Abstract
Light nuclei can be produced in the central reaction zone via coalescence in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Experiment 864 at BNL has measured the production of ten light nuclei with nuclear number A = 1 to A = 7 at rapidity y ≃ 1.9 and pT/A ≤ 300 MeV/c. Data were taken with a Au beam of momentum of 11.5AGeV/c on a Pb or Pt target with different experimental settings. The invariant yields show a striking exponential dependence on nuclear number with a penalty factor of about 50 per additional nucleon. Detailed analysis reveals that the production may depend on the spin factor of the nucleus and the nuclear binding energy as well.
| Original language | English |
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| Pages (from-to) | 5431-5434 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Volume | 83 |
| Issue number | 26 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 1999 |