Femtoscopy at NA61/SHINE using symmetric L\'evy sources in central $^{40}$Ar+$^{45}$Sc from 40$A$ GeV/$c$ to 150$A$ GeV/$c$

TL;DR

This paper investigates femtoscopic correlations in intermediate nucleus-nucleus collisions at SPS energies using symmetric Lévy sources, aiming to explore the source shape and potential signals of the QCD critical point.

Contribution

It introduces the analysis of femtoscopic correlations with Lévy source formalism in Ar+Sc collisions at SPS energies, connecting source parameters to the QCD critical point search.

Findings

Lévy source parameters vary with pair transverse mass.

The Lévy exponent $eta$ shows potential sensitivity to critical phenomena.

Results contribute to understanding the QCD phase diagram.

Abstract

In the recent decades of high energy physics research, it was demonstrated that strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma (sQGP) is created in ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions. Investigation and understanding of properties of the hadronic matter is among the important goals of NA61/SHINE collaboration at CERN SPS. Mapping of the phase diagram is achieved by varying the collision energy (5 GeV $<\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}<$17 GeV) and by changing the collision system (p+p, p+Pb, Be+Be, Ar+Sc, Xe+La, Pb+Pb). We report on the measurement of femtoscopic correlations in intermediate system at intermediate SPS energies. Interpreting the results of measurements within the symmetric L\'evy source formalism, we discuss the values of L\'evy source parameters as a function of average pair transverse mass. One of the physical parameters is particularly important, the L\'evy exponent $\alpha$, which describes the shape of the source and may be related to the critical exponent $\eta$ in the proximity of the critical point. Therefore, measuring it may shed light on the location of the critical endpoint of the QCD phase diagram.