Photon production in Au+Au collisions at \sqrt {s_{NN} } = 130 GeV

We report raw photon, neutral pion and eta measurements at RHIC. Photons in the energy range from 100MeV ? 4GeV were detected by reconstructing e ⁺ e ^? pair production, γ+Z→e ⁺+e ^?+Z, with the STAR Time Projection Chamber (TPC). Along with the photon detection technique we discuss the purity of the photon candidates and measurements of hadronic decays via their electromagnetic decay channels. The π⁰→γ and η→γγ decay channels are addressed.     

Hadron production at forward and backward rapidities in \sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200 GeV d+Au collisions

Understanding normal nuclear medium effects present in heavy ion collisions is essential for understanding the following dynamics of the high density matter produced in the collision. Asymmetric collisions, such as deuteron + gold, provide a key tool for studying these effects since particles produced in the forward and backward directions may be subject to different phenomena. Particle production has been studied in d+Au collisions for various kinematic regions at the RHIC facility. PHENIX has measured charged hadron production as a function of pT for different centrality classes using the PHENIX muon spectrometers for d+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200$ GeV. The PHENIX muon spectrometers have coverage in both forward and backward directions in the rapidity range 1.2 |η| < 2.4. The R _cp measurement, the ratio of central to peripheral production, is presented and discussed. Comparisons are also made with some relevant theoretical calculations.     

Centrality dependence of freeze-out parameters from Au+Au collisions at \sqrt {s_{NN} } = 7.7, 11.5 and 39 GeV

The RHIC beam energy scan program in its first phase collected data for Au+Au collisions at beam energies of 7.7, 11.5 and 39 GeV. The event statistics collected at these lower energies allow us to study the centrality dependence of various observables in detail, and compare to fixed-target experiments at SPS for similar beam energies. The chemical and kinetic freeze-out parameters can be extracted from the experimentally measured yields of identified hadrons within the framework of thermodynamical models. These then provide information about the system at the stages of the expansion where inelastic and elastic collisions of the constituents cease. We present the centrality dependence of freeze-out parameters for Au+Au collisions at midrapidity for $\sqrt {s_{NN} } $ = 7.7, 11.5, and 39 GeV from the STAR experiment. The chemical freeze-out conditions are obtained by comparing the measured particle ratios (involving ??, K, p, and p) to those from the statistical thermal model calculations. The kinetic freeze-out conditions are extracted at these energies by simultaneously fitting the invariant yields of identified hadrons (??, K, and p) using Blast Wave model calculations.     

Neutral pion production in d-Au collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

In this paper, preliminary results are presented on high inclusive neutral pion measurements in d-Au collisions at GeV in the pseudo-rapidity range . Photons from the decay are detected in the Barrel Electromagnetic Calorimeter of the STAR experiment at RHIC. The analysis of this first BEMC hadron measurement is described in detail. The results are compared to earlier RHIC findings. Furthermore, the obtained invariant differential cross sections show good agreement with next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD calculations. Arrival of the final proofs: 4 July 2005 PACS: 25.75.-q     

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.     

Measurement of photons via conversion pairs in $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =200 GeV Au+Au collisions with the PHENIX experiment at RHIC

Thermal photons can provide information on the temperature of the new state of matter created at RHIC. In the p_T region of 1–3 GeV/c thermal photons are expected to be the dominant direct photon source. Therefore, a possible excess compared to a pure decay photon signal due to a thermal photon contribution should be seen in the double ratio (γ/γ(π⁰))_Measured/(γ/γ(π⁰))_Simulated, if sufficient accuracy can be reached. We present a method to reconstruct direct photons by measuring e⁺e^--pairs from external photon conversions.     

Chemical freeze-out temperature in the hydrodynamical description of Au + Au collisions at $$ \sqrt {^S NN} = 200 GeV $$

We study the effect of separate chemical and kinetic freeze-outs to the ideal hydrodynamical flow in Au + Au collisions at RHIC ( energy). Unlike earlier studies we explore how these effects can be counteracted by changes in the initial state of the hydrodynamical evolution. We conclude that the reproduction of pion, proton and antiproton yields necessitates a chemical freeze-out temperature of T ≈ 150MeV instead of T = 160–170 MeV motivated by thermal models. Contrary to previous reports, this lower temperature makes it possible to reproduce the p T spectra of hadrons if one assumes very small initial time, τ ₀ = 0.2 fm/c. However, the p T differential elliptic flow, v ₂(p T) remains badly reproduced. This points to the need to include dissipative effects (viscosity) or some other refinement to the model.     

Particle-species dependent modification of jet-induced correlations in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

Measurements in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV of jet correlations for a trigger hadron at intermediate transverse momentum (p_{T,trig}) with associated mesons or baryons at lower p_{T,assoc} indicate strong modification of the away-side jet. The ratio of jet-associated baryons to mesons increases with centrality and p_{T,assoc}. For the most central collisions, the ratio is similar to that for inclusive measurements. This trend is incompatible with in-vacuum fragmentation but could be due to jetlike contributions from correlated soft partons, which recombine upon hadronization.     

Multi-strange baryon elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at \sqrt {s_{NN} } = 2.76 TeV measured with the ALICE detector

We present the results on elliptic flow with multi-strange baryons produced in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } $ = 2.76 TeV. The analysis is performed with the ALICE detector at LHC. Multi-strange baryons are reconstructed via their decay topologies and the v ₂ measurements are analyzed with the two-particle scalar product method. The p _T differential v ₂ values are compared to the viscous hydrodynamical (VISH2+1) model calculation and to the STAR measurements in Au-Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } $ = 200 GeV. We found that the model describes ?? and ??v ₂ measurements within uncertainties. The differential v ₂ of ?? and ?? is similar to the STAR measurements at 200 GeV in Au-Au collisions.     

Multi-photon production in ee collisions at \sqrt{s} = 181-209 GeV

The process is studied using data collected by the OPAL detector at LEP between the years 1997 and 2000. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 672.3 pb^-1 at centre-of-mass energies lying between 181 GeV and 209 GeV. Total and differential cross-sections are determined and found to be in good agreement with the predictions of QED. Fits to the observed angular distributions are used to set limits on parameters from several models of physics beyond the Standard Model such as cut-off parameters, contact interactions of the type , gravity in extra spatial dimensions and excited electrons. In events with three photons in the final state the mass spectrum of photon pairs is investigated. No narrow resonance is found and limits are placed on the product of the production cross-section and branching ratio. Received: 22 July 2002 / Published online: 8 November 2002     

Dile pton production in p+ p,Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV

We study dilepton production in proton–proton, Cu+Cu as well as in Au+Au collisions at the center-of-mass energy \(\sqrt{s} =200\) GeV per participating nucleon pair within an extended statistical hadronization model. In extension to earlier studies we incorporate transport calculations for an estimate of uncorrelated e ⁺ e ^? -pairs from semileptonic D meson decays. While the invariant mass spectrum of dielectrons is well understood in the p+p collisions, severe discrepancies among different model scenarios based on hadronic degrees of freedom and recent data from the PHENIX Collaboration are found in heavy-ion collisions in the low-mass region from 0.15 to 0.6 GeV as well as in the intermediate mass regime from 1.1 to 3 GeV when employing the standard dilepton sources. We investigate, furthermore, the background from correlated dileptons that are not emitted as a pair from a parent hadron but emerge from semileptonic decays of two correlated daughter hadrons. Our calculations suggest a sizeable contribution of such sources in central heavy-ion collisions in the low-mass region. However, even the upper limits of our calculations are found to be far below the dilepton mass spectra of the PHENIX Collaboration.     

Ratios of charged antiparticles-to-particles near mid-rapidity in Au + Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=130 GeV

We have measured the ratios of antiparticles to particles for charged pions, kaons, and protons near mid-rapidity in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)] = 130 GeV. We observe / = 1.00+/-0.01(stat)+/-0.02(syst), / = 0.91+/-0.07(stat)+/-0.06(syst), and

/

= 0.60+/-0.04(stat)+/-0.06(syst). The / and

/

ratios give a consistent estimate of the baryo-chemical potential mu(B) of 45 MeV, a factor of 5-6 smaller than in central Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt[s(NN)] = 17.2 GeV.     

Perturbative QCD calculations of elliptic flow and shear viscosity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

The elliptic flow v_{2} and the ratio of the shear viscosity over the entropy density, eta/s, of gluon matter are calculated from the perturbative QCD (pQCD) based parton cascade Boltzmann approach of multiparton scatterings. For Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s]=200A GeV the gluon plasma generates large v_{2} values measured at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Standard pQCD yields eta/s approximately 0.08-0.15 as small as the lower bound found from the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory conjecture.     

Transverse momentum distribution and elliptic flow of charged hadrons in $$$$ collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{NN}}=193$$sNN=193 GeV using HYDJET++

Recent experimental observations of the charged hadron properties in \(U+U\) collisions at 193 GeV contradict many of the theoretical models of particle production including two-component Monte Carlo Glauber model. The experimental results show a small correlation between the charged hadron properties and the initial geometrical configurations (e.g. body–body, tip–tip etc.) of \(U+U\) collisions. In this article, we have modified the Monte Carlo HYDJET++ model to study the charged hadron production in \(U+U\) collisions at 193 GeV center-of-mass energy in tip–tip and body–body initial configurations. We have modified the hard as well as soft production processes to make this model suitable for \(U+U\) collisions. We have calculated the pseudorapidity distribution, transverse momentum distribution and elliptic flow distribution of charged hadrons with different control parameters in various geometrical configurations possible for \(U+U\) collision. We find that HYDJET++ model supports a small correlation between the various properties of charged hadrons and the initial geometrical configurations of \(U+U\) collision. Further, the results obtained in modified HYDJET++ model regarding \(dn_{ch}/d\eta \) and elliptic flow (\(v_{2}\)) suitably matches with the experimental data of \(U+U\) collisions in minimum bias configuration.     

Pion Interferometry of square root of (s(NN)) =130 GeV Au + Au collisions at RHIC

Two-pion correlation functions in Au+Au collisions at square root of [s(NN)] = 130 GeV have been measured by the STAR (solenoidal tracker at RHIC) detector. The source size extracted by fitting the correlations grows with event multiplicity and decreases with transverse momentum. Anomalously large sizes or emission durations, which have been suggested as signals of quark-gluon plasma formation and rehadronization, are not observed. The Hanbury Brown-Twiss parameters display a weak energy dependence over a broad range in square root of [s(NN)].     

Midrapidity antiproton-to-proton ratio from Au+Au collisions at sqrt [s(NN)]=130 GeV

We report results on the ratio of midrapidity antiproton-to-proton yields in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)] = 130 GeV per nucleon pair as measured by the STAR experiment at RHIC. Within the rapidity and transverse momentum range of /y/<0.5 and 0.4相似文献   

Spectra,elliptic flow and azimuthally sensitive HBT radii from the Buda-Lund model for $ \sqrt{{s_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV Au + Au collisions

We present calculations of elliptic flow and azimuthal dependence of correlation radii in the ellipsoidally symmetric generalization of the Buda-Lund hydrodynamic model of hadron production in high-energy nuclear collisions. We compare them to data from RHIC by simultaneous fits to azimuthally integrated invariant spectra of pions, kaons and protons-antiprotons measured by PHENIX in Au + Au reactions at center-of-mass energy of 200 AGeV. STAR data were used for azimuthally sensitive two-particle correlation function radii and for the transverse momentum dependence of the elliptic flow parameter v ₂. We have found that the transverse flow is faster in the reaction plane than out of plane, which results in a reaction zone that gets slightly more elongated in-plane than out of plane. The model parameters extracted from the fits are shown and discussed.     

Measurement of mutual coulomb dissociation in sqrt[s(NN)] = 130 GeV Au + Au collisions

We report on the first measurement of mutual Coulomb dissociation in heavy-ion collisions. We employ forward calorimeters to measure neutron multiplicity at beam rapidity. The cross section for simultaneous electromagnetic breakup of Au nuclei at a nucleon-nucleon center of mass energy sqrt[s(NN)] = 130 GeV is sigma(MCD) = 3.67+/-0.26 barns, which is comparable to the geometrical cross section. The ratio of the electromagnetic to the total cross section is in good agreement with calculations, as is the neutron multiplicity distribution.