On the determination of the $D$ meson width in the nuclear medium with the transparency ratio

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the feasibility of using nuclear transparency ratios to experimentally determine the in-medium width of the $D$ meson, showing that the method can effectively measure this property in different nuclei.

Contribution

It introduces a practical method to measure the $D$ meson width in nuclear matter using transparency ratios, bridging theoretical predictions with experimental feasibility.

Findings

Ratios of $D^+$ production cross sections are significantly below unity for heavy nuclei.

The method shows promise for experimentally determining the $D$ meson width.

The calculated ratios support the method's sensitivity to the in-medium width.

Abstract

We have studied the feasibility of the experimental determination of the width of a $D$ meson in a nuclear medium by using the method of the nuclear transparency. The cross section for inclusive production of a $D^+$ in different nuclei is evaluated, taking care of the $D^+$ absorption in the nucleus, or equivalently, the survival probability of the $D^+$ in its way out of the nucleus from the point of production. We use present values of the in medium width of $D$ mesons and calculate ratios of the cross sections for different nuclei to the $^{12} \text{C} $ nucleus as reference. We find ratios of the order of $0.6$ for heavy nuclei, a large deviation from unity, which indicates that the method proposed is adequate to measure this relevant magnitude, so far only known theoretically.