Strange Particle Production and Elliptic Flow from CERES

Abstract

Elliptic flow measurements as a function of p_T of charged (pi^+- and low-p_T protons) and strange (Lambda and K^0_S) particles from Pb+Au collisions at 158 AGeV/c are presented, together with measurements of phi and K^0_S meson production. A mass ordering effect was observed. Scaling to the number of constituent quarks and transverse rapidity y^fs_T scaling are presented. The results are compared with results from the NA49 and STAR experiments and with hydrodynamical calculations. For the first time in heavy-ion collisions, phi mesons were reconstructed in the same experiment both in the K^+K^- and in the e^+e^- decay channels. The obtained transverse mass distributions of phi mesons are compared with results from the NA49 and NA50 experiments. The yield and the inverse slope parameter of the K^0_S mesons were reconstructed from two independent analyses. Our results are compared with those from the NA49 and NA57 experiments.