φmesons from a hadronic fireball

Production of $\phi$ mesons is considered in the course of heavy-ion collisions at SPS energies. We investigate the possible difference in momentum distributions of $\phi$ mesons measured via their leptonic $\left({\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}\right)$ and hadronic ${(K}^{+}{K}^{-})$ decays. Rescattering of secondary kaons in the dense hadron gas together with the influence of in-medium kaon potential can lead to a relative decrease of the $\phi$ yield observed in the hadronic channel. We analyze how the in-medium modifications of meson properties affect apparent, reconstructed momentum distributions of $\phi$ mesons. Quantitative results are presented for central Pb+Pb collisions at $E_{\mathrm{beam}}=158\mathrm{}\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/\mathrm{n}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{n}.$