A1 Journal article (refereed)
Experimental Evidence for an Attractive p−ϕ Interaction (2021)

ALICE Collaboration. (2021). Experimental Evidence for an Attractive p−ϕ Interaction. Physical Review Letters, 127(17), Article 172301. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.172301

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: ALICE Collaboration

Journal or series: Physical Review Letters

ISSN: 0031-9007

eISSN: 1079-7114

Publication year: 2021

Volume: 127

Issue number: 17

Article number: 172301

Publisher: American Physical Society

Publication country: United States

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.172301

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/79114

Web address of parallel published publication (pre-print): https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.05578

Abstract

This Letter presents the first experimental evidence of the attractive strong interaction between a proton and a ϕ meson. The result is obtained from two-particle correlations of combined p−ϕ⊕¯p−ϕ pairs measured in high-multiplicity pp collisions at √s=13 TeV by the ALICE Collaboration. The spin-averaged scattering length and effective range of the p−ϕ interaction are extracted from the fully corrected correlation function employing the Lednický-Lyuboshits approach. In particular, the imaginary part of the scattering length vanishes within uncertainties, indicating that inelastic processes do not play a prominent role for the p−ϕ interaction. These data demonstrate that the interaction is dominated by elastic p−ϕ scattering. Furthermore, an analysis employing phenomenological Gaussian- and Yukawa-type potentials is conducted. Under the assumption of the latter, the N−ϕ coupling constant is found to be gN−ϕ=0.14±0.03(stat)±0.02(syst). This work provides valuable experimental input to accomplish a self-consistent description of the N−ϕ interaction, which is particularly relevant for the more fundamental studies on partial restoration of chiral symmetry in nuclear medium.

Keywords: particle physics; strong interaction

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2021

JUFO rating: 3