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Measurements of momentum correlation and interaction parameters between antiprotons

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Abstract

The two-particle momentum correlation is influenced by the nuclear force between two particles, which has been intensively studied for nucleons and nuclei, but not much for antinucleons or antinuclei. In this proceeding, we present our STAR measurements on momentum correlation function of antiproton–antiproton and proton–proton in Au+Au collisions at \(\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}\) = 200 GeV at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Attractive nuclear force between two antiprotons is demonstrated, and the strong interaction parameters (the scattering length and the effective range) are determined. This measurement serves as an additional verification of CPT symmetry. The present information on the strong force in the antiproton–antiproton system provides a fundamental ingredient towards understanding the structure of more sophisticated antinuclei.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the whole collaborators of the STAR collaboration, especially for Dr. Ai-Hong Tang of BNL, the RHIC Operations Group, the Collider-Accelerator Department, and the RHIC Computing Facility at BNL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201800, China

    Zheng-Qiao Zhang & Yu-Gang Ma

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Zheng-Qiao Zhang

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  1. Zheng-Qiao Zhang
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Correspondence to Yu-Gang Ma.

Additional information

This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11421505) and the Major State Basic Research Development Program in China (No. 2014CB845401).

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Zhang, ZQ., Ma, YG. Measurements of momentum correlation and interaction parameters between antiprotons. NUCL SCI TECH 27, 152 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-016-0147-x

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