Speaker
Description
Hyperons, baryons containing at least one strange quark, are pivotal to advancing our understanding of matter under extreme conditions.
They are hypothesized to play a crucial role in the dense cores of neutron stars, where their emergence is expected at densities exceeding nuclear saturation.
Among hyperons, $\Lambda$ hyperons are of particular interest as they have been shown to significantly soften the equation of state (EoS) under the absence of strong repulsive two or three-body forces.
This softening leads to pronounced effects on the maximum mass and radius of neutron stars, introducing discrepancies between observational data and theoretical predictions.
The so-called "hyperon puzzle" is therefore a key topic in nuclear astrophysics.
A deeper comprehension of hyperon-hyperon interactions, is essential to address these challenges.
This study focuses on the production and interaction of $\Lambda$-$\Lambda$ pairs, a doubly strange baryonic system, in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=3.46$ GeV.
Using data from the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES) at GSI, the reaction channel $pp \rightarrow \Lambda \Lambda K^+ K^+$ was analyzed.
As a foundational step, the near-threshold ($\Delta \sqrt{s_{th}} = 0.24$ GeV) production cross-section is determined.
In this talk, I will detail the experimental methods, analysis procedure and share preliminary results on the production cross-section.
Additionally, I will discuss the $\Lambda$-$\Lambda$ momentum correlations derived from the experimental data.
These findings besides providing a such data-point for near-threshold production cross-section of double strangeness, have broader implications for exploring dense baryonic matter, hypernuclear states, and the underlying QCD-driven interactions in extreme astrophysical environments such as neutron star interiors.
