Direct photons in nuclear collisions at fair energies

Using the extrapolation of existing data, estimations of prompt-photon production at FAIR energies have been made. At y = y _c.m. the rapidity density of prompt photons with p _t > 1.5 GeV/c per central Au + Au event at 25 A GeV is estimated as ∼10⁻⁴. With the planned beam intensity 10⁹ per second and 1% interaction probability, for 10% of most central events one can expect the prompt-photon rate ∼10² photons per second. Direct photons from the hadron scenario of ion collisions generated by the Hadron-String-Dynamics (HSD) transport approach with implemented meson scatterings πρ → πγ, ππ → ργ have been analyzed. Photons from short-living resonances (e.g., ω → π ⁰ γ) decaying during the dense phase of the collision should be considered as direct photons. They contribute significantly in the directphoton spectrum at p _t = 0.5–1 GeV/c. At the FAIR energy 25 A GeV in Au + Au central collisions the HSD generator predicts, as a lower estimate, γ _direct/ ≃ 0.5% in the region p _t = 0.5–1 GeV/c. At p _t = 1.5–2 GeV/c γ _prompt/ ≃ 2%. Thermal direct photons have been evaluated with the Bjorken Hydro-Dynamics (BHD) model. The BHD spectra differ strongly from the HSD predictions. The direct-photon spectrumis very sensitive to the initial temperature parameter T ₀ of the model. The 10-MeV increase in the T ₀ value leads to ∼2 times higher photon yield. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Quarkonia measurements with STAR

We report results on quarkonium production from the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC). J/ψ spectra in p+p and Cu+Cu collisions at  GeV with transverse momenta in the range of 0.5–14 GeV/c and 5–8 GeV/c, respectively, are presented. We find that for p _T >5 GeV/c yields in p+p collisions are consistent with those in minimum-bias Cu+Cu collisions scaled with the respective number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. In this range the nuclear modification factor, R _AA , is measured to be 0.9±0.2 (stat). For the first time at RHIC, high-p _T J/ψ-hadron correlations were studied in p+p collisions. Implications from our measurements on J/ψ production mechanisms, constraints on open bottom yields, and J/ψ dissociation mechanisms at high-p _T are discussed. In addition, we give a brief status of measurements of ϒ production in p+p and Au+Au collisions and present projections of future quarkonia measurements based on an upgrades to the STAR detector and increased luminosity achieved through stochastic cooling of RHIC.     

Measurement of the production of charged pions by protons on a tantalum target

A measurement of the double-differential cross-section for the production of charged pions in proton–tantalum collisions emitted at large angles from the incoming beam direction is presented. The data were taken in 2002 with the HARP detector in the T9 beam line of the CERN PS. The pions were produced by proton beams in a momentum range from 3 GeV/c to 12 GeV/c hitting a tantalum target with a thickness of 5% of a nuclear interaction length. The angular and momentum range covered by the experiment (100 MeV/c ≤p< 800 MeV/c and 0.35 rad ≤θ< 2.15 rad) is of particular importance for the design of a neutrino factory. The produced particles were detected using a small-radius cylindrical time projection chamber (TPC) placed in a solenoidal magnet. Track recognition, momentum determination and particle identification were all performed based on the measurements made with the TPC. An elaborate system of detectors in the beam line ensured the identification of the incident particles. Results are shown for the double-differential cross-sections d²σ/dpdθ at four incident proton beam momenta (3 GeV/c, 5 GeV/c, 8 GeV/c and 12 GeV/c). In addition, the pion yields within the acceptance of typical neutrino factory designs are shown as a function of beam momentum. The measurement of these yields within a single experiment eliminates most systematic errors in the comparison between rates at different beam momenta and between positive and negative pion production. PACS 13.75.Cs; 13.85.Ni     

Large-angle production of charged pions by 3?GeV/c–12?GeV/c protons on carbon, copper and tin targets

A measurement of the double-differential π^± production cross-section in proton–carbon, proton–copper and proton–tin collisions in the range of pion momentum 100 MeV/c≤p<800 MeV/c and angle 0.35 rad≤θ<2.15 rad is presented. The data were taken with the HARP detector in the T9 beam line of the CERN PS. The pions were produced by proton beams in a momentum range from 3 GeV/c to 12 GeV/c hitting a target with a thickness of 5% of a nuclear interaction length. The tracking and identification of the produced particles was done using a small-radius cylindrical time projection chamber (TPC) placed in a solenoidal magnet. An elaborate system of detectors in the beam line ensured the identification of the incident particles. Results are shown for the double-differential cross-sections d²σ/dpdθ at four incident proton beam momenta (3 GeV/c, 5 GeV/c, 8 GeV/c and 12 GeV/c). PACS 13.75.Cs; 13.85.Ni     

Semihard scattering unraveled from collective flow at the SPS

A study of elliptic flow and two-particle azimuthal correlations of charged particles ( GeV/c) and high- pions ( GeV/c) in Pb + Au collisions at 158A GeV/c, close to midrapidity, is presented. Elliptic flow (v ₂) rises linearly with to a value of about 10 at 2 GeV/c. Beyond 1.5 GeV/c, the slope decreases and possibly indicates a v ₂ saturation at high . Two-pion azimuthal anisotropies for 1.2 GeV/c exceed the v ₂ values by about 60 in semicentral collisions. This non-flow component is attributed to near-side and away-side jetlike correlations. While the near-side peak remains constant with centrality 0.23 0.03 rad, as expected for fragmentation, the away-side peak experiences broadening and disappears in central collisions. Arrival of the final proofs: 30 June 2005 PACS: 25.75.Ld, 25.75.Gz     

Elliptic flow in a hadron-string cascade model at 130 GeV energy

We present the analysis of elliptic flow at =130 A GeV energy in a hadron-string cascade model. We find that the final hadronic yields are qualitatively described. The elliptic flow v ₂ is reasonably well-described at low transverse momentum (p t<1 GeV/c) in mid-central collisions. On the other hand, this model does not explain v ₂ at high p t or in peripheral collisions and thus generally, it underestimates the elliptic flow at RHIC energy.     

Azimuthal anisotropy of electrons from heavy flavor decays in \sqrt{s_{NN}} =200 GeV Au-Au collisions at PHENIX

The PHENIX experiment has measured the azimuthal anisotropy parameter v₂, the second harmonic of the azimuthal distribution, for electrons at mid-rapidity (|η|<0.35) as a function of transverse momentum (0.5<p_T (GeV/c)<5.0) in Au+Au collisions at  =200 GeV. From the result we have calculated the non-photonic electron v₂, which is expected to reflect charm quark azimuthal anisotropy, by subtracting the v₂ of electrons from other sources such as photon conversions and Dalitz decays.     

Pion multiplicity in nuclear collisions

Data on the mean multiplicity of ^- produced in minimum bias proton-proton, proton-neutron and proton-nucleus interactions as well as central nucleus-nucleus collisions at momenta of 1.4–400 GeV/c per nucleon have been compiled and studied. The results for neutron-neutron and nucleon-nucleon interactions were then constructed. The dependence of the mean pion multiplicity in proton-nucleus interactions and central collisions of identical nuclei are studied as a function of the collision energy and the nucleus mass number. The number of produced pions per participant nucleon in central collisions of identical nuclei is found to be independent of the number of participants at a fixed incident momentum per nucleon. The mean multiplicity of negatively charged hadrons per participant nucleon for central nucleus-nucleus collisions is lower by about 0.12 than the corresponding multiplicity for nucleon-nucleon interactions atp _LAB 15 A·GeV/c, whereas the result at 200 A·GeV/c is above the corresponding nucleon-nucleon multiplicity. This may indicate change of the collision dynamics at high energy.     

Longitudinal broadening of near-side jets due to parton cascade

Longitudinal broadening along the Δη direction on the near side in the two-dimensional (Δφ×Δη) di-hadron correlation distribution has been studied for central Au+Au collisions at  GeV, within a dynamical multi-phase transport model. It was found that longitudinal broadening is generated by a longitudinal flow induced by a strong parton cascade in central Au+Au collisions, to be compared with p+p collisions at  GeV. The longitudinal broadening may shed light on the strongly interacting partonic matter at RHIC.     

Production of delta isobars on tantalum nuclei in CTa collisions at a projectile momentum of 4.2 GeV/<Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis> per nucleon

A procedure that relies on analyzing the angle between the momenta of the proton and the pion originating from CTa interaction at a projectile momentum of 4.2 GeV/c per nucleon was used to investigate for the first time the production of Δ⁰ and Δ⁺⁺ resonances in such interactions and to determine their parameters. The criterion of stability in the parameter a characterizing the background contribution was presented for the first time and was used to reconstruct the mass distributions of Δ⁰ and Δ⁺⁺ resonances. The contributions of Δ⁰- and Δ⁺⁺-resonance decays to the production of charged pions were estimated. The results of this study are compared with similar data obtained by using the analogous procedure for Δ⁰ and Δ⁺⁺ resonances produced on carbon nuclei in CC and ⁴HeC collisions at a projectile momentum of 4.2 GeV/c per nucleon and in π ⁻¹²C interactions at a projectile momentum of 40 GeV/c.     

Present and future possibilities of antiproton production from fixed targets at CERN

The CERN Antiproton Accumulator Complex, AAC, stores 3.5 GeV/c antiprotons produced in the collisions between an external 26 GeV/c proton beam and a fixed target. The present operational yield is , which, for a beam of 10¹³ protons every 2.4 s, corresponds to a maximum production rate of . Accumulation rates are from one third to one half of the production rates due to losses during the collection and stacking processes. This performance can be improved somewhat by collecting antiprotons into a larger solid angle using a more powerful collector lens, but the parameters of the AA Complex restrict this potential gain to a factor of only 1.5. Two future improvements: increased proton flux and antiproton focusing within the target can extend the production rate to , but these developments will require more sophisticated targets at the limits of known technologies.     

Production of relativistic antihydrogen atoms by pair production with positron capture and measurement of the Lamb shift

A beam of relativistic antihydrogen atoms — the bound state ( e⁺) — can be created by circulating the beam of an antiproton storage ring through an internal gas target. An antiproton which passes through the Coulomb field of a nucleus will create e⁺e⁻ pairs, and antihydrogen will form when a positron is created in a bound instead of continuum state about the antiproton. The cross section for this process is roughly 3Z ² pb for antiproton momenta about 6 GeV/c. A sample of 600 antihydrogen atoms in a low-emittance, neutral beam will be made in 1995 as an accidental byproduct of Fermilab experiment E760. We describe a simple experiment, Fermilab Proposal P862, which can detect this beam, and outline how a sample of a few-10⁴ atoms can be used to measure the antihydrogen Lamb shift to 1 %. Work supported in part by Department of Energy contract DE-AC03-76SF00515 (SLAC). Work supported by Fondo Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Chile.     

Event-by-event fluctuations of mean transverse momentum in AuAu collisions in STAR experiment at relativistic heavy-ion collider

We report results on event-by-event fluctuations in mean transverse momentum in AuAu collisions at GeV measured by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The dynamical fluctuations, is found to be about 1.2 ±02% of the mean transverse momentum for particles in pseudo-rapidity range of −0.5 < η < 0.5 and for the top 6% central 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.     

Recent results from PHOBOS on particle production at high p T

A selection of experimental results from the PHOBOS Collaboration relevant for probing high-energy nuclear collisions with high transverse momentum particles is presented. The inclusive yields of charged particles and comparisons between nuclear and elementary collisions already reveal a large amount of parton energy loss in the hot and dense medium created in heavy ion collisions. Remarkable scaling and factorization features are observed, unifying the data taken at various collision energies, centralities and nuclear sizes. To further analyze the nature of the energy loss, a measurement of pseudorapidity (Δη) and azimuthal angle (Δφ) correlations between high transverse momentum charged hadrons (p _T >2.5 GeV/c) and all associated charged particles is presented at both short-range (small Δη) and long-range (large Δη) over a continuous detector acceptance covering −4<Δη<2. Various near- and away-side features of the correlation structure are discussed as a function of centrality in Au + Au collisions at  GeV. The results provide new information about the longitudinal (Δη) extent of the near-side ‘ridge’ structure, first observed by the STAR Collaboration over a narrower η range. In central Au + Au collisions the ridge structure extends to at least Δη=4, and its strength completely diminishes as collisions become more peripheral. Presenter of the paper on the 3rd International Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes of High-Energy Nuclear Collisions, 8–14 June 2008, Illa da Toxa (Galicia-Spain).     

Centrality dependence of v 2 in Au + Au at \sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV

One of the most striking results is the large elliptic flow (v ₂) at RHIC. Detailed mass and transverse momentum dependence of elliptic flow are well described by ideal hydrodynamic calculations for p _T<1 GeV/c, and by parton coalescence/recombination picture for p _T=2–6 GeV/c. The systematic error on v ₂ is dominated by so-called “non-flow effects”, which are correlations other than flow, such as resonance decays and jets. It is crucial to understand and reduce the systematic error from non-flow effects in order to understand the underlying collision dynamics. In this paper, we present the centrality dependence of v ₂ with respect to the first harmonic event plane at ZDC-SMD (v ₂{ZDC-SMD}) in Au + Au collisions at  GeV. A large rapidity gap (|Δη|>6) between midrapidity and the ZDC-SMD could enable us to minimize possible non-flow contributions. We compare the results of v ₂{ZDC-SMD} with v ₂{BBC}, which is measured by event plane determined at |η|=3.1–3.9. Possible non-flow contributions in those results will be discussed.     

Measurement of D* mesons in jets from p + p collisions at ?s \sqrt s = 200 GeV

We report the measurement of charged D* mesons in jets produced in proton-proton collisions at a center of mass energy $ \sqrt s $ \sqrt s = 200 GeV with the STAR experiment at RHIC. The production rate is found to be N(D*⁺ + D*⁻)/N (jet) = 0.015 ± 0.008 (stat) ± 0.007 (sys) for D* mesons with fractional momenta 0.2 < z < 0.5 in jets with 11.5 GeV mean transverse energy. This rate is consistent with perturbative QCD evalulation of gluon splitting into a pair of charm quarks and subsequent hadronization.     

Evidence for the production of thermal muon pairs with masses above 1 GeV/c 2 in 158 A GeV indium-indium collisions

The yield of muon pairs in the invariant mass region 1<M<2.5 GeV/c ² produced in heavy-ion collisions significantly exceeds the sum of the two expected contributions, Drell-Yan dimuons and muon pairs from the decays of D meson pairs. These sources properly account for the dimuons produced in proton-nucleus collisions. In this paper, we show that dimuons are also produced in excess in 158 A GeV In-In collisions. We furthermore observe, by tagging the dimuon vertices, that this excess is not due to enhanced D meson production, but made of prompt muon pairs, as expected from a source of thermal dimuons specific to high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. The yield of this excess increases significantly from peripheral to central collisions, both with respect to the Drell-Yan yield and to the number of nucleons participating in the collisions. Furthermore, the transverse mass distributions of the excess dimuons are well described by an exponential function, with inverse slope values around 190 MeV. The values are independent of mass and significantly lower than those found at masses below 1 GeV/c ², rising there up to 250 MeV due to radial flow. This suggests the emission source of thermal dimuons above 1 GeV/c ² to be of largely partonic origin, when radial flow has not yet built up.     

Modified fragmentation function in heavy ion collisions at RHIC via direct <Emphasis Type="Italic">γ</Emphasis>-jet measurements

The presented results are the first measurements at RHIC for direct γ-charged hadron azimuthal correlations in heavy ion collisions. We use these correlations to study the color charge density of the medium through the medium-induced modification of high-p _T parton fragmentation. Azimuthal correlations of direct photons at high transverse energy (8<p _T <16 GeV) with away-side charged hadrons of transverse momentum (3<p _T <6 GeV/c) have been measured over a broad range of centrality for Au+Au collisions and p+p collisions at  GeV in the STAR experiment. A transverse shower shape analysis in the STAR Barrel Electromagnetic Calorimeter Shower Maximum Detector is used to discriminate between the direct photons and photons from the decays of high p _T π ⁰. The per-trigger away-side yield of direct γ is smaller than from π ⁰ trigger at the same centrality class. Within the current uncertainty the I _CP of direct γ and π ⁰ are similar.     

Search for narrow resonances lighter than ? mesons

We report a search for narrow resonances, produced in collisions at  TeV, that decay into muon pairs with invariant mass between 6.3 and 9.0 GeV/c ². The data, collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 630 pb⁻¹. We use the dimuon invariant mass distribution to set 90% upper credible limits of about 1% to the ratio of the production cross section times muonic branching fraction of possible narrow resonances to that of the ϒ(1S) meson.