Pattern of global spin alignment of phi and K-*0 mesons in heavy-ion collisions

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68407700%3A21340%2F23%3A00367643" target="_blank" >RIV/68407700:21340/23:00367643 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05557-5" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05557-5</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05557-5" target="_blank" >10.1038/s41586-022-05557-5</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Pattern of global spin alignment of phi and K-*0 mesons in heavy-ion collisions

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

Notwithstanding decades of progress since Yukawa first developed a description of the force between nucleons in terms of meson exchange(1), a full understanding of the strong interaction remains a considerable challenge in modern science. One remaining difficulty arises from the non-perturbative nature of the strong force, which leads to the phenomenon of quark confinement at distances on the order of the size of the proton. Here we show that, in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, in which quarks and gluons are set free over an extended volume, two species of produced vector (spin-1) mesons, namely phi and K-*0, emerge with a surprising pattern of global spin alignment. In particular, the global spin alignment for phi is unexpectedly large, whereas that for K-*0 is consistent with zero. The observed spin-alignment pattern and magnitude for phi cannot be explained by conventional mechanisms, whereas a model with a connection to strong force fields(2-6), that is, an effective proxy description within the standard model and quantum chromodynamics, accommodates the current data. This connection, if fully established, will open a potential new avenue for studying the behaviour of strong force fields.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Pattern of global spin alignment of phi and K-*0 mesons in heavy-ion collisions

Popis výsledku anglicky

Notwithstanding decades of progress since Yukawa first developed a description of the force between nucleons in terms of meson exchange(1), a full understanding of the strong interaction remains a considerable challenge in modern science. One remaining difficulty arises from the non-perturbative nature of the strong force, which leads to the phenomenon of quark confinement at distances on the order of the size of the proton. Here we show that, in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, in which quarks and gluons are set free over an extended volume, two species of produced vector (spin-1) mesons, namely phi and K-*0, emerge with a surprising pattern of global spin alignment. In particular, the global spin alignment for phi is unexpectedly large, whereas that for K-*0 is consistent with zero. The observed spin-alignment pattern and magnitude for phi cannot be explained by conventional mechanisms, whereas a model with a connection to strong force fields(2-6), that is, an effective proxy description within the standard model and quantum chromodynamics, accommodates the current data. This connection, if fully established, will open a potential new avenue for studying the behaviour of strong force fields.

Druh

J_imp - Článek v periodiku v databázi Web of Science

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

10303 - Particles and field physics

Projekt

Výsledek vznikl pri realizaci vícero projektů. Více informací v záložce Projekty.

Návaznosti

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Rok uplatnění

2023

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Nature

ISSN

0028-0836

e-ISSN

1476-4687

Svazek periodika

614

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

7947

Stát vydavatele periodika

GB - Spojené království Velké Británie a Severního Irska

Počet stran výsledku

5

Strana od-do

244-248

Kód UT WoS článku

000979948200003

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-85146473368