Meson $m_T$-scaling in heavy-ion collisions at SIS energies

Abstract

We perform systematical studies on transverse-mass spectra of $\pi^0$, $\eta$, $\omega$, $\phi$, $K^+$ and $K^-$ mesons for C + C, Ni + Ni, Au + Au collisions at SIS energies within the HSD transport approach. We find that the $m_T$-spectra sensitively reflect the in-medium properties of the mesons. The 'bare mass' scenario leads to a general scaling behaviour for the meson $m_T$-spectra when including a mass shift due to the associate strangeness production threshold for kaons and antikaons whereas a 'dropping' mass scheme violates this $m_T$-scaling. The relative slope parameters, however, provide valuable information about the average meson potentials in the nuclear medium.