Properties of Exotic Matter for Heavy Ion Searches

Abstract

We examine the properties of both forms of strange matter, small lumps of strange quark matter (strangelets) and of strange hadronic matter (Metastable Exotic Multihypernuclear Objects: MEMOs) and their relevance for present and future heavy ion searches. The strong and weak decays are discussed separately to distinguish between long-lived and short-lived candidates where the former ones are detectable in present heavy ion experiments while the latter ones in future heavy ion experiments, respectively. We find some long-lived strangelet candidates which are highly negatively charged with a mass to charge ratio like a anti deuteron (M/Z=-2) but masses of A=10 to 16. We predict also many short-lived candidates, both in quark and in hadronic form, which can be highly charged. Purely hyperonic nuclei are bound and have a negative charge while carrying a positive baryon number. We demonstrate also that multiply charmed exotics (charmlets) might be bound and can be produced at future heavy ion colliders.

10 pages, 4 figures, uses IOP style and epsf.sty, to be published in Journal of Physics, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Strangeness in Quark Matter 1997, April 14-18, Thera (Santorini), Hellas. Corrected typos, added comment about bag constants