arXiv subjects

M. Puccio

Publications and source records attributed to M. Puccio.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Light nucleus and hypernucleus production at RHIC and LHC energies: a comparative study of phenomenological models

This document summarizes the work of the EMMI Rapid Reaction Task Force on ``Understanding light (anti)nuclei production at RHIC and LHC'', which took place at GSI on 8--12 April 2024. The meeting brought together experimentalists and theorists to discuss the current understanding of light-nuclei and hypernuclei production in high-energy hadronic collisions, with particular emphasis on statistical hadronization, coalescence, kinetic, and transport approaches. The discussions addressed the experimental status and the ability of different theoretical descriptions to reproduce the available measurements, as well as the connections between nuclear production, femtoscopic correlations, source sizes, nuclear wave functions, and the formation dynamics of loosely bound states. This document reviews the main experimental and theoretical developments presented during the RRTF, summarizes the key questions that emerged from the discussions, and identifies observables and future measurements that may help discriminate among different production mechanisms.

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arXiv2022

Letter of Intent: the NA60+ experiment

We propose a new fixed-target experiment for the study of electromagnetic and hard probes of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) in heavy-ion collisions at the CERN SPS. The experiment aims at performing measurements of the dimuon spectrum from threshold up to the charmonium region, and of hadronic decays of charm and strange hadrons. It is based on a muon spectrometer, which includes a toroidal magnet and six planes of tracking detectors, coupled to a vertex spectrometer, equipped with Si MAPS immersed in a dipole field. High luminosity is an essential requirement for the experiment, with the goal of taking data with 10$^6$ incident ions/s, at collision energies ranging from $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 6.3$ GeV ($E_{\rm lab}= 20$ A GeV) to top SPS energy ($\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 17.3$ GeV, $E_{\rm lab}= 158$ A GeV). This document presents the physics motivation, the foreseen experimental set-up including integration and radioprotection studies, the current detector choices together with the status of the corresponding R&D, and the outcome of physics performance studies. A preliminary cost evaluation is also carried out.

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arXiv2018

Study of hard and electromagnetic processes at CERN-SPS energies: an investigation of the high-$μ_{\mathbf{B}}$ region of the QCD phase diagram with NA60+

The exploration of the phase diagram of Quantum ChromoDynamics (QCD) is carried out by studying ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. The energy range covered by the CERN SPS ($\sqrt{s_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle{NN}}} \sim$ 6-17 GeV) is ideal for the investigation of the region of the phase diagram corresponding to finite baryochemical potential ($μ_{\rm B}$), and has been little explored up to now. We propose in this document a new experiment, NA60+, that would address several observables which are fundamental for the understanding of the phase transition from hadronic matter towards a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) at SPS energies. In particular, we propose to study, as a function of the collision energy, the production of thermal dimuons from the created system, from which one would obtain a caloric curve of the QCD phase diagram that is sensitive to the order of the phase transition. In addition, the measurement of a $ρ$-a$_1$ mixing contribution would provide conclusive insights into the restoration of the chiral symmetry of QCD. In parallel, studies of heavy quark and quarkonium production would also be carried out, addressing the measurement of transport properties of the QGP and the investigation of the onset of the deconfinement transition. The document also defines an experimental set-up which couples a vertex telescope based on monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) to a muon spectrometer with tracking (GEM) and triggering (RPC) detectors within a large acceptance toroidal magnet. Results of physics performance studies for most observables accessible to NA60+ are discussed, showing that the results of the experiment would lead to a significant advance of our understanding of strong interaction physics. The document has been submitted as an input to the European Particle Physics Strategy Update 2018-2020 (http://europeanstrategyupdate.web.cern.ch/).

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