Abstract
The production rate of mesons relative to mesons is measured by the LHCb experiment in collisions at a center-of-mass energy over the forward rapidity interval as a function of the charged particle multiplicity measured in the event. Evidence at the level is found for an increase of the ratio of to cross sections with multiplicity at transverse momenta below , with no significant multiplicity dependence at higher transverse momentum. Comparison with data from collisions implies that the density of the hadronic medium may affect the production rates of mesons. This is qualitatively consistent with the emergence of quark coalescence as an additional hadronization mechanism in high-multiplicity collisions.
- Received 28 April 2022
- Revised 24 September 2022
- Accepted 20 January 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.061901
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