The study of hadronic rescattering on K^∗0 resonance yield in baryon-rich QCD matter

Abstract

The effect of hadronic rescattering on $K^{*0}$ resonance yield can be studied by measuring $K^{*0}/K$ ratio as a function of centrality or multiplicity. This study investigates how the size of the system and the chemical composition (meson-meson versus meson-baryon interaction) of the matter formed in heavy-ion collisions impact the process of hadronic rescattering. It is shown that existing calculation of $K^{*0}/K$ ratio, which considers the interaction of $K^{*0}$ and $K$ mesons with only light mesons in the hadronic medium (neglecting interactions with baryons), fails to explain the measured $K^{*0}/K$ ratio at RHIC BES energies. To understand the multiplicity dependence of the $K^{*0}/K$ ratio at RHIC BES and SPS energies ($\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ $<$ 20 GeV), the Ultra Relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics (UrQMD) model is employed. UrQMD calculations suggest that for a given multiplicity, $K^{*0}/K$ is more suppressed in Au+Au collision at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =7.7 GeV, compared to that in $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =200 GeV. This is possibly because of formation different type of QCD medium at 200 GeV and 7.7 GeV, and change in interaction cross-section between hadrons with change in particle type and energy.