Sub-threshold charm production in nuclear collisions

Abstract

We present the first predictions for sub-threshold open charm and charmonium production in nuclear collisions. The production mechanism is driven by multistep scatterings of nucleons and their resonance states, accumulating sufficient energy for the production of $J/\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Psi}}$, ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}}_{c}+\overline{D}$, and $D+\overline{D}$. Our results are of particular importance for the CBM experiment at FAIR, as they indicate that already at the SIS100 accelerator one can expect a significant number of charmed hadrons to be produced. This opens new possibilities to explore charm dynamics and the formation of charmed nuclei.