Deuteron production in AuAu collisions at sNN =7-200 GeV via pion catalysis

Abstract

We study deuteron production using no-coalescence hydrodynamic + transport simulations of central AuAu collisions at sNN=7-200 GeV. Deuterons are sampled thermally at the transition from hydrodynamics to transport and interact in transport dominantly via πpn↔πd reactions. The measured proton, lambda, and deuteron transverse momentum spectra and yields are reproduced well for all collision energies considered. We further provide a possible explanation for the measured minimum in the energy dependence of the coalescence parameter B2(sNN) as well as for the difference between B2(d) for deuterons and that for antideuterons, B2(d¯).