Antideuteron and deuteron production in midcentral Pb+Pb collisions at 158A GeV

Abstract

Production of deuterons and antideuterons was studied by the NA49 experiment in the 23.5% most central Pb+Pb collisions at the top CERN Super Proton Synchroton (SPS) energy of √ sNN = 17.3 GeV. Invariant yields for d and d were measured as a function of centrality in the center-of-mass rapidity range −1.2 <y <−0.6. Results for d(d) together with previously published p(p) measurements are discussed in the context of the coalescence model. The coalescence parameters B2 were deduced as a function of transverse momentum pt and collision centrality.