System-size and centrality dependence of charged kaon and pion production in nucleus-nucleus collisions at 40A GeV and 158A GeV beam energy

Measurements of charged pion and kaon production are presented in centrality selected Pb+Pb collisions at 40A GeV and 158A GeV beam energy as well as in semicentral C+C and Si+Si interactions at 40A GeV. Transverse mass spectra, rapidity spectra, and total yields are determined as a function of cent...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Roland, Christof E, Roland, Gunther M
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Physical Society 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76792
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8983-2169
Description
Summary:Measurements of charged pion and kaon production are presented in centrality selected Pb+Pb collisions at 40A GeV and 158A GeV beam energy as well as in semicentral C+C and Si+Si interactions at 40A GeV. Transverse mass spectra, rapidity spectra, and total yields are determined as a function of centrality. The system-size and centrality dependence of relative strangeness production in nucleus-nucleus collisions at 40A GeV and 158A GeV beam energy are derived from the data presented here and from published data for C+C and Si+Si collisions at 158A GeV beam energy. At both energies a steep increase with centrality is observed for small systems followed by a weak rise or even saturation for higher centralities. This behavior is compared to calculations using transport models (ultra-relativistic quantum molecular dynamics and hadron-string dynamics), a percolation model, and the core-corona approach.