https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-03386-z
Regular Article
A comprehensive study of energy dependence of particle ratios in pp collisions from SPS to LHC energies
1
Key Laboratory of Quark and Lepton Physics (MOE) and Institute of Particle Physics, Central China Normal University, 430079, Wuhan, China
2
Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH), 45650, Islamabad, Pakistan
3
Department of Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University, 44000, Islamabad, Pakistan
4
Institute of High Energy Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
5
Applied Physics Department, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, 44000, Islamabad, Pakistan
Received:
18
March
2022
Accepted:
11
October
2022
Published online:
21
October
2022
A comprehensive study has been performed to estimate the kaon to pion (
/
) and total kaon to total pion (K/
) yield ratios as a function of centre of mass energy in pp collisions at different energies, i.e. 
= 6.3, 17.3, 62.4, 200, 900 GeV, 2.76 TeV, 7 TeV, 13 TeV and 14 TeV using EPOS1.99, EPOS-LHC, HIJING, QGSJETII-03 and Sibyll2.3d model simulations. NA61/SHINE experiment reported that 
yield ratio exhibits rapid changes at the SPS energy range. A horn-like structure appears in 
yield ratio as a function of collision energy. Significant presence of horn in 
/
and 
/
yield ratio is suggested by experimental data at lower energies, which is confirmed by HIJING and EPOS-LHC models. A smooth increase in yield ratio is also seen at higher energies. The model simulations predict similar increase in yield ratio with increasing energies. On the basis of previous available measurements, we also study model predictions of these yield ratios at = 13 and 14 TeV where no data are available. Almost all models suggest a saturation in the yield ratio within statistical fluctuations at these energies except EPOS1.99 and QGSJETII-03 which slightly overpredict the yield ratio. These systematic comparisons are helpful to apply possible constraints on various hadronic event generators to significantly improve the predictions of standard model physics as well as for the understanding of underlying physics mechanisms in high-energy collisions.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
