Production of deuterium, tritium, and $^3$He in central Pb+Pb collisions at 20A, 30A, 40A, 80A, and 158A GeV at the CERN SPS
nucl-ex
/ Authors
NA49 Collaboration, T. Anticic, B. Baatar, J. Bartke, H. Beck, L. Betev, H. Białkowska, C. Blume, B. Boimska, J. Book
and 56 more authors
M. Botje, P. Bunčić, P. Christakoglou, P. Chung, O. Chvala, J. G. Cramer, V. Eckardt, Z. Fodor, P. Foka, V. Friese, M. Gaździcki, K. Grebieszkow, C. Höhne, K. Kadija, A. Karev, V. I. Kolesnikov, M. Kowalski, D. Kresan, A. Laszlo, R. Lacey, M. van Leeuwen, M. Maćkowiak-Pawłowska, M. Makariev, A. I. Malakhov
/ Abstract
Production of $d$, $t$, and $^3$He nuclei in central Pb+Pb interactions was studied at five collision energies ($\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 6.3, 7.6, 8.8, 12.3, and 17.3 GeV) with the NA49 detector at the CERN SPS. Transverse momentum spectra, rapidity distributions, and particle ratios were measured. Yields are compared to predictions of statistical models. Phase-space distributions of light nuclei are discussed and compared to those of protons in the context of a coalescence approach. The coalescence parameters $B_2$ and $B_3$, as well as coalescence radii for $d$ and $^3$He were determined as a function of transverse mass at all energies.