K(892)* resonance production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sNN=200GeV

The short-lived K(892)* resonance provides an efficient tool to probe properties of the hot and dense medium produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We report measurements of K* in sqrt(sNN) = 200 GeV Au+Au and p+p collisions reconstructed via its hadronic decay channels K(892)^{*0}->K\pi and K(892)^{*+/-}->K_S^0\pi^{\pm} using the STAR detector at RHIC. The K^{*0} mass has been studied as function of p_T in minimum bias p+p and central Au+Au collisions. The K* p_T spectra for minimum bias p+p interactions and for Au+Au collisions in different centralities are presented. The K*/K ratios for all centralities in Au+Au collisions are found to be significantly lower than the ratio in minimum bias p+p collisions, indicating the importance of hadronic interactions between chemical and kinetic freeze-outs. The nuclear modification factor of K* at intermediate p_{T} is similar to that of K_{S}^{0}, but different from Lambda. This establishes a baryon-meson effect over a mass effect in the particle production at intermediate p_T (2