Antideuteron yield and coalescence implications at the AGS

Abstract

We present the preliminary results of Experiment 864's search for antideuterons in 11.5 GeV/c per nucleon Au + Pt collisions at the AGS. The data represents 14 billion 10% central interactions selectively triggered for events with high mass candidates. Antideuteron invariant yields are found to be 3.5 ± 1.5( stat.) +0.9 −0.5( sys.) × 10 −8 GeV −2 c 2 in the rapidity range between y = 1.8 and 2.2 ( y cm = 1.6) for 〈 p t 〉= 0.35 GeV/c and 3.7±2.7( stat.) +1.4 −1.5( sys.) × 10 −8 GeV −2 c 2 between rapidities y = 1.4 and 1.8 at 〈 p t 〉= 0.26 GeV/c. These yields, along with E864 antiproton measurements, lead to a most probable value for the coalescence factor B 2 of 4.1 ± 2.9( stat.) +2.3 −2.4( sys.) × 10 −3 GeV −2 c 3 after correcting antiproton yields for antihyperon feeddown contributions. Implications for the coalescence model and antimatter annihilation from an antideuteron measurement are also discussed.