Search for: All records

Deuterons are atomic nuclei composed of a neutron and a proton held together by the strong interaction. Unbound ensembles composed of a deuteron and a third nucleon have been investigated in the past using scattering experiments, and they constitute a fundamental reference in nuclear physics to constrain nuclear interactions and the properties of nuclei. In this work, $K^{+}\text{−}d$and $p\text{−}d$femtoscopic correlations measured by the ALICE Collaboration in proton-proton ( $pp$) collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13\mathrm{TeV}$at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented. It is demonstrated that correlations in momentum space between deuterons and kaons or protons allow us to study three-hadron systems at distances comparable with the proton radius. The analysis of the $K^{+}\text{−}d$correlation shows that the relative distances at which deuterons and protons or kaons are produced are around 2 fm. The analysis of the $p\text{−}d$correlation shows that only a full three-body calculation that accounts for the internal structure of the deuteron can explain the data. In particular, the sensitivity of the observable to the short-range part of the interaction is demonstrated. These results indicate that correlations involving light nuclei in $pp$collisions at the LHC will also provide access to any three-body system in the strange and charm sectors. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

Abstract The interaction of $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - with protons is characterised by the presence of several coupled channels, systems like $${\overline{\textrm{K}}}^0$$ K ¯ 0 n and $$\uppi \Sigma $$ π Σ with a similar mass and the same quantum numbers as the $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p state. The strengths of these couplings to the $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p system are of crucial importance for the understanding of the nature of the $$\Lambda (1405)$$ Λ ( 1405 ) resonance and of the attractive $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p strong interaction. In this article, we present measurements of the $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p correlation functions in relative momentum space obtained in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s}~=~13$$ s = 13  Te, in p–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}~=~5.02$$ s NN = 5.02  Te, and (semi)peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}~=~5.02$$ s NN = 5.02  Te. The emitting source size, composed of a core radius anchored to the $$\textrm{K}^{+}$$ K + p correlation and of a resonance halo specific to each particle pair, varies between 1 and 2 fm in these collision systems. The strength and the effects of the $${\overline{\textrm{K}}}^0$$ K ¯ 0 n and $$\uppi \Sigma $$ π Σ inelastic channels on the measured $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p correlation function are investigated in the different colliding systems by comparing the data with state-of-the-art models of chiral potentials. A novel approach to determine the conversion weights $$\omega $$ ω , necessary to quantify the amount of produced inelastic channels in the correlation function, is presented. In this method, particle yields are estimated from thermal model predictions, and their kinematic distribution from blast-wave fits to measured data. The comparison of chiral potentials to the measured $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p interaction indicates that, while the $$\uppi \Sigma $$ π Σ – $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p dynamics is well reproduced by the model, the coupling to the $${\overline{\textrm{K}}}^0$$ K ¯ 0 n channel in the model is currently underestimated.