On the fate of aJ/ψproduced in a nucleus-nucleus collision

We examine the possibility that the J/ψ’s produced in nucleus-nucleus collisions could be subsequently destroyed by the inelastic scatterings that they may undergo as they travel across the hot and dense hadronic matter also present in such collisions. The consequences of such an absorption mechanism are then compared with those of a model of J/ψ suppression based on Debye screening of the binding potential in a quark-gluon plasma. One finds that the two mechanisms differ mainly in the way they affect the J/ψ momentum distribution. Impact-parameter effects are analyzed in terms of a simple geometrical model which fits the gross features of nucleus-nucleus collisions. Detailed results are presented for collisions of ${}_{}{}^{16}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{O}$ and ${}_{}{}^{32}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{S}$ projectiles on ${}_{}{}^{238}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{U}$ and ${}_{}{}^{65}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Cu}$ targets, as well as for ${}_{}{}^{208}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Pb}$ on ${}_{}{}^{208}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Pb}$ collisions. These are compared with available experimental data.