Transverse mass spectra and scaling of hadrons at RHIC and LHC energies

Abstract

We present a systematic study of transverse mass spectra ($m_T$) of mesons and baryons at RHIC and LHC energies. In an earlier study, it was shown that all the mesons produced in p+p and d+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV follow $m_T$ scaling while in Au+Au collisions at same energy the mesons with strange and charm quark contents do not follow $m_T$ scaling which can be attributed to medium modifications. We extend this study for baryons produced in all above colliding systems at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV. Although all available baryon spectra behave differently from mesons but are found to scale with protons for both p+p and d+Au collisions. In case of Au+Au collisions, the strange baryons behave differently from protons. This study has also been performed on the meson spectra in p+p collisions at 62.4 GeV which lies in between the highest RHIC energy and SPS energy where the $m_T$ scaling was first observed and we arrive at same conclusions as those at 200 GeV. We test the $m_T$ scaling at LHC with the first meson spectra measured in p+p collisions at 900 GeV and find that the $m_T$ spectra of kaons and $\varphi$ do not scale with pions. Thus $m_T$ scaling which was working well up to p+p collisions at 200 GeV seems to be broken. Here we use all data measured in the mid rapidity region. Baryon to meson ratio is studied as a function of $m_T$, at different energies and for different systems and is found that this ratio for p+p at 900 GeV is quite different from that in p+p collisions at RHIC energies.

Comments: pages 18, Figures 11