Strange particle effective temperatures in relativistic nuclear collisions.

The energy dependence of the effective temperatures of charged kaons, ϕ and Ω produced in Au + Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) Beam Energy Scan (BES) energies are presented. At energies around s N N ∼ 8 GeV, there is a sudden change in the energy dependence of K ± and ϕ effective temperatures, while at higher energies a slower, continuous rise up to s N N = 2. 7 6 TeV is observed. This behavior is similar with previous SPS results and could indicate the onset of deconfinement in this energy range. The Ω effective temperatures increase with energy and no plateau-like behavior is evidenced by the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]