In-medium modification of J/$psi; break-up cross sections

Abstract

The in-medium modification of J/ψ break-up cross sections due to the hadronic Mott effect for light (π,ρ) and open-charmed (D,D∗) quark–antiquark bound states at the chiral/deconfinement phase transition is discussed. The spectral broadening of these mesons lowers the threshold for J/ψ break-up reactions leading to a step-like enhancement in the reaction rate. This mechanism for enhanced J/ψ dissociation is suggested as the physical mechanism underlying the anomalous J/ψ suppression observed by the NA50 experiment.