Vector mesons in medium

Abstract

After decades-long attempts to measure the mass shift and understand the origin of hadron mass, it became clear that one has to analyze hadrons with small vacuum width. Also, to identify the effect of chiral symmetry breaking, one has to start by looking at chiral partners. Such considerations inevitably points to studying K ∗ and K 1 in matter. The masses of both particles can potentially be measured from nuclear target based experiments and/or heavy ion collisions. Once the masses and mass difference of K ∗ and K 1 mesons are measured, we will be closer to understanding the origin of hadron mass and the effects of chiral symmetry breaking. We will review the topic using the operator product expansion (OPE) perspective.