Searching for squeezed particle-antiparticle correlations in high-energy heavy-ion collisions

Abstract

Squeezed correlations of particle-antiparticle pairs were predicted to exist if the hadron masses were modified in the hot and dense medium formed in high energy heavy ion collisions. Although well-established theoretically, they have not yet been observed experimentally. We suggest here a clear method to search for such signal, by analyzing the squeezed correlation functions in terms of measurable quantities. We illustrate this suggestion for simulated phi-phi pairs at RHIC energies.