Production of light nuclei at colliders -- coalescence vs. thermal model

Understand

The production of light nuclei in relativistic heavy-ion collisions is well described by both the thermal model, where light nuclei are in equilibrium with hadrons of all species present in a fireball, and by the coalescence model, where light nuclei are formed due to final-state interactions after the fireball decays.

• We present and critically discuss the two models and further on we consider two proposals to falsify one of the models.
• The first proposal is to measure a yield of exotic nuclide $^4{\rm Li}$ and compare it to that of $^4{\rm He}$.
• The ratio of yields of the nuclides is quite different in the thermal and coalescence models.