Multi-strange and charmed hadrons: A novel probe for the QCD equation of state at high baryon densities

TL;DR

This paper explores how the production of multi-strange and charmed hadrons in high-density nuclear collisions can serve as sensitive probes for the QCD equation of state at densities up to five times nuclear saturation, extending current experimental capabilities.

Contribution

It proposes using multi-strange and charmed hadron production as novel probes for the QCD equation of state at higher densities in heavy-ion collisions.

Findings

Multi-strange and charmed hadron production is highly sensitive to the equation of state.

Densities up to five times nuclear saturation can be achieved in the SIS100 energy range.

Precise predictions require measurements of production cross sections near thresholds.

Abstract

Nuclear experiments near and below the threshold of hyperon production have shown that the production of Kaons is a sensitive probe for the dense QCD equation of state. At beam energies up to 1.5AGeV, strangeness production can probe the equation of state for densities up to approximately twice nuclear saturation. In this paper we will discuss the possibilities of extending this range in density by the study of multi-strange baryons as well as charmed hadrons in the SIS100 beam energy range up to $10A$GeV. Here, densities up to five times nuclear saturation can be reached and the production of multi-strange and charmed hadrons shows a strong sensitivity to the equation of state. On the other hand a precise prediction of the effect of the equation of state will require knowledge of the fundamental production cross section near the elementary production threshold in p+p collisions which is yet not measured for the hadrons discussed.