<Emphasis Type="Italic">γ</Emphasis>–hadron correlation measurements to study jets fragmentation with ALICE at LHC

The possibility to study the fragmentation function of jets with energies below 50 GeV, which cannot be reconstructed in the heavy-ion environment, is explored. We propose to measure the imbalance distribution between prompt photon and charged hadrons with the ALICE experiment at LHC. In the present article, the case of proton–proton collisions at  TeV is examined with Monte-Carlo simulations. Performances for prompt photon identification and rejection of the π ⁰ decay photons are presented. We find that the measurement in proton–proton is meaningful with respect to statistical and systematic errors for photon energies larger than 20 GeV.     

Jet properties from two-particle azimuthal correlations in d+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =200 GeV at STAR

We present measurements of azimuthal correlations between photons (from π⁰ decay) and charged hadrons in d+Au collisions at  =200 GeV. We use di-hadron correlations to study parton fragmentation in d+Au collisions at RHIC. Specifically, the near-side and away-side peaks of the azimuthal angular difference distribution are used to measure the root-mean-squared (RMS) fragmentation transverse momentum and the mean intrinsic parton transverse momentum . The measurements with leading photons are compared to results using leading charged particles. PACS  25.75.-q     

Colour reconnection in e+e– → W+W–at {\sqrt s } =180–209 GeV

The effects of the final state interaction phenomenon known as colour reconnection are investigated at centre-of-mass energies in the range ≃ 189–209 using the OPAL detector at LEP. Colour reconnection is expected to affect observables based on charged particles in hadronic decays of . Measurements of inclusive charged particle multiplicities, and of their angular distribution with respect to the four jet axes of the events, are used to test models of colour reconnection. The data are found to exclude extreme scenarios of the Sj?strand-Khoze Type I () model and are compatible with other models, both with and without colour reconnection effects. In the context of the model, the best agreement with data is obtained for a reconnection probability of 37%. Assuming no colour reconnection, the charged particle multiplicity in hadronically decaying W bosons is measured to be =19.38±0.05(stat.)±0.08(syst.). Arrival of the final proofs: 28 November 2005     

The performance of the jet identification and reconstruction in heavy ions collisions with CMS detector

A jet reconstruction algorithm is developed for events with a high particle density in the calorimetric system. The performance of the reconstruction of hard QCD jets with initial parton energies 50–300 GeV is studied in central Pb–Pb collisions with a modified cone jet finder which includes an algorithm for event-by-event background subtraction. The heavy ion background is simulated using the HIJING Monte Carlo generator with . Results on the achieved jet reconstruction efficiency, purity, energy and spatial resolution are presented.     

Search for the onset of baryon anomaly at RHIC-PHENIX

The baryon production mechanism at the intermediate p_T (2–5 GeV/c) at RHIC is still not well understood. The beam energy scan data in Cu+Cu and Au+Au systems at RHIC may provide us a further insight on the origin of the baryon anomaly and its evolution as a function of . In 2005 RHIC physics program, the PHENIX experiment accumulated the first intensive low beam energy data in Cu+Cu collisions. We present the preliminary results of identified charged hadron spectra in Cu+Cu at and 62.4 GeV using the PHENIX detector. The centrality and beam energy dependences of (anti)proton to pion ratios and the nuclear modification factors for charged pions and (anti)protons are presented. PACS 25.75.Dw     

Study of photon-tagged jet events in high-energy heavy ion collisions with CMS

The energy loss of fast partons traversing the strongly interacting matter produced in high energy nuclear collisions is one of the most interesting observables to probe the nature of the produced medium. The collisional and radiative energy loss of the partons will modify the fragmentation functions depending on the path length in the medium. Pb + Pb collisions at  GeV at the LHC will allow detailed measurements of the in-medium modifications of fragmentation functions of parton initiated jets, using the γ-jet channel. Since the photon does not strongly interact with the medium, the initial transverse energy of the fragmenting parton can be related to the photon transverse energy. This in turn allows for precision studies of the fragmentation function underlying these jets.     

Exploring the LHC medium with direct photons

Heavy-ion collisions will enter a new era with the start of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). A first short run with proton-proton collisions at the injection energy of 0.9 TeV will be followed by a longer one with pp collisions at 10 TeV. First Pb-Pb collisions at  TeV will take place in 2009. Three experiments (ALICE, ATLAS, and CMS) will study both pp and Pb-Pb collisions. A selection of results showing the capabilities of the three experiments for the study of the LHC medium with direct photons is presented.     

Signals of universality violation in e<Superscript>+</Superscript>e<Superscript>-</Superscript> collisions

We examine distributions of leptons produced in e⁺e^- collisions, by a family nonuniversal extra gauge boson Z^′, suggested by the model, and by other neutral gauge bosons occurring in left–right symmetric models and in superstring-inspired E₆ models. We discuss how to distinguish the models by examining the couplings to fermions of the extra Z-boson through its leptonic production cross sections and asymmetries. We show how the universality violation inherent in the model enhances the discovery potential of Z^′ at future planned and proposed e⁺e^- colliders.     

Causal viscous hydrodynamics for central heavy-ion collisions II: meson spectra and HBT radii

Causal viscous hydrodynamic fits to experimental data for pion and kaon transverse momentum spectra from central Au + Au collisions at are presented. Starting the hydrodynamic evolution at 1 fm/c and using small values for the relaxation time, reasonable fits up to moderate ratios, η/s≃0.4, can be obtained. It is found that a percentage of roughly 50 η/s to 75 η/s of the final meson multiplicity is due to viscous entropy production. Finally, it is shown that with increasing viscosity, the ratio of HBT radii R_out/R_side approaches and eventually matches the experimental data.     

Medium-modified average multiplicity and multiplicity fluctuations in jets

The energy evolution of average multiplicities and multiplicity fluctuations in jets produced in heavy-ion collisions is investigated from a toy QCD-inspired model. In this model, we use modified splitting functions accounting for medium-enhanced radiation of gluons by a fast parton which propagates through the quark–gluon plasma. The leading contribution of the standard production of soft hadrons is enhanced by a factor while next-to-leading order (NLO) corrections are suppressed by , where the parameter N _s >1 accounts for the induced soft gluons in the medium. Our results for such global observables are cross-checked and compared with their limits in the vacuum.     

<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.     

First direct measurement of jets in $\sqrt{s_{\mathit {NN}}}=200~\mbox{GeV}$ heavy ion collisions by STAR

We present the first measurement of reconstructed jets in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions. Utilizing the large coverage of the STAR Time Projection Chamber and Electromagnetic Calorimeter, we apply several modern jet reconstruction algorithms and background subtraction techniques and explore their systematic uncertainties in heavy ion events. The differential energy spectrum for inclusive jet production in central Au+Au collisions at is presented. In order to assess the jet reconstruction biases, this spectrum is compared with the jet cross section measured in  GeV p+p collisions scaled by the number of binary N–N collisions to account for nuclear geometric effects.     

Energy dependence of the saturation scale and the charged multiplicity in pp and AA collisions

A natural framework to understand the energy dependence of bulk observables from lower energy experiments to the LHC is provided by the Color Glass Condensate, which leads to a “geometrical scaling” in terms of an energy-dependent saturation scale Q _s. The measured charged multiplicity, however, seems to grow faster ( ~ ?s^0.3{\sim}\sqrt{s}^{0.3}) in nucleus–nucleus collisions than it does for protons ( ~ ?s^0.2{\sim} \sqrt{s}^{0.2}), violating the expectation from geometric scaling. We argue that this difference between pp and AA collisions can be understood from the effect of DGLAP evolution on the value of the saturation scale, and is consistent with gluon saturation observations at HERA.     

Z boson as “the standard candle” for high-precision W boson physics at LHC

In this paper we propose a strategy for measuring the inclusive W boson production processes at LHC. This strategy exploits simultaneously the unique flexibility of the LHC collider in running variable beam particle species at variable beam energies, and the configuration flexibility of the LHC detectors. We propose their concrete settings for a precision measurement of the standard model parameters. These dedicated settings optimise the use of the Z boson and Drell–Yan-pair production processes as “the standard reference candles”. The presented strategy allows one to factorise and to directly measure those of the QCD effects that affect differently the W and Z production processes. It reduces to a level of the impact of uncertainties in the partonic distribution functions (PDFs) and in the transverse momentum of the quarks on the measurement precision. Last but not the least, it reduces by a factor of 10 the impact of systematic measurement errors, such as the energy scale and the measurement resolution, on the W boson production observables.     

Jet physics at the LHC with ALICE

In central Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC, jet rates are expected to be high at energies at which ALICE can reconstruct jets over the background of the underlying event. This will open the possibility to quantify the effect of partonic energy loss through medium induced gluon radiation, jet quenching, by detailed measurement of the modification of the longitudinal and transverse structure of identified jets. In order to obtain probes sensitive to the properties of the QCD medium, it is mandatory to measure the high- parton fragments together with the low- particles from the radiated gluons. Hence, the excellent charged particle tracking capabilities of ALICE combined with the proposed electromagnetic calorimeter for ALICE, EMCAL, represent an ideal tool for jet quenching studies at the LHC. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at PACS: 25.75.Nq, 24.85. + p, 13.87.-a     

Investigating the high-energy QCD approaches for prompt-photon production at the LHC

We investigate the rapidity and transverse-momentum distributions of the prompt photon production at the CERN LHC energies considering the current perturbative QCD approaches for this scattering process. Namely, we compare the predictions from the usual NLO pQCD calculations to the color-dipole formalism, using distinct dipole cross sections. Special attention is paid to parton-saturation models at high energies, which are expected to be important at the forward rapidities in pp collisions (  TeV) at the LHC.     

Heavy quarks at RHIC from parton transport theory

There are several indications that an opaque partonic medium is created in energetic Au+Au collisions at the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC). At the extreme densities of ∼10–100 times normal nuclear density reached, even heavy-flavor hadrons are affected significantly. Heavy-quark observables are presented from the parton transport model MPC, focusing on the nuclear suppression pattern, azimuthal anisotropy (“elliptic flow”), and azimuthal correlations. Comparison with Au+Au data at top RHIC energy indicates significant heavy-quark rescattering, corresponding roughly five times higher opacities than estimates based on leading-order perturbative QCD. We propose measurements of charm–anticharm, e.g., D-meson azimuthal correlations as a sensitive, independent probe to corroborate these findings. PACS 25.75.-q; 25.75.Ld; 25.75.Gz     

Probing little Higgs model in e<Superscript>+</Superscript>e<Superscript>-</Superscript>→νν̄γ process

We study the process e⁺e^-→νν̄γ to search for its sensitivity to the extra gauge bosons Z₂, Z₃ and W₂ ^±, which are suggested by the little Higgs models. We find that the ILC with and CLIC with cover different regions of the LHM parameters. We show that this channel can provide a determination of the parameters, complementary to measurements of the extra gauge bosons obtainable at the upcoming LHC experiments. PACS 14.80.Cp; 12.60.Fr; 12.60.Cn     

What can we learn from high-p<Subscript>T</Subscript> correlations of neutral strange baryons and mesons at RHIC?

We present results on two-particle azimuthal correlations of neutral strange baryons (Λ, Λ̄) and mesons (K_S ⁰) for p_T=2–6 GeV/c associated with non-identified charged particles in d+Au and Au+Au collisions at  =200 GeV measured by the STAR experiment. We investigate in detail the associated yield of charged particles as a function centrality of the collision and transverse momentum of trigger and associated particles to look for possible flavor, baryon/meson and particle/anti-particle differences. We compare our results to the proton and pion triggered correlations as well as to a fragmentation and recombination model. PACS 25.75.-q; 25.75.Gz     

Studying the MSSM Higgs sector by forward proton tagging at the LHC

We show that the use of forward proton detectors at the LHC installed at 220 m and 420 m distance around ATLAS and/or CMS can provide important information on the Higgs sector of the MSSM. We analyse central exclusive production of the neutral -even Higgs bosons h and H and their decays into bottom quarks, τ leptons and W bosons in various MSSM benchmark scenarios. Using plausible estimates for the achievable experimental efficiencies and the relevant background processes, we find that the prospective sensitivity of the diffractive Higgs production will allow one to probe interesting regions of the M_A–tanβ parameter plane of the MSSM. Central exclusive production of the -even Higgs bosons of the MSSM may provide a unique opportunity to access the bottom Yukawa couplings of the Higgs bosons up to masses of M_H≲ 250 GeV. We also discuss the prospects for identifying the -odd Higgs boson, A, in diffractive processes at the LHC.