Reduction of the $K^*$ meson abundance in heavy ion collisions

Understand

We study the $K^*$ meson reduction in heavy ion collisions by focusing on the hadronic effects on the $K^*$ meson abundance.

• We evaluate the absorption cross sections of the $K^*$ and $K$ meson by light mesons in the hadronic matter, and further investigate the variation in the meson abundances for both particles during the hadronic stage of heavy ion collisions.
• We show how the interplay between the interaction of the $K^*$ meson and kaon with light mesons in the hadronic medium determines the final yield difference of the statistical hadronization model to the experimental measurements.
• For the central Au+Au collision at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV, we find that the $K^*/K$ yield ratio at chemical freeze-out decreases by $36\%$ during the expansion of the hadronic matter, resulting in the final ratio comparable to STAR measurements of 0.23 $\pm0.05$.