Impact of strong magnetic field, baryon chemical potential, and medium anisotropy on polarization and spin alignment of hadrons

Abstract

The recent observation of global spin polarization of Λ (Λ¯) hyperons and the spin alignment of ϕ and K∗0 vector mesons create remarkable interest in investigating the particle polarization in the relativistic fluid produced in heavy-ion collisions at GeV/TeV energies. Among other sources of spin polarization phenomena, the Debye mass of a medium plays a crucial role in particle polarization. Any modification brought to the effective mass due to the temperature, strong magnetic field (eB), baryonic chemical potential (μB), medium anisotropy (ξ), and vorticity, etc., certainly affects the particle spin polarization. In this work, we explore the global hyperon spin polarization and the spin alignment of vector mesons corresponding to the strong magnetic field, baryonic chemical potential, and medium anisotropy. We find that the degree of spin polarization is flavor-dependent for hyperons. Meanwhile, vector meson spin alignment depends on the hadronization mechanisms of initially polarized quarks and anti-quarks. Medium anisotropy significantly changes the degree of spin polarization compared to the magnetic field and baryon chemical potential. © The Author(s) 2025.