Probing light nuclei production mechanism by measuring nucleus production in and out of jets

TL;DR

This paper investigates the production mechanism of light nuclei in high-energy collisions by measuring deuteron formation inside and outside jets, providing insights into the coalescence process in different collision environments.

Contribution

It presents the first measurement of the coalescence parameter $B_2$ inside and outside jets at the LHC, testing the coalescence model's predictions in collimated nucleon emissions.

Findings

Enhanced deuteron production in jets compared to underlying events.

Measurement of $B_2$ supports coalescence model predictions.

Results help distinguish between different nuclei production mechanisms.

Abstract

The production mechanism of (anti)nuclei in ultrarelativistic hadronic collisions is under debate in the scientific community. Two successful models used for the description of the experimental measurements are the statistical hadronization model and the coalescence approach. In the latter, multi-baryon states are assumed to be formed by the coalescence of baryons that are close in phase-space at kinetic freeze-out. Given the collimated emission of nucleons in jets, the available phase-space is limited. As a result, the production of nuclear states through coalescence in jets is expected to be enhanced compared to production in underlying events. In this contribution, the results for the coalescence parameter $B_2$, which quantifies the formation probability of deuterons by coalescence, measured in and out of jets with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider, are presented and discussed in the context of the coalescence model.