Azimuthal correlations between directed and elliptic flow in heavy ion collisions

A method for investigating the azimuthal correlations between directed and elliptic flow in heavy ion collisions is described.The transverse anisotropy of particle emission at AGS energies is investigated within the RQMD model.It is found that the azimuthal correlations between directed and elliptic flow are sensitive to the incident energy and impact parameter.The fluctuations in the initial stage and dynamical evolution of heavy ion collisions are not negligible.     

高能重离子碰撞中的集体流与空间-动量关联

高能重离子碰撞中,末态粒子的侧向流与椭圆流间存在方位角集体关联,该关联对反应中集体流的性质反映敏感.碰撞时,系统在坐标空间的演化与动量空间的演化过程相互影响,表现出明显的空间-动量关联.不同事件中椭圆流形式的差别与此空间-动量关联有关,反映了系统演化过程的涨落.     

Impact parameter and beam energy dependence for azimuthal asymmetry of direct photons and free protons in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions

Hard photon emitted from energetic heavy ion collisions is of very interesting since it does not experience the late-stage nuclear interaction, therefore it is useful to explore the early-stage information of matter phase. In this work, we have calculated the impact parameter and beam energy dependence for azimuthal asymmetry, characterized by directed transverse flow parameter F and elliptic asymmetry coeffcient v2, of direct photons and the corresponding free protons in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions. It is further shown the anti-correlated azimuthal asymmetry between direct photons and free protons.     

高能重离子碰撞中的横向非对称流

对末态粒子方位角分布的研究可以获得反应中有关横向非对称流的信息.研究了碰撞中侧向流与椭圆流间的方位角关联,给出了一种定量测量反应中椭圆流大小的方法,该方法的计算结果可以有效地消除估计反应平面离散的影响.     

Impact parameter and beam energy dependence for azimuthal asymmetry of direct photons and free protons in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions

Hard photon emitted from energetic heavy ion collisions is of very interesting since it does not experience the late-stage nuclear interaction, therefore it is useful to explore the early-stage information of matter phase. In this work, we have calculated the impact parameter and beam energy dependence for azimuthal asymmetry, characterized by directed transverse flow parameter F and elliptic asymmetry coefficient v₂, of direct photons and the corresponding free protons in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions. It is further shown the anti-correlated azimuthal asymmetry between direct photons and free protons.     

RHIC-STAR重离子碰撞实验中可鉴别粒子的集体流研究

本文总结了RHIC-STAR重离子碰撞实验中近年来重要的空间各向异性流的结果。主要包括最高能量重离子碰撞中多重奇异及含粲夸克粒子椭圆流的结果和RHIC能量扫描计划BES-I中椭圆流和直接流的结果,其中金金碰撞54.4和27 GeV是最新测量结果。我们发现新碰撞能量点的直接流符合碰撞能量依赖的总体趋势;椭圆流符合组分夸克标度性,这表明54.4和27 GeV的金金碰撞中形成了部分子层次的集体运动。同时展望了未来能量扫描实验的计划以及与之对应的空间各向异性流的研究重点。     

Modification of the spectra of correlated charm-anticharm quark pairs in the quark-gluon plasma

Heavy quarks play an important role in probing the properties of strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma(QGP)created in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions.We study the interactions of single heavy(charm)quarks and correlated charm and anticharm(ccˉ)quark pairs with the medium constituents of QGP by performing fireball+Langevin simulations of the pertinent Brownian motion with elastic collisions.Besides studying the traditional observables,the nuclear modification factor and the elliptic flow of single heavy quarks in QGP for different thermal relaxation rates,we also study the broadening of the azimuthal correlations of charm and anticharm quark pairs in the QGP medium for different relaxation rates and transverse momenta classes.We quantified the smearing of ccˉpair azimuthal correlations with an increasing thermal relaxation rate:while the(nearly)back-to-back correlations among ccˉpairs are almost completely washed out at low transverse momentum(pT),these correlations at high pT largely survive the pair diffusion.This provides a novel observable for diagnosing the properties of QGP.     

Effects of final state interactions on charge separation in relativistic heavy ion collisions

Charge separation is an important consequence of the Chiral Magnetic Effect. Within the framework of a Multi-Phase Transport model, the effects of final state interactions on initial charge separation are studied. We demonstrate that charge separation can be significantly reduced by the evolution of the Quark–Gluon Plasma produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions. Hadronization and resonance decay can also affect charge separation. Moreover, our results show that the Chiral Magnetic Effect leads to the modification of the relation between the charge azimuthal correlation and the elliptic flow that is expected from transverse momentum conservation only. The transverse momentum and pseudorapidity dependences and the effects of background on the charge azimuthal correlation are also discussed.     

Space-momentum correlations in 8 AGeV Au+Au collisions

Within the RQMD model, space-momentum correlations, i.e. the correlations between final momentum anisotropy and initial eccentricity, are studied for 8 AGeV Au+Au events classified according to the multi-particle azimuthal correlations. The results show that the final elliptic flow fluctuations depend on the initial collision geometry. There are clear space-momentum correlations for nucleons during the whole dynamical evolution of the collisions.     

Space-momentum correlations in 8 AGeV Au+Au collisions

Within the RQMD model, space-momentum correlations, i.e. the correlations between final momentum anisotropy and initial eccentricity, are studied for 8 AGeV Au＋Au events classified according to the multi-particle azimuthal correlations. The results show that the final elliptic flow fluctuations depend on the initial collision geometry. There are clear space-momentum correlations for nucleons during the whole dynamical evolution of the collisions.     

中能重离子反应中的在平面流和椭圆流

利用同位旋相关的量子分子动力学模型研究了⁴⁰Ca+⁴⁰Ca系统在能量从30MeV/u到150MeV/u的在平面流和椭圆流.发现随着入射能量的增加,在平面流出现从负到正的跃迁,而椭圆流则随入射能量的增大而减少并且出现从正到负的跃迁.椭圆流和在平面流对于入射能量和碰撞参数较为敏感,相反对于对称能和核态方程却不太敏感.最后对于不同质量的碎块的依赖性关系我们还作了进一步仔细的研究.     

Various flows of black and grey particles produced in Mg-emulsion collisions at 4.5 A GeV/c

Various flow phenomena of black particles(b-particles)and grey particles(g-particles)produced in magnesium-emulsion(Mg-Em)collisions at 4.5 A GeV/c are reported.These flows are directed and elliptic transverse flows(vl and v2)related by the azimuthal angle((φ)),directed and elliptic reaction plane flows(vR1 and vR2)related by the projected angle(ψ)on the reaction plane,and directed and elliptic polar direction flows(vp1 and vp2)related by the polar angle((υ)).We extract absolute flows as the direct experimental values minus the isotropic theoretical values.The dependence of the various flows on the target particle multiplicity and on the angles((υ,φ,ψ))is investigated.Our results show that the dependence of b-particle flows on the target size is obvious and for heavy targets the dependence on target particle multiplicity is slight.Compared with b-particles,g-particles have a slight dependence on the target size and target particle multiplicity.     

Elliptic flow studies using the CMS detector

The azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles in heavy ion collisions is an important probe of quark-gluon plasma evolution at early stages. The nuclear reaction plane can be determined independently by different detector subsystems and using different analysis methods. This paper reports the capability of the CMS detector at the LHC to reconstruct the reaction plane of the collision and to me asure elliptic flow with calorimetry and a tracking system. The analysis is based on a full CMS detector simulation of Pb + Pb events with the HYDJET event generator.     

Flow effects in high-energy nucleus collisions with Ag(Br) in emulsion

Various flow phenomena observed by a unique emulsion method are reviewed. The experimental data of the emission of projectile and target fragments and relativistic particles in collisions of 1–160 A GeV/c ¹⁶O, ²²Ne, ²⁸Si, ³²S, ⁸⁴Kr, ¹⁹⁷Au, and ²⁰⁸Pb nuclei with ¹⁰⁸Ag (⁸⁰Br) targets are investigated. The transverse-momentum approach, the flow-angle analysis using principal vectors, the azimuthal correlation functions, the method of azimuthal correlations between charged secondaries, and the method of Fourier expansion of the azimuthal angle distributions are applied. Evidence of the directed flow of spectators has been obtained in the medium-impact nuclear interactions. In azimuthal distributions, with respect to the reaction plane, the signal of the elliptic flow of participants has been observed.     

Semihard scattering unraveled from collective dynamics by two-pion azimuthal correlations in 158A GeV/c Pb+Au collisions

Elliptic flow and two-particle azimuthal correlations of charged hadrons and high-p(T) pions (p(T)>1 GeV/c) have been measured close to midrapidity in 158A GeV/c Pb+Au collisions by the CERES experiment. Elliptic flow (v(2)) rises linearly with p(T) to a value of about 10% at 2 GeV/c. Beyond p(T) approximately 1.5 GeV/c, the slope decreases considerably, possibly indicating a saturation of v(2) at high p(T). Two-pion azimuthal anisotropies for p(T)>1.2 GeV/c exceed the elliptic flow values by about 60% in midcentral collisions. These nonflow contributions are attributed to nearside and back-to-back jetlike correlations, the latter exhibiting centrality dependent broadening.     

Azimuthal asymmetry of direct photons in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions

Hard photon emitted from energetic heavy ion collisions is of very interesting since it does not experience the late-stage nuclear interaction, therefore it is useful to explore the early-stage information of matter phase. In this work, we have presented a first calculation of azimuthal asymmetry, characterized by directed transverse flow parameter F   and elliptic asymmetry coefficient v₂$v_2$, for proton–neutron bremsstrahlung hard photons in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions. The positive F   and negative v₂$v_2$ of direct photons are illustrated and they seem to be anti-correlated to the corresponding free proton's flow.     

Eccentricity and elliptic flow in proton-proton collisions from parton evolution

It has been argued that high-multiplicity proton-proton collisions at the LHC may exhibit collective phenomena usually studied in the context of heavy-ion collisions, such as elliptic flow. We study this issue using DIPSY—a Monte Carlo event generator based on the QCD dipole model. We calculate the eccentricity of the transverse area defined by the spatial distribution of produced gluons. The resulting elliptic flow is estimated to be about 6%, comparable to the value in nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and the LHC. Experimentally, elliptic flow is inferred from the azimuthal correlation between hadrons, which receives contributions from collective flow, and from various other effects referred to as “nonflow”. We discuss how to identify in experiments the signal of flow in the presence of large nonflow effects.     

Φ Meson Production in Heavy Ion Collisions at RHIC

We present Φ meson production in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions measured by the STAR experiment at RHIC.The hadronic decay mode Φ→K~+K~- is used in the analysis.The yields for Φ meson in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at a given beam energy are scaled by the number of participant.The N_(part) normalized Φ meson yields in heavy ion collisions over those from p+p collisions are larger than 1 and increase with collision energy.These results suggest that the source of enhancement of strange hadrons is related to the formation of a dense medium in high energy heavy ion collisions and can not be only due to canonical suppression of their production in smaller systems.We also present STAR results on the Φ meson elliptic flow υ_2 from 2~(1/SNN)=200 GeV Cu+Cu at RHIC.The elliptic flow in Cu+Cu system that has the similar relative magnitude and qualitative features as that in Au+Au system.The observations imply the hot and dense matter with partonic collectivity has been formed in heavy ion collisions at RHIC.However,eccentrality normalized υ_2,υ_2/(n_qε_(part)) is lower for Cu+Cu than for Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV.So this might indicate thermalization has not been reached in 200 GeV Cu+Cu collisions.     

Sub-leading flow modes in PbPb collisions at (~sNN)~(1/2) = 2.76 TeV from the HYDJET++ model

Recent LHC results on the appearance of sub-leading flow modes in Pb Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV, related to initial-state fluctuations, are analyzed and interpreted within the HYDJET++ model. Using the newly introduced Principal Component Analysis(PCA) method applied to two-particle azimuthal correlations extracted from the model calculations, the leading and sub-leading flow modes are studied as a function of the transverse momentum(p T) over a wide centrality range. The leading modes of the elliptic(v_2~((1))) and triangular(v_3~((1))) flow calculated with the HYDJET++ model reproduce rather well the v_2 {2} and v_3 {2} coefficients measured experimentally using the two-particle correlations. Within the p T 3 Ge V/c range, where hydrodynamics dominates, the sub-leading flow effects are greatest at the highest p T of around 3 Ge V/c. The sub-leading elliptic flow mode(v_2~((2))), which corresponds to the n = 2 harmonic, has a small non-zero value and slowly increases from central to peripheral collisions, while the sub-leading triangular flow mode(v_3~((2))), which corresponds to the n = 3 harmonic, is even smaller and does not depend on centrality. For n= 2, the relative magnitude of the effect measured with respect to the leading flow mode shows a shallow minimum for semi-central collisions and increases for very central and for peripheral collisions. For the n= 3 case, there is no centrality dependence. The sub-leading flow mode results obtained from the HYDJET++model are in rather good agreement with the experimental measurements of the CMS Collaboration.     

In-plane elliptic flow of resonance particles in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We analyze the second Fourier coefficient v(2) of the pion azimuthal distribution in noncentral heavy-ion collisions in a relativistic hydrodynamic model. The exact treatment of the decay kinematics of resonances leads to almost vanishing azimuthal anisotropy of pions near the midrapidity, while the matter elliptic flow is in plane at freeze-out. In addition, we reproduce the rapidity dependence of v(2) for pions measured in noncentral Pb+Pb collisions at 158A GeV. This suggests that resonance particles as well as stable particles constitute the in-plane flow and are important ingredients for the understanding of the observed pion flow.