Spin alignment of vector mesons in non-central A+A collisions

We discuss the consequence of global polarization of the produced quarks in non-central heavy-ion collisions on the spin alignment of vector mesons. We show that the alignment is quite different for different hadronization scenarios. These results can be tested directly by measuring the vector meson...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics letters. B 2005-11, Vol.629 (1), p.20-26
Main Authors: Liang, Zuo-Tang, Wang, Xin-Nian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Exact sciences and technology
Nuclear physics
Physics
The physics of elementary particles and fields
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Summary:We discuss the consequence of global polarization of the produced quarks in non-central heavy-ion collisions on the spin alignment of vector mesons. We show that the alignment is quite different for different hadronization scenarios. These results can be tested directly by measuring the vector mesons' alignment through angular distributions of the decay products with respect to the reaction plane. Such angular distributions will give rise to azimuthal anisotropy v2 of the decay products in the collision frame. Constraints provided by the data on the azimuthal anisotropy of hadron spectra at RHIC points to a quark recombination scenario of hadronization.
ISSN:0370-2693
1873-2445
DOI:10.1016/j.physletb.2005.09.060