Beam energy dependence of identified particle production in heavy-ion collisions using a parton-hadron string dynamics model
We report predictions for the transverse momentum ($p_T$) spectra of $π^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, $p$, and $\bar{p}$ in various collision centrality from Au + Au collisions at beam energies ($E_{lab}$) of 6.7, 8, 11, and 25 A~GeV using a parton-hadron string dynamics (PHSD) transport model. We studied the dependence of particle yields ($dN/dy$), mean transverse momenta ($\langle p_T \rangle$), and particle ratios on collision energy and centrality to understand the underlying mechanisms of particle production. A comparison of the PHSD model results with available experimental measurements provides a qualitative description of these observables. Our results highlight the importance of baryon stopping, strangeness production, pair production, and baryon-antibaryon annihilation in the high baryon density region. These findings also provide theoretical insights relevant to the ongoing beam energy scan program at RHIC and the future heavy-ion programs at FAIR and NICA.