Monte-Carlo simulation of heavy-ion collisions

We present Monte-Carlo simulations for heavy-ion collisions combining PYTHIA and the McGill-AMY formalism to describe the evolution of hard partons in a soft background, modelled using hydrodynamic simulations. MARTINI generates full event configurations in the high p_T region that take into account thermal QCD and QED effects as well as effects of the evolving medium. This way it is possible to perform detailed quantitative comparisons with experimental observables.     

Estimation of the chiral magnetic effect considering the magnetic field response of the QGP medium

The magnetic field plays a major role in searching for the chiral magnetic effect in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. If the lifetime of the magnetic field is too short, as predicted by simulations of the field in vacuum, the chiral magnetic effect will be largely suppressed. However, the lifetime of the magnetic field will become longer when the QGP medium response is considered. We give an estimate of the effect, especially considering the magnetic field response of the QGP medium, and compare it with the experimental results for the background-subtracted correlator H at RHIC and LHC energies. The results show that our method explains the experimental results better at the top RHIC energy than at the LHC energy.     

Relativistic heavy-ion physics: Experimental overview

The field of relativistic heavy-ion physics is reviewed with emphasis on new results and highlights from the first run of the relativistic heavy-ion collider at BNL and the 15 year research programme at the super proton synchrotron (SPS) at CERN and the AGS at BNL.     

Dileptons in high-energy heavy-ion collisions

The current status of our understanding of dilepton production in ultra-relativistic heavyion collisions is discussed with special emphasis on signals from the (approach towards) chirally restored and deconfined phases. In particular, recent results of the CERN-SPS low-energy runs are compared to model predictions and interpreted. Prospects for RHIC experiments are given.     

Status of the chiral magnetic effect and collisions of isobars

In this review, we examine the current theoretical and experimental status of the chiral magnetic effect.We discuss possible future strategies for resolving uncertainties in interpretation including recommendations for theoretical work, recommendations for measurements based on data collected in the past five years, and recommendations for beam use in the coming years of RHIC. We specifically investigate the case for colliding nuclear isobars(nuclei with the same mass but different charge) and find the case compelling. We recommend that a program of nuclear isobar collisions to isolate the chiral magnetic effect from background sources be placed as a high priority item in the strategy for completing the RHIC mission.     

Collective flow in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

A brief introduction is given to the field of collective flow, currently being investigated experimentally at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider, Brookhaven National Laboratory. It is followed by an outline of the work that I have been doing in this field, in collaboration with Nicolas Borghini and Jean-Yves Ollitrault.     

Efficiency corrections for mutually inclusive variables and particle identification effect for mixed-cumulants in heavy-ion collisions

Mix-cumulants of conserved charge distributions are sensitive observables for probing properties of the QCD medium and phase transition in heavy-ion collisions. To perform precise measurements, efficiency correction is one of the most important step. In this study, using the binomial efficiency model, we derive efficiency correction formulas for mutually exclusive and inclusive variables. The UrQMD model is applied to verify the validity of these formulas for different types of correlations. Furthermore, we investigate the effect of the multiplicity loss and contamination emerging from the particle identifications. This study provides important steps toward future measurements of mixed-cumulants in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.     

Effects of the formation time of parton shower on jet quenching in heavy-ion collisions

Jet quenching has successfully served as a hard probe to study the properties of Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). As a multi-particle system, jets require time to develop from a highly virtual parton to a group of partons close to mass shells. In this study, we present a systematical analysis on the effects of this formation time on jet quenching in relativistic nuclear collisions. Jets from initial hard scatterings were simulated with Pythia, and their interactions with QGP were described using a Linear Boltzmann Transport (LBT) model that incorporates both elastic and inelastic scatterings between jet partons and the thermal medium. Three different estimations of the jet formation time were implemented and compared, including instantaneous formation, formation from single splitting, and formation from sequential splittings, before which no jet-medium interaction was assumed. We found that deferring the jet-medium interaction with a longer formation time not only affects the overall magnitude of the nuclear modification factor of jets but also its dependence on the jet transverse momentum.     

Event-by-event search for charged-neutral fluctuations in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 A⋅GeV

We analyse the proton electromagnetic form factor ratioR(Q ² ) =QF ₂ (Q ² )/F ₁ (Q ² ) as a function of momentum transferQ ² within perturbative QCD. We find that the prediction for (R(Q ² ) at large momentum transferQ depends on the exclusive quark wave functions, which are unknown. For a wide range of wave functions we find thatQF ₂ F ₁ ～ const. at large momentum transfer, which is in agreement with recent JLAB data.     

Formation of disoriented chiral condensates in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We present a brief review of the subject of disoriented chiral condensates (DCC). We describe the conventional scenarios for the formation of DCC which have been proposed in the literature. Observable signals, such as fluctuations in neutral to charged pion ratio, are discussed. We then discuss a novel scenario for DCC formation, recently proposed by us, where the entire region of hot partons can get converted into a single large DCC. Our arguments suggest that formation of such large DCC is unlikely in the collision of heavy nuclei, and ultra-high energy hadronic collisions may be better suited for this.     

Seeing jets in heavy-ion collisions

In these proceedings, we briefly review how jets can be reconstructed in heavy-ion collisions. The main point we address is the subtraction of the large contamination from the underlying event background. We first present the main ingredients needed to define the jets and perform the background subtraction and then discuss the efficiency of the subtraction for different jet algorithms and background-estimation methods.     

Chiral magnetic effect in isobar collisions from stochastic hydrodynamics

We studied the chiral magnetic effect in AuAu, RuRu, and ZrZr collisions at \begin{document}$\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}=200\;{\rm{GeV}}$\end{document}. The axial charge evolution was modeled with stochastic hydrodynamics, and geometrical quantities were calculated with the Monte Carlo Glauber model. By adjusting the relaxation time of the magnetic field, we found our results are in good agreement with background subtracted data for AuAu collisions at the same energy. We also made predictions for RuRu and ZrZr collisions. We found a weak centrality dependence on initial chiral imbalance, which implies that the centrality dependence of chiral magnetic effect signals results mainly from the effects of the magnetic field and volume factor. Furthermore, our results show an unexpected dependence on system size. While the AuAu system has larger chiral imbalance and magnetic field, it was observed to have a smaller signal for the chiral magnetic effect due to the larger volume suppression factor.     

Z0 boson associated b-jet production in high-energy nuclear collisions

The production of vector boson tagged heavy quark jets potentially provides new tools to probe the jet quenching effect. In this paper, we present the first theoretical study on the angular correlations (\begin{document}$ \Delta\phi_{bZ} $\end{document}), transverse momentum imbalance (\begin{document}$ x_{bZ} $\end{document}), and nuclear modification factor (\begin{document}$ I_{AA} $\end{document}) of \begin{document}$ Z^0 $\end{document} boson tagged b-jets in heavy-ion collisions, which was performed using a Monte Carlo transport model. We find that the medium modification of the \begin{document}$ \Delta\phi_{bZ} $\end{document} for \begin{document}$ Z^0$\end{document} + b-jet has a weaker dependence on \begin{document}$ \Delta\phi_{bZ} $\end{document} than that for \begin{document}$ Z^0$\end{document} + jet, and the modification patterns are sensitive to the initial jet \begin{document}$ p_T $\end{document} distribution. Additionally, with the high purity of the quark jet in \begin{document}$ Z^0$\end{document} + (b-) jet production, we calculate the momentum imbalance \begin{document}$ x_{bZ} $\end{document} and the nuclear modification factor \begin{document}$ I_{AA} $\end{document} of \begin{document}$ Z^0$\end{document} + b-jet in Pb+Pb collisions. We observe a smaller \begin{document}$ \Delta \langle x_{jZ} \rangle $\end{document} and larger \begin{document}$ I_{AA} $\end{document} of \begin{document}$ Z^0$\end{document} + b-jet in Pb+Pb collisions relative to those of \begin{document}$ Z^0$\end{document} + jet, which may be an indication of the mass effect of jet quenching and can be tested in future measurements.     

Re-hardening of hadron transverse mass spectra in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We analyze the spectra of pions and protons in heavy-ion collisions at relativistic energies from 2 A GeV to 65+65 A GeV by using a jet-implemented hadron-string cascade model. In this energy region, hadron transverse mass spectra first show softening until SPS energies, and re-hardening may emerge at RHIC energies. Since hadronic matter is expected to show only softening at higher energy densities, this re-hardening of spectra can be interpreted as a good signature of the quark-gluon plasma formation     

The effect of hadronic scatterings on the measurement of vector meson spin alignments in heavy-ion collisions

Spin alignments of vector mesons and hyperons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions have been proposed as signals of global polarization.The STAR experiment first observed the ∧ polarization.Recently,the ALICE collaboration measured the transverse momentum {PT) and the collision centrality dependence of K*,and Φ spin alignments during Pb-Pb collisions at ~(1/2)sNN=2.76 TeV.A large signal is observed in the low pT region of mid-central collisions for K~*,while the signal is much smaller for Φ,and these have not been understood yet.Since vector mesons have different lifetimes and their decay products have different scattering cross sections,they suffer from different hadronic effects.In this paper,we study the effect of hadronic interactions on the spin alignment of K~*,Φ,and p mesons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions with a multi-phase transport model.We find that hadronic scatterings lead to a deviation of the observed spin alignment matrix element p00 away from the true value for p and K*mesons(with a bigger effect on p) while the effect is negligible for the Φ meson.The effect depends on the kinematic acceptance:the observed p00 value is lower than the true value when the pseudorapidity(η) coverage is small,while there is little effect when the η coverage is large.Hence,this study provides valuable information to understand the vector meson spin alignment signals observed during the experiments.     

相对论重离子碰撞中部分相干源的相干因子

给出了两种统计系综下相对论重离子碰撞中部分相干源的相干因子的表达式     

Probe chiral magnetic effect with signed balance function

In this paper a pair of observables are proposed as alternative ways,by examining the fluctuation of net momentum-ordering of charged pairs,to study the charge separation induced by the Chiral Magnetic Effect(CME)in relativistic heavy ion collisions.They are,the out-of-plane to in-plane ratio of fluctuation of the difference between signed balance functions measured in pair’s rest frame,and the ratio of it to similar measurement made in the laboratory frame.Both observables have been studied with simulations including flow-related backgrounds,and for the first time,backgrounds that are related to resonance's global spin alignment.The two observables have similar positive responses to signal,and opposite,limited responses to identifiable backgrounds arising from resonance flow and spin alignment.Both observables have also been tested with two realistic models,namely,a multi-phase transport(AMPT)model and the anomalous-viscous fluid dynamics(AVFD)model.These two observables,when cross examined,will provide useful insights in the study of CME-induced charge separation.     

Mass spectrum of the dimuons produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The mass spectrum of dimuons produced from the matter in the central region of rapidity in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions is calculated in accordance with Bjorken’s recently proposed model for relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The matter in this central region is assumed to consist of a deconfined quark-gluon plasma phase and a pionized phase. Distinct enhancements of the dimuon mass spectrum below 500 MeV, due to the quark-gluon phase, are predicted for a deconfinement phase-transition temperatureT _c<200 MeV.     

Systematics of elliptic flow in heavy-ion collisions

We analyze elliptic flow from SIS to RHIC energies systematically in a realistic dynamical cascade model. We compare our results with the recent data from STAR and PHOBOS collaborations on elliptic flow of charged particles at midrapidity in Au+ Au collisions at RHIC. In the analysis of elliptic flow at RHIC energy, we find a good fitting with data at 1.5 times a scaling factor to our model, which characterizes that the model is required to have extra pressure generated from the subsequent parton scattering after the initial minijet production. In energy dependence of elliptic flow, we notice re-hardening nature at RHIC energies. Both these two observations would probably imply the possible formation of quark-gluon plasma.