Charge-Odd Hyperon Polarization from Magnetic Spin Precession

Abstract

We demonstrate that polarized strange quarks undergo Larmor precession in the intense magnetic field produced in non-central heavy-ion collisions and as a possible source of charge-odd hyperon polarization. Strange and antistrange quarks carry opposite electric charges and therefore acquire opposite precession phases. This opposite spin rotation mixes the transverse and longitudinal polarization components, yielding measurable polarization splittings between $Λ$ and $\barΛ$ hyperons. For the magnetic-field evolution scenarios, the predicted splittings reach the sub-percent level and are within the experimentally accessible range at RHIC and the LHC energies. These charge-resolved hyperon polarization observables provide a direct probe of magnetic-field-driven spin dynamics of deconfined QCD matter at ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions.