Statistical hadronization of heavy flavor quarks in elementary collisions: successes and failures

Understand

We analyze recently compiled data on the production of open heavy flavor hadrons and quarkonia in e+e- as well as pp and p-nucleus collisions in terms of the statistical hadronization model.

• Within this approach the production of open heavy flavor hadrons is well described with parameters deduced from a thermal analysis of light flavor hadron production.
• In contrast, quarkonium production in such collisions cannot be described in this framework.
• We point out the relevance of this finding for our understanding of quarkonium production in ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions.