Accessing exotic hadronic states via charmed-meson femtoscopy in relativistic heavy-ion collisions
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The two-particle correlation function measured in femtoscopic analyses provides access to the interaction potentials between emitted particles. This offers a unique opportunity to investigate interactions among charmed mesons and to explore the nature of possible exotic hadronic states. In this Letter, we study femtoscopic correlations of various charmed-meson pairs in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The dynamical evolution of the system and charm hadron production are described within the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, while the correlation functions are computed using the Correlation Analysis Tool using the Schrödinger equation (CATS). We demonstrate that heavy-ion collisions provide a significantly more favorable environment than $pp$ collisions for accessing charmed meson femtoscopic correlations. This arises from enhanced charm-quark production, reduced relative momenta due to in-medium energy loss, and a strong suppression of initial-state correlations. Our results indicate that femtoscopic measurements in heavy-ion collisions offer a sensitive probe of charmed meson interactions and possible hadronic molecular states.
Source: Physical Review C
DOI: 10.1103/8tx7-w52f
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7163061094