Identified charged-hadron production in p+Al, He 3 +Au, and Cu+Au collisions at sNN =200 GeV and in U+ U collisions at sNN =193 GeV

The PHENIX experiment has performed a systematic study of identified charged-hadron (π±, K±, p, p¯) production at midrapidity in p+Al, He3+Au, and Cu+Au collisions at sNN=200GeV and U+U collisions at sNN=193GeV. Identified charged-hadron invariant transverse-momentum (pT) and transverse-mass (mT) spectra are presented and interpreted in terms of radially expanding thermalized systems. The particle ratios of K/π and p/π have been measured in different centrality ranges of large (Cu+Au and U+U) and small (p+Al and He3+Au) collision systems. The values of K/π ratios measured in all considered collision systems were found to be consistent with those measured in p+p collisions. However, the values of p/π ratios measured in large collision systems reach the values of ≈0.6, which is a factor of ≈2 larger than in p+p collisions. These results can be qualitatively understood in terms of the baryon enhancement expected from hadronization by recombination. Identified charged-hadron nuclear-modification factors (RAB) are also presented. Enhancement of proton RAB values over meson RAB values was observed in central He3+Au, Cu+Au, and U+U collisions. The proton RAB values measured in the p+Al collision system were found to be consistent with RAB values of φ, π±, K±, and π0 mesons, which may indicate that the size of the system produced in p+Al collisions is too small for recombination to cause a noticeable increase in proton production. © 2024 American Physical Society.