Speaker
Description
Abstract. The production of strange Φ mesons in strong interactions is a potential signature for the formation of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Due to the Φ meson’s instability, it is identified through its decay into kaon pairs $(k^{+}k^{-})$. Since 2022, we at JINR have been conducting an intensive search for Φ mesons in heavy-ion and proton-proton collisions at STAR RHIC BNL. Preliminary results have been obtained. We’ve developed analysis programs to calculate the Φ meson’s invariant mass and employ model-dependent background estimations. The data analysis utilizes minimum bias and central trigger events, incorporating information from the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) and Time-of-Flight (TOF) detectors for kaon identification. This presentation will showcase the preliminary spectrum and yields of Φ mesons, as well as secondary $\pi^{\pm}, k^{\pm}$, and p/p̄ particles, measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{S_{NN}}$ = 510 GeV. These results are presented prior to corrections for detector efficiency and acceptance.
