Pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles as a function of centrality in Pb–Pb collisions at 158 and 40 GeV per nucleon incident energy

The charged particle distributions dN_ch/dη have been measured by the NA50 experiment in Pb–Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. Measurements have been done at incident energies of 158 and 40 GeV per nucleon over a broad impact parameter range. Results obtained with two independent centrality estimators, namely the neutral transverse energy E_T and the forward energy E_ZDC, are reported.     

Pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at super proton synchrotron energies from the NA50 experiment

We present the measurements of charged particle pseudorapidity distributions dN_ch/dη performed by the NA50 experiment in Pb-Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. Measurements were done at incident energies of 40 GeV (√s = 8.77 GeV) and 158 GeV (√s = 17.3 GeV) per nucleon over a broad impact parameter range. The multiplicity distributions are studied as a function of centrality using the number of participating nucleons(N _part ), or the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions (N_coll). Their values at midrapidity exhibit a linear scaling withN _part at both energies. Particle yield increases approximately by a factor of 2 betweeny √s = 8.77 GeV and √s = 17.3 GeV.     

Elliptic flow at SPS and RHIC: from kinetic transport to hydrodynamics

Anisotropic transverse flow is studied in Pb+Pb and Au+Au collisions at SPS and RHIC energies. The centrality and transverse momentum dependence at midrapidity of the elliptic flow coefficient v₂ is calculated in the hydrodynamic and low density limits. Hydrodynamics is found to agree well with the RHIC data for semicentral collisions up to transverse momenta of 1–1.5 GeV/c, but it considerably overestimates the measured elliptic flow at SPS energies. The low density limit LDL is inconsistent with the measured magnitude of v₂ at RHIC energies and with the shape of its p_t-dependence at both RHIC and SPS energies. The success of the hydrodynamic model points to very rapid thermalization in Au+Au collisions at RHIC and provides a serious challenge for kinetic approaches based on classical scattering of on-shell particles.     

Neutral-pion production in central collisions of relativistic C and Ar on Pb

The production of π⁰ mesons in central collisions of ¹²C and ⁴⁰Ar on ²⁰⁸Pb has been examined at a number of energies from 1. to 2.1 GeV/N, as part of the first systematic study as a function of beam energy and charged-particle multiplicity of the rate of neutral-pion production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. For comparison, corresponding π^± data acquired with the same detector system have also been presented. The results indicate that, for a given target-projectile combination, both neutral- and charged-pion production increase smoothly by a factor of approximately 2.9 in this energy range. The measurement of charged-particle multiplicity is discussed in order to indicate how the characteristic distributions observed in this study were used to parameterize the experimental results. The average multiplicity of both pions and nucleons projected from these data is found to disagree with statistical models of particle production. The significance of the N_π^±/N_charge and N_π^±/N_π⁰ ratios observed as a function of beam energy and charged-particle multiplicity is discussed in the context of understanding the nature of the collision process.     

2D gravity+1D matter

We consider a formulation of nonperturbative two-dimensional quantum gravity coupled to a single bosonic field (d=1 matter). Starting from a matrix realization of the discretized model, we express the continuum theory as a double scaling limit in which the 2D cosmological constant g tends towards a critical value g_c, and the string coupling 1/N→0, with the scaling parameter ∝1n (g-g_c)/(g-g_c)N held fixed. We find that in this formulation logarithmic corrections already present at tree level persist to all higher genus, suggesting a behavior different from the previously considered cases of d<1 matter.     

Indications for the onset of deconfinement in Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS

Particle production in central Pb+Pb collisions was studied with the NA49 large acceptance spectrometer at the CERN SPS at beam energies of 20, 30, 40, 80 and 158 GeV per nucleon. A change of the energy dependence is observed around 30A GeV for the yields of pions and strange particles as well as for the shapes of the transverse mass spectra. The energy dependence of fluctuations and correlations shows no structure. At present only a reaction scenario with onset of deconfinement is able to reproduce the measurements.     

The ΔNγ electromagnetic transition form factors GM(q) and GE(q)

A parameter-free, nonperturbative calculation of the ΔNγ electromagnetic transition amplitudes GM*(q2), GE*(q2), and the resonant multipole ratio REM(q2)≡E1+3/2(q2)/M1+3/2(q2) is performed in terms of the well-known nucleon isovector Sachs form factor GMV. Our methods are fully relativistic with conservation of the electromagnetic current guaranteed. We find that GM*(q2) decreases more rapidly than the nucleon dipole form factor when −q21 GeV2/c2 and that REM(q2) remains small even for very high four-momentum transfer implying that the perturbative QCD prediction REM(q2)→1 is purely asymptotic and is valid only for extremely high |q2|.     

Search for deconfinement in NA49 at the CERN SPS

Experiment NA49 at the CERN SPS uses a large acceptance detector for a systematic study of particle yields and correlations in nucleus-nucleus, nucleon-nucleus and nucleon-nucleon collisions. Preliminary results for Pb+Pb collisions at 40, 80 and 158 A⋅GeV beam energy shown and compared to measurements at lower and higher energies.     

Evidence of kaon nuclear and Coulomb potential effects on soft K production from nuclei

The ratio of forward K⁺ production on copper, silver and gold targets to that on carbon has been measured at proton beam energies between 1.5 and 2.3 GeV as a function of the kaon momentum p_K using the ANKE spectrometer at COSY-Jülich. The strong suppression in the ratios observed for p_K<200–250 MeV/c may be ascribed to a combination of Coulomb and nuclear repulsion in the K⁺A system. This opens a new way to investigate the interaction of K⁺-mesons in the nuclear medium. Our data are consistent with a K⁺A nuclear potential of V_K⁰≈20 MeV at low kaon momenta and normal nuclear density. Given the sensitivity of the data to the kaon potential, the current experimental precision might allow one to determine V_K⁰ to better than 3 MeV.     

Search for deconfinement in NA49 at the CERN SPS

Experiment NA49 at the Cern SPS has performed large acceptance measurements of hadron production in pp, pPb, CC, SiSi and PbPb collisions at 40 and 158 A·GeV beam energies. These data allowed a study of particle yields, spectra and correlations as well as event-by-event fluctuations of average event properties of the created hadron system. Results from central PbPb collisions are consistent with the onset of deconfinement during the early stage of the reaction in the lower SPS energy range. A new scaling property of particle production ratios was found which relates collision systems of different size and centrality. Systematics of the evolution of particle production from pp via pPb to PbPb collisions were investigated.     

Particle production in Pb+Pb collisions at the SPS

Experiment NA49 at the CERN SPS employs a large acceptance detector to study particle spectra, yields and correlations in nucleus-nucleus, nucleon-nucleus and nucleon-nucleon collisions. Preliminary results on pion, kaon, A and ā production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 40, 80 and 158 A·GeV beam energy are shown and compared to measurements at lower and higher energies.     

Latest results onJ/ψ anomalous suppression

The NA50 experiment deals with Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV/nucleon at the CERN SPS accelerator. TheJ/ψ production is studied through the muon decay channel, using the Drell-Yan dimuons as a reference. New results based on recent analyses, from data taken with improved experimental conditions and using different centrality estimators, are presented and compared to an update of those already obtained from previous data samples. The stepwise pattern of the anomalousJ/ψ suppression as a function of centrality, already present in these previous results, is confirmed. This observation could be a fingerprint of the theoretically predicted melting of charmonia resonances in a deconfined quark-gluon plasma. On leave of absence from York College, CUNY, New York USA On leave of absence from YerPhI, Yerevan, Armenia     

Search for narrow NNπ resonances in exclusive pp→ppππ measurements

Narrow structures in the range of a few MeV have been searched for in ppπ⁺ and ppπ⁻ invariant mass spectra (M_ppπ⁺ and M_ppπ⁻) obtained from exclusive measurements of the pp→ppπ⁺π⁻ reaction at T_p=725,750 and 775 MeV using the PROMICE/WASA detector at CELSIUS. The selected reaction is particularly well suited for the search for dibaryon resonances decoupled from NN and/or NΔ. In the mass range 2020 MeV/c²<m_dibaryon<2085 MeV/c² no narrow structures could be identified on the 3σ level of statistical significance neither in M_ppπ⁻ nor in M_ppπ⁺ giving an upper limit (95% C.L.) for dibaryon production in this reaction of σ<20 nb.     

The weak electroproduction of Σ in electron–proton scattering

We obtain differential cross sections for the reaction e⁻+p→Σ⁰+ν_e, for incident electron energies from 0.5 GeV to 6.0 GeV. This calculation is phenomenologically based and makes use of SU(3) and SU(2) relations. We obtain contributions of the individual form factors to the differential cross section and show that the vector current form factor dominates in the region of observability. We also obtain reaction rates for a standard set of conditions. Finally we compare this case with that for Λ production and discuss what might be learned from this reaction concerning the structure of the weak, strangeness changing, hadronic current.     

Charmonium production in proton-proton collisions and in collisions of lead nuclei at CERN and comparison with Brookhaven data

A review of experimental data on charmoniumproduction that were obtained in fixed-target experiments at the SPS synchrotron and in proton-proton collisions and in collisions of lead nuclei in beams of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (Switzerland) is presented. A comparison with data obtained at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (USA) from experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) is performed. Measurement of the suppression of J/ψ-meson production as a possible signal of the production of quark-gluon plasmawas proposed back in 1986 by T. Matsui and H. Satz. An anomalous suppression of J/ψ-meson production was discovered by the NA50 Collaboration at SPS (CERN) in central collisions of lead nuclei at the c.m. collision energy of 158 GeV per nucleon. Data obtained at the c.m. energy of 200 GeV per nucleon in the PHENIX experiment at RHIC indicate that, depending on multiplicity, the suppression of J/ψ-meson production at this energy approximately corresponds to the suppression of J/ψ-meson production in collisions of lead nuclei at the SPS accelerator. Theoretical models that take into account the regeneration of J/ψ mesons describe better RHIC experimental data. The measurement of charmonium production in proton-proton collisions and in collisions of lead nuclei in LHC beams revealed the importance of taking into account the regeneration process. At the LHC energies, it is also necessary to take into account the contribution of B-meson decays. Future measurements of charmonium production at the LHC to a higher statistical precision and over an extended energy region would be of importance for obtaining deeper insight into the mechanism of charmonium production and for studying the properties of matter at high energy density and temperature.     

Neutrino propagation in a medium with a magnetic field

Data on the mean multiplicity of strange hadrons produced in minimum bias proton-proton and central nucleus-nucleus collisions at momenta between 2.8 and 400 GeV/c per nucleon have been compiled. The multiplicities for nucleon-nucleon interactions were constructed. The ratios of strange particle multiplicity to participant nucleon as well as to pion multiplicity are larger for central nucleus-nucleus collisions than for nucleon-nucleon interactions at all studied energies. The data at AGS energies suggest that the latter ratio saturates with increasing masses of the colliding nuclei. The strangeness to pion multiplicity ratio observed in nucleon-nucleon interactions increases with collision energy in the whole energy range studied. A qualitatively different behaviour is observed for central nucleus-nucleus collisions: the ratio rapidly increases when going from Dubna to AGS energies and changes little between AGS and SPS energies. This change in the behaviour can be related to the increase in the entropy production observed in central nucleus-nucleus collisions at the same energy range. The results are interpreted within a statistical approach. They are consistent with the hypothesis that the Quark Gluon Plasma is created at SPS energies, the critical collision energy being between AGS and SPS energies.     

Charmonium-state production in heavy-ion collisions

An overview of existing experimental data on the production of charmonium states (J/ψ and ψ′) at the superproton synchrotron (SPS, CERN) and the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC, Brookhaven National Laboratory, United States) is given. The production of J/ψ mesons shows an anomalous suppression discovered by the NA50 Collaboration (CERN) in collisions of lead nuclei at an energy of 158 GeV per nucleon and confirmed in the NA60 experiment (CERN) in collisions of indium nuclei at the same energy. The suppression of J/ψ production depends on interaction centrality and becomes anomalous at about 122 participant nucleons in PbPb collisions and at about 86 participant nucleons in InIn collisions. The experimental data in question are compared with the predictions of existing theoretical models. None of the models is able to simultaneously describe data on PbPb and InIn collisions. Data obtained in the PHENIX experiment at RHIC from measurements of J/ψ production in AuAu and CuCu collisions at an energy of 200 GeV (in the nucleon-nucleon c.m. frame) indicate that the suppression of J/ψ production at such energies approximately corresponds to the suppression of J/ψ production in PbPb collisions at SPS. Theoretical models that describe SPS data on PbPb collisions predict a stronger suppression of J/ψ production. Models that take into account J/ψ-meson regeneration better describe experimental data obtained at RHIC. Measurement of cross sections for charmonium and bottomonium production at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC, CERN) would make it possible to study the properties of matter and to explore the mechanism of quarkonium production at ultrahigh energy densities and temperature and high transverse momenta, as well as to investigate the effect of the regeneration and suppression of quarkonium production as the energy increases.     

Continuum limit of finite temperature λφ3 from lattice Monte Carlo

The φ₃⁴ model at finite temperature is simulated on the lattice. For fixed N_t we compute the transition line for N_s → ∞ by means of finite size scaling techniques. The crossings of a renormalization group trajectory with the transition lines of increasing N_t give a well-defined limit for the critical temperature in the continuum. By considering different RG trajectories, we compute T^c/g as a function of the renormalized parameters.     

Transverse momentum distribution in Drell-Yan pair and W and Z boson production

We exhibit and discuss the QCD prediction for the transverse momentum distribution of W bosons, Z bosons and high-mass virtual photons produced in high-energy hadron-hadron collisions. Recent work has shown that this prediction is consistent with the structure of leading twist initial state interactions.

The expression we present is expected to give results correct up to order _s^N(Q) for any Q_T when the boson mass Q is very large (> 10⁸ GeV!), given only input from perturbative calculations at order _s^N+2 and deeply inelastic scattering structure functions. We specify the required N = 0 coefficients, employing the order _s² results of Kodaira and Trentadue and of Davies and Stirling. We then show how the expression should be modified to deal with current energy scales. We also discuss the connection between low-Q_T and high-Q_T formulae.     

Constraints on light bottom squarks from radiative B-meson decays

The presence of a light squark (  GeV) and gluino (  GeV) might explain the observed excess in b-quark production at the Tevatron. Though provocative, this model is not excluded by present data. The light supersymmetric particles can induce large flavor-changing effects in radiative decays of B mesons. We analyze the decays B→X_sγ and B→X_sg in this scenario and derive restrictive bounds on the flavor-changing quark–squark–gluino couplings.