Production of deuterium, tritium, and He3 in central Pb + Pb collisions at 20A,30A,40A,80A , and 158A GeV at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron

Production of d, t, and ³He nuclei in central Pb + Pb interactions was studied at five collision energies (√s_NN= 6.3, 7.6, 8.8, 12.3, and 17.3 GeV) with the NA49 detector at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron.Transverse momentum spectra, rapidity distributions, and particle ratios were measured. Yields are compared to predictions of statistical models. Phase-space distributions of light nuclei are discussed and compared to those of protons in the context of a coalescence approach. Finally, the coalescence parameters B ₂ and B ₃, as well as coalescence radii for d and ³He were determined as a function of transverse mass at all energies.