Production of multi-charmed hadrons by recombination in heavy ion collisions

Abstract

We study the production of multi-charmed hadrons by recombination in heavy ion collisions by focusing on the production of $Ξ_{cc}$, $Ξ_{cc}^*$, $Ω_{scc}$, $Ω_{scc}^*$, $Ω_{ccc}$ baryons and X(3872) mesons. Starting from the estimation of yields for those hadrons at chemical freeze-out in both the statistical and coalescence model, we evaluate their transverse momentum distributions at mid-rapidity in the coalescence model. We show that yields of multi-charmed hadrons in heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC are large enough, and thereby not only multi-charmed hadrons observed so far, e.g., the $Ξ_{cc}$ but also those which have not been observed yet, can be discovered sufficiently in heavy ion collisions. We also find that the transverse momentum distribution ratio between various multi-charmed hadrons sensitively reflects the interplay between quark contents of corresponding hadrons as well as the transverse momentum distribution of charm quarks at the hadronization point, and therefore we insist that studying both the transverse momentum distributions of multi-charmed hadrons themselves and transverse momentum distribution ratios between various multi-charmed hadrons provide us with useful information on hadron production mechanism involving charm quarks in heavy ion collisions.