Induced theta-vacuum states in heavy ion collisions: a possible signature

Abstract

It has been suggested recently that an arbitrary induced theta-vacuum state could be created in heavy ion collisions. If such a state can be created, it would decay by various mechanisms to the fundamental theta=0 state which is the true ground state of our world. In the following we will discuss the possibility of studying this unusual state through the emission of pions, eta-mesons, and eta'-mesons. We will also present the spectrum of the produced particles in this non-zero theta background. We use the instantaneous perturbation theory for our estimates.