Sequential Clusterization of Light Nuclei and Hypernuclei in Heavy-Ion Collisions within a Wigner Function Coalescence Framework

Abstract

We investigate the formation of light nuclei and hypernuclei in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=3\mathrm{GeV}$ within a coalescence framework embedded in the microscopic N-body Parton-Hadron-Quantum-Molecular Dynamics (PHQMD) transport model. The Wigner phase-space distributions employed in the coalescence calculation are constructed from realistic $N$-body wave functions obtained by solving the Schrödinger equation in the hyperspherical harmonics formalism, providing a solid and parameter-free description of nuclear clusters and hypernuclei. By comparing calculated rapidity distributions with STAR data, we extract species-dependent coalescence times, revealing a non-universal formation pattern among different clusters. The resulting yields and kinematic distributions of light nuclei and hypernuclei are systematically analyzed and shown to be sensitive to the underlying wave-function structure and formation time. In addition, we explore cluster-nucleon formation channels for $A=4$ systems. These additional channels improve the description of ${}^4\mathrm{He}$ and ${}_{\Lambda }^4\mathrm{H}$ yields and help address the underestimation of $A=4$ cluster production in theoretical approaches. Finally, we provide predictions for heavier hypernuclei, including ${}_{\Lambda }^5\mathrm{He}$ and ${}_{\Lambda \Lambda }^5\mathrm{He}$, which are of interest for future experimental measurements.

13 pages, 13 figures