A study of lambda baryon production in $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV Au+Au and $p$+$p$ collisions at PHENIX

The lambda baryon is particularly useful in our study of the properties of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). As a baryon, the lambda will allow us to refine our understanding of hadronization mechanisms. Additionally, the strangeness content of the lambda baryon makes it an excellent probe of the relative differences in strange quark production observed in Au+Au and $p$+$p$ collisions. We present the lambda baryon spectra as a function of transverse momentum $p_T$ and centrality class for $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV Au+Au collisions and for $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV $p$+$p$ collisions, as well as how they relate to one another. In Au+Au collisions we report spectra for 1~GeV/c~$