J/psi suppression in nuclear collisions at SPS energies

We have carried out a first calculation of J/Psi production from nuclear collisions within the covariant transport approach HSD, which has been very successful in describing both hadronic and electromagnetic observables from heavy-ion collisions at intermediate and high energies. The production of J/Psi is based on the Lund string fragmentation model, while its interactions with hadrons are included by conventional cascade-type two-body collisions. Adopting 6 mb for the J/Psi-baryon cross sections and 3 mb for the J/Psi-meson cross sections above the DD threshold, we find that data on J/Psi suppression from both proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions (including Pb + Pb) can be described without assuming the formation of a quark-gluon plasma in these collisions. In particular, mesons are found to absorb half the J/Psi's in nucleus-nucleus collisions. The smaller absorption by nucleons compared to that found in the Glauber model analysis is due to the finite hadron formation time included in the transport approach. However, an appreciable volume of the hadronic matter in which J/Psi's are absorbed is found to have an energy density which may be above that for the transition to a quark-gluon plasma. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.