arXiv · 2606.03294
Non-monotonicity of $p_T$ correlations from meson-baryon mixing
Abstract
The STAR experiment has recently reported data on the $\sqrt{\langle\Delta p_{T,i}\Delta p_{T,j}\rangle}/\langle\langle p_T\rangle\rangle$ charged hadron correlation in Au+Au reactions from $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=3-200$ GeV. The beam energy dependence of this quantity is non-monotonic, showing a pronounced minimum at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} \approx 7.7$ GeV, while being essentially flat at lower and higher energies. It has been proposed that such a non-monotonicity would be consistent with increased momentum correlations due to a critical point of QCD. In the present work it is shown, using a simplified model, that the observed structure can be consistently explained by the transition from a baryon dominated system to a meson dominated system and is therefore not a good observable for the critical point of QCD.
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Tom Reichert, Jan Steinheimer, Marcus Bleicher. 2026-06-02. Non-monotonicity of $p_T$ correlations from meson-baryon mixing. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.03294
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