Extending the ALICE strong-interaction studies to nuclei: measurement of proton-deuteron correlations in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

The ALICE collaboration

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Abstract

The large data sample of high-multiplicity pp collisions collected by ALICE allows for the precise measurement of the size of source producing primary hadrons, opening the doors to a study of the interaction of different hadron species using femtoscopy techniques. The momentum correlation between (anti)protons and (anti)deuterons measured in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with ALICE is studied here for the first time. The measured correlation function for ((equation presented))p-((equation presented))d pairs is compared with theoretical predictions obtained considering Coulomb and Coulomb plus strong interactions and employing the Lednický-Lyuboshitz model with scattering parameters extracted from traditional scattering experiments for the p-d system. The measured correlation function can not be reproduced by any of the obtained predictions. This deviation can to large extent be interpreted as a demonstration of the late formation time of (anti)deuterons in hadron-hadron collisions. This observation is key for the understanding of the production mechanism of light (anti)nuclei, which is an open issue in high-energy physics and has also important consequences for the study of antinuclei formation in the interstellar medium either from collisions triggered by high-energy cosmic rays or by dark matter decays.

Original languageEnglish
Article number391
JournalProceedings of Science
Volume398
StatePublished - May 12 2022
Event2021 European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics, EPS-HEP 2021 - Virtual, Online, Germany
Duration: Jul 26 2021Jul 30 2021

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