Production of Light Nuclei in Au+Au Collisions with the STAR BES-II Program

Abstract

The yields and ratios of light nuclei in heavy-ion collisions offer a method to distinguish between the thermal and coalescence models. Ratios such as ${\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{t}}\times {\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{p}}/{\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{d}}^2$ and ${\mathrm{N}}_{{}^3\mathrm{He}}\times {\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{p}}/{\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{d}}^2$ are suggested as potential probes to investigate critical phenomena within the QCD phase diagram. The significantly larger datasets from STAR BES-II compared to BES-I, combined with enhanced detector capabilities, allow for more precise measurements. In this proceeding, we present the centrality and energy dependence of transverse momentum spectra and particle yields of (anti-)proton, (anti-)deuteron, and ${}^3\mathrm{He}$ at BES-II energies ($\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = $7.7-27$ GeV), as well as the light nuclei to proton yield ratios and coalescence parameters $(B_2(\mathrm{d})$ and $B_3({}^3\mathrm{He}))$.

Comments: 4 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of Strangeness in Quark Matter 2024