Non Identical strange particle correlations in Au-Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 200 GeV from the STAR experiment

Abstract

Information about the space-time evolution of colliding nuclei can be extracted correlating particles emitted from nuclear collisions. The high density of particles produced in the STAR experiment allows the measurement of non-identical strange particle correlations. Due to the absence of Coulomb interaction, $p-\Lambda$ and $\bar{p}-\Lambda$ systems are more sensitive to the source size than $p-p$ pairs. Strong interaction potential has been studied using $p-\Lambda$, and for the first time, $\bar{p}-\Lambda$ pairs. The experimental correlation functions have been described in the frame of a model based on the $p-n$ interaction. The first preliminary measurement of $\pi$ - $\Xi$ correlations has been performed, allowing to extract information about the freeze-out time and the space-time asymmetries in particle emission closely related to the transverse radial expansion and decay of resonances.

3 pages, 3 figures, contribution to proceedings of the Second Warsaw Meeting on Particle Correlations and Resonances in Heavy Ion Collisions, Warsaw 15-18 Oct 2003, to be published in Nucleonica