Extending the ALICE strong-interaction studies to nuclei: measurement of proton-deuteron correlations in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV

Abstract

Motivation ▪ Proton-deuteron (p-d) interaction: Three-nucleon system: doorway to test three-body forces. p-d interaction is constrained with scattering experiments. ▪ Formation mechanism of light (anti)nuclei is still under debate in the scientific community: Two models are employed to describe (anti)deuteron spectra and yields: Statistical Hadronisation Model1,2 and Coalescence Model3. No test of the (anti)deuteron formation time so far! ▪ Femtoscopy correlation: probes the interaction and the source size for proton-deuteron pairs.