K meson modification in hot hadronic matter may be detected via φ meson decays

Abstract

We suggest an experimentally detectable signal for K meson modification in hot hadronic matter, produced in high energy collisions. Our estimates show that even at the most dilute stages of matter evolution, at which pion density is as low as 0.1–0.2 fm −3, this effect increases the φ width Γ φ by the factor 2–3. High resolution measurements of the φ width and/or the branching ratio to KK/e +e - modes are sensitive to this effect.