Di-jet correlation in Au+Au and Cu+Cu Collisions from PHENIX

PHENIX has measured the two-particle azimuth correlation in Au+Au at √s=200 GeV. Jet shape and yield at the away side are found to be strongly modified at intermediate and low p _T, and the modifications vary dramatically with p _T and centrality. At high p _T, away side jet peak reappears but the yield is suppressed. Similar jet strength is found for Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions with similar number of participant nucleons.     

Charged hadron suppression in Au+Au collisions at high p T from STAR

We report high statistics measurements of inclusive charged hadron production in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200$ GeV and 130 GeV. A large, approximately constant hadron suppression is observed in central Au+Au collisions for 5 ‖p _T ‖ 12 GeV/c. The collision energy dependence of the yields and the centrality and p _T dependence of the suppression provide stringent constraints on theoretical models of suppression. Models incorporating initial-state gluon saturation or partonic energy loss in dense matter are largely consistent with observations. The p _T -dependent suppression expected from models incorporating jet attenuation in cold nuclear matter or absorption of fragmentation hadrons is not observed.     

Direct photons measured by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC

Results from the PHENIX experiment at RHIC on direct photon production in p+p, d+Au, and Au+Au collisions at  =200 GeV are presented. In p+p collisions, direct photon production at high p_T behaves as expected from perturbative QCD calculations. The p+p measurement serves as a baseline for direct photon production in Au+Au collisions. In d+Au collisions, no effects of cold nuclear matter are found within the large uncertainty of the measurement. In Au+Au collisions, the production of high p_T direct photons scales as expected for particle production in hard scatterings. This supports jet quenching models, which attribute the suppression of high p_T hadrons to the energy loss of fast partons in the medium produced in the collision. Low p_T direct photons, measured via e⁺e^- pairs with small invariant mass, are possibly related to the production of thermal direct photons.     

Energy and system size dependence of charged hadron transverse momentum spectra from Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at √S NN =62.4 and 200 GeV

The PHOBOS Collaboration has measured transverse momentum distributions of charged hadrons produced in Cu+Cu collisions at √s _NN =200 and 62.4 GeV. The nuclear modification factor R _AA ^N _part is calculated relative to p+p data at both collision energies as a function of collision centrality. For the same number of participating nucleons, R _AA ^N _part is essentially the same in both systems over the full range of p Tthat is measured. In addition, we observe that within experimental uncertainties, the ratio of 200 GeV to 62.4 GeV Cu+Cu yields has only a moderate centrality dependence and is consistent with the value previously measured in Au+Au collisions for a broad range of p _T.     

Azimuthal correlations with high-pT multi-hadron cluster triggers in Au+Au collisions at ?{sNN } \sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200 GeV from STAR

Di-hadron correlation measurements have been used to probe di-jet production in heavy ion collisions at RHIC. A strong suppression of the away-side high-p _T yield in these measurements is direct evidence that high-p _T partons lose energy as they traverse the strongly interacting medium. However, since the momentum of the trigger particle is not a good measure of the jet energy, azimuthal di-hadron correlations have limited sensitivity to the shape of the fragmentation function. We explore the possibility to better constrain the initial parton energy by using clusters of multiple high-p _T hadrons in a narrow cone as the ‘trigger particle’ in the azimuthal correlation analysis. We present first results from this analysis of multi-hadron triggered correlated yields in Au+Au collisions at $ \sqrt {s_{NN} } $ \sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200 GeV from STAR. The results are compared with measurements in d + Au collisions and Pythia calculations, and the implications for energy loss and jet fragmentation are discussed.     

Neutral transverse momentum spectra in 60 and 200A·GeV16O+nucleus and proton+nucleus reactions

Transverse momentum (p _T) distributions fo inclusive photons and neutral pions at midrapidity are measured with a lead glass calorimeter in 60 and are measured with a lead glass calorimeter in 60 and 200A·Gev¹⁶O+nucleus and and proton+nucleus reactions. Inclusive photon distributions are compared for central and peripheral reactions. The degree of centrality is determined either from the charged particle multiplicity or from the remaining projectile energy in the forward direction. Deviations from a nucleus+nucleus interaction model based upon linear extrapolation from p+p reactions are observed in central¹⁶O+Au data. The variation of theaverage transverse momentum is investigated as function of centrality. The target-mass and energy dependence of π⁰ p _T distributions are presented. For¹⁶O+Au a change of slope in these distributions is observed atp _t ≈0.8 GeV/c compatible with hydrodynamic expansion models.     

Diagnostics of hot dense matter produced in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

We study, in a pQCD calculation augmented by nuclear effects, the jet energy loss needed to reproduce the measured π ⁰ spectra in Au+Au collisions at large p _T , measured by PHENIX at RHIC at $\sqrt s = 200$ AGeV. Averaged energy loss obtained in the GLV formalism is applied in our recent calculation based on NLO pQCD (including shadowing and multiscattering). The method of jet tomography is capable to measure the opacity of the produced hot dense matter at RHIC energy in heavy ion collisions.     

Near-side high-p T correlations: the ridge

An overview of results on near-side high-p _T triggered correlations in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC energy is presented. These correlations reveal a novel, long-range pseudo-rapidity correlation, commonly referred to as the ridge which is not present in p+p or d+Au collisions. The centrality, collision system, energy, transverse momentum, path length dependence as well as particle composition of the ridge will be discussed and compared with the properties of the jet-like component at near side. The data are also confronted with theoretical calculations.     

Large observed v 2 as a signature for deconfinement

We present a new plot for representing R _AA(ø) data that emphasizes the strong correlation between high-p _η suppression and its elliptic anisotropy. We demonstrate that existing models cannot reproduce the centrality dependence of this correlation. Modification of a geometric energy loss model to include thermal absorption and stimulated emission can match the trend of the data, but requires dN _g/dy values inconsistent with the observed multiplicity. By including a small, outward-normal directed surface impulse opposing energy loss, $\Delta p_ \bot \hat n$ , one can account for the centrality dependence of the observed Au+Au elliptic quench pattern. We also present predictions for Cu+Cu reactions.     

Characteristics of charged particle production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Inclusive spectra of charged particles at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 130$ GeV and 200 GeV were measured with the STAR detector at RHIC. The measured mean transverse momentum 〈p _T 〉 shows a characteristic dependence on charged particle multiplicity and beam energy in Au+Au collisions that is distinctly different from pp, $p\bar p$ and e⁺e^? collisions. A 32%±3%(syst) increase in 〈p _T 〉 from pp to Au+Au collisions was observed at 200 GeV. While the charged multiplicity was found to increase by 19%±5%(syst) from $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 130$ GeV to 200 GeV, no significant difference in 〈p _T 〉 was found between the two energies. A comparison with model predictions is discussed.     

Heavy quark results from STAR

I report the most recent measurements on open heavy flavor production at RHIC on behalf of the STAR collaboration. The total charm production cross section in midrapidity at RHIC energy is found to approximately scale by number of binary collisions in d + Au, Cu + Cu and Au + Au collisions. The nuclear modification factor of non-photonic electrons is strongly suppressed in central Au + Au collisions, suggesting substantial heavy quark energy loss at RHIC. The bottom decay contribution to non-photonic electrons was studied via the e–h and e–D ⁰ azimuthal angular correlations. The bottom contribution is found to be important at p _T >5 GeV/c, and is consistent with the FONLL calculation within uncertainties. Charm production through gluon jet splitting was measured by studying the D ^*± contents in the fully reconstructed jets in p+p collisions. This rate is consistent with pQCD evaluation of gluon splitting into a pair of charm quarks and subsequent hadronization.     

Jet quenching and elliptic flow

In jet quenching, a hard QCD parton, before fragmenting into a jet of hadrons, deposits a fraction of its energy in the medium, leading to suppressed production of high-pT$p_T$ hadrons. Assuming that the deposited energy quickly thermalizes, we simulate the subsequent hydrodynamic evolution of the QGP fluid. Explicit simulation of Au + Au collision with and without a quenching jet indicate that elliptic flow is greatly reduced in a jet event. The result can be used to identify the jet events in heavy ion collisions.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">J</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">ψ</Emphasis> suppression and <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis></Subscript> spectra in RHIC and LHC energy collisions

In a hydrodynamic model, we have studied J/ψ production in Au+Au/Cu+Cu collisions at RHIC energy, GeV. At the initial time, J/ψ’s are randomly distributed in the fluid. As the fluid evolves in time, the free streaming J/ψ’s are dissolved if the local fluid temperature exceeds a threshold temperature T _J/ψ . Sequential melting of charmonium states (χ _c , ψ ^′ and J/ψ), with melting temperatures , T _J/ψ ≈2T _c and feed-down fraction F≈0.3, explains the PHENIX data on the centrality dependence of J/ψ suppression in Au+Au collisions. J/ψ p _T spectra and the nuclear modification factor in Au+Au collisions are also well explained in the model. The model however overpredicts the centrality dependence of J/ψ suppression in Cu+Cu collisions by 20–30%. The J/ψ p _T spectra are underpredicted by 20–30%. The model predicts that in central Pb+Pb collisions at LHC energy,  GeV, J/ψ’s are suppressed by a factor of ∼10. The model predicted a J/ψ p _T distribution in Pb+Pb collisions at LHC is similar to that in Au+Au collisions at RHIC.     

High-pT spectra of charged hadrons in Au + Au collisions at √sNN = 9.2 GeV in STAR

The production of hadrons in heavy-ion collisions at high-p _T provides an important information on mechanism of particle formation and constituent energy loss in medium. Such information is needed for search of a Critical Point and signatures of phase transition. Measurements by the STAR Collaboration of charged hadron production in Au + Au collisions at √s _NN = 9.2 GeV over a wide transverse momentum p _T = 0.2−4 GeV/c and at mid-rapidity range are reported. It allows for a first measurement of the spectra for charged hadrons at high p _T at this energy. The spectra demonstrate the dependence on centrality which enhances with p _T . The constituent energy loss and its dependence on transverse momentum of particle, and centrality of collisions are estimated in the z-scaling approach.     

Dielectron measurements during heavy ion collisions at \sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200 GeV in the PHENIX experiment at RIHC

The production of dielectron pairs is measured in PHENIX experiment during p + p, d + Au, Cu + Cu, and Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} }$ = 200 GeV. In the mass region between φ and J/ψ mesons, the yield is consistent with expectations from correlated production. In the mass region below φ mesons, the p + p and d+ Au spectra are well described by known contributions from light meson decays. In contrast, the Au + Au minimum bias spectrum in this region is enhanced by a factor of 4.7, concentrated at low p _T < 1.5 GeV/s and rapidly rising with centrality. Existing theoretical models cannot describe the observed enhancement.     

Transverse momenta of high-η charged particles emitted in Au+Au collisions

This work demonstrates that the mean transverse momentum of charged particles at large pseudo-rapidities can be reliably derived from measurements of the complete charged-particle multiplicity distributions and using information from measurements of p _T spectra at mid-rapidity by applying energy conservation requirements. As an example, the mean p _T of charged particles emitted at η=4.6 is found to be 〈p _T 〉=0.305 GeV/c for the 0–3% most central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 130$ GeV.     

Beam-energy and system-size dependence of dynamical net charge fluctuations

We present measurements of net charge fluctuations in Au + Au collisions at ?{s_NN }\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 19.6, 62.4, 130, and 200 GeV, Cu + Cu collisions at ?{s_NN }\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 62.4, 200 GeV, and p + p collisions at ?s\sqrt s = 200 GeV using the net charge dynamical fluctuations measure ν+ −,dyn. The dynamical fluctuations are non-zero at all energies and exhibit a rather modest dependence on beam energy. We find that at a given energy and collision system, net charge dynamical fluctuations violate 1/N _ch scaling, but display approximate 1/N _part scaling. We observe strong dependence of dynamical fluctuations on the azimuthal angular range and pseudorapidity widths.     

Novel jet quenching observables in heavy ion collisions at the LHC

We discuss such novel jet quenching observables at the LHC as direct measurements of medium-modified jet fragmentation function, nuclear modification factor and azimuthal anisotropy for jets with finite cone size and p _T -imbalance for dimuon tagged jets. The corresponding predictions obtained with PYQUEN partonic energy loss model are presented.     

Nuclear k T in d+Au collisions from multi-particle jet reconstruction at STAR

This paper presents the most recent nuclear k _T measurements from STAR derived from multi-particle jet reconstruction of d+Au and p+p collisions at √s=200 GeV. Since jets reconstructed from multiple particles are relatively free of fragmentation biases, nuclear k _Tcan be measured with greater certainty in this way than with traditional di-hadron correlations. Multiparticle jet reconstruction can also be used for a direct measurement of the fragmentation function.