavy-ion collisions. This paper presents studies of such correlations in collisions of various heavy ions from Oxygen to Uranium with the UrQMD Monte Carlo model. The UrQMD model implements valence quark transport as the primary means of charge and baryon stopping at midrapidity. Detailed study are also carried out for isobaric $_{40}^{96}\mathrm{Zr}$ + $_{40}^{96}\mathrm{Zr}$ and $_{44}^{96}\mathrm{Ru}$ + $_{44}^{96}\mathrm{Ru}$ collisions. We found a universal trend of the charge stopping with respect to the baryon stopping, and that the charge stopping is always more than the baryon stopping. This study provides a model baseline in valence quark transport for what is expected in net-charge and net-baryon yields at midrapidity of relativistic heavy-ion collisions.