On $pp \to p K \Lambda, N K \Sigma, pp \phi$ -- the basic ingredients for strangeness production in heavy ion collisions

Abstract

The strangeness production in heavy ion collisions was proposed to be probes of the nuclear equation of state, Kaon potential in nuclear medium, strange quark matter and quark-gluon plasma, etc. However, to act as reliable probes, proper understanding of the basic ingredients for the strangeness production, such as $pp \to pK^+\Lambda$, $pp \to pp \phi$ and $pp \to nK^+\Sigma^+$ is necessary. Recent study of these reactions clearly shows that previously ignored contributions from the spin-parity $1/2^-$ resonances, $N^*(1535)$ and $\Delta^*(1620)$, are in fact very important for these reactions, especially for near-threshold energies. It is necessary to include these contributions for getting reliable calculation for the strangeness production in heavy ion collisions.