Probe the QCD phase diagram with φ-mesons in high energy nuclear collisions
Abstract
High-energy nuclear collision provide a unique tool to study the strongly interacting medium. Recent results from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) on φ-meson production has revealed the formation of a dense partonic medium. The medium constituents are found to exhibit collective behaviour initiated due to partonic interactions in the medium. We present a brief review of the recent results on φ production in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC. One crucial question is where, in the phase diagram, does the transition happen for the matter changing from hadronic to partonic degrees of freedom. We discuss how φ-meson elliptic flow in heavy-ion collisions can be used for the search of the QCD phase boundary.
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