Study of clusters and hypernuclei production with the NICA/MPD experiment

Abstract

Heavy-ion collisions provide the unique possibility to create and investigate hot and dense matter in the laboratory. At the initial stage of the reaction a QGP is formed, while the final stage is driven by the hadronization process and the formation of clusters. The capture of the produced hyperons by clusters of nucleons leads to the hypernuclei formation which is a very rare process at strangeness threshold energies. We report on the first results on the dynamical modeling of cluster formation with the combined PHSD + SACA (Parton–Hadron–Strings dynamics + Simulated Annealing Clusterization Algorithm) model at Nuclotron and NICA energies. The clusters selection in SACA is realized by a simulated annealing procedure to obtain the most bound configuration of fragments and nucleons. Based on present predictions of the combined model we study the possibility to detect such clusters and hypernuclei in the NICA/MPD detector.