Strange hadron production in d+Au collisions at RHIC

We report the centrality dependence of transverse mass (m _t ) spectra at mid-rapidity for the identified strange hadrons K _S ⁰ , ? $\Lambda + \bar \Lambda $ and $\Xi ^ - + \bar \Xi ^ + $ in d+Au collisions at RHIC. The measured transverse momentum (p _T ) covers 0.4<p _T <6.0 GeV/c for K _S ⁰ , ø, $\Lambda + \bar \Lambda $ and 0.6<p _T <5.0 GeV/c for $\Xi ^ - + \bar \Xi ^ + $ . The binary collision normalized nuclear modification factors R _CP of these hadrons indicate that the Cronin effect in d+Au collisions has a distinct particle-type dependence. the R _CP ratios show a distinct baryons versus mesons dependence: the R _CP for $\Xi ^ - + \bar \Xi ^ + $ follows that for $\Lambda + \bar \Lambda $ while the R _CP for the ? is close to that for the K _S ⁰ . Similar features have also been observed in Au+Au collisions. Initial parton scattering alone is not sufficient to explain this particle-type dependence. Hadronization processes are likely to be important for determining hadron properties in high-energy collisions as suggested by coalescence and recombination models.     

Probing the QCD phase boundary with elliptic flow in relativistic heavy ion collisions at STAR

We present measurement of elliptic flow, v ₂, for charged and identified particles at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } $ = 7.7?C39 GeV. We compare the inclusive charged hadron v ₂ to those from transport model calculations, such as the UrQMD model, AMPT default model and AMPT string-melting model. We discuss the energy dependence of the difference in v ₂ between particles and anti-particles. The v ₂ of ? meson is observed to be systematically lower than other particles in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } $ = 11.5 GeV.     

Charged hadron suppression in Au+Au collisions at high p T from STAR

We report high statistics measurements of inclusive charged hadron production in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200$ GeV and 130 GeV. A large, approximately constant hadron suppression is observed in central Au+Au collisions for 5 ‖p _T ‖ 12 GeV/c. The collision energy dependence of the yields and the centrality and p _T dependence of the suppression provide stringent constraints on theoretical models of suppression. Models incorporating initial-state gluon saturation or partonic energy loss in dense matter are largely consistent with observations. The p _T -dependent suppression expected from models incorporating jet attenuation in cold nuclear matter or absorption of fragmentation hadrons is not observed.     

Characteristics of charged particle production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Inclusive spectra of charged particles at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 130$ GeV and 200 GeV were measured with the STAR detector at RHIC. The measured mean transverse momentum 〈p _T 〉 shows a characteristic dependence on charged particle multiplicity and beam energy in Au+Au collisions that is distinctly different from pp, $p\bar p$ and e⁺e^? collisions. A 32%±3%(syst) increase in 〈p _T 〉 from pp to Au+Au collisions was observed at 200 GeV. While the charged multiplicity was found to increase by 19%±5%(syst) from $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 130$ GeV to 200 GeV, no significant difference in 〈p _T 〉 was found between the two energies. A comparison with model predictions is discussed.     

K S 0 , Λ and ≡ production at intermediate to high pT from Au+Au collisions at \sqrt {s_{NN} } = 39, 11.5 and 7.7 GeV

We report on the p _T dependence of nuclear modification factors (R _CP) for K _S ⁰ , ??, ?? and the $\bar NK_S^0 $ ratios at mid-rapidity from Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } $ = 39, 11.5 and 7.7 GeV. At $\sqrt {s_{NN} } $ = 39 GeV, the R _CP data show a baryon/meson separation at intermediate p _T and a suppression for K _S ⁰ for p _T up to 4.5 GeV/c; the $\bar \Lambda K_S^0 $ shows baryon enhancement in the most central collisions. However, at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } $ = 11.5 and 7.7 GeV, R _CP shows less baryon/meson separation and $\bar NK_S^0 $ shows almost no baryon enhancement. These observations indicate that the matter created in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } $ = 11.5 or 7.7 GeV might be distinct from that created at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } $ = 39 GeV.     

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.     

Balance functions at RHIC

The balance function is based on the principle that charge is locally conserved when particles are pair produced. Balance functions have been measured for all charged pairs, identified pion pairs, and identified charged kaon pairs in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200$ GeV and p+p collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200$ GeV at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider using STAR. Balance functions for all charged particles from Au+Au scale smoothly with centrality to the p+p value. Balance functions for charged particles and pions are narrower in central collisions than in peripheral collisions consistent with trends predicted by models incorporating the concept of late hadronization. Balance functions for kaon pairs represent a strangeness balance. Balance functions for kaons are narrower than those for pion pairs and may show less dependence on centrality.     

K − and \bar p spectra for AuAu collisions at \sqrt s = 200 GeV from STAR, PHENIX, and BRAHMS in comparison to core-corona model predictions

Based on results obtained with event generators we have launched the core-corona model. It describes in a simplified way but quite successfully the centrality dependence of multiplicity and 〈p _t 〉 of identified particles observed in heavy-ion reactions at beam energies between $\sqrt s = 17$ and 200 GeV. Also the centrality dependence of the elliptic flow, υ ₂, for all charged and identified particles could be explained in this model. Here we extend this analysis and study the centrality dependence of single-particle spectra of K ^? and $\bar p$ measured by the PHENIX, STAR, and BRAHMS Collaborations. We find that also for these particles the analysis of the spectra in the core-corona model suffers from differences in the data published by the different experimental groups, notably for the pp collisions. As for protons and K ⁺, for each experience the data agree well with the prediction of the core-corona model but the values of the two necessary parameters depend on the experiments. We show as well that the average momentum as a function of the centrality depends in a very sensitive way on the particle species and may be quite different for particles which have about the same mass. Therefore the idea to interpret this centrality dependence as a consequence of a collective expansion of the system, as done in blast way fits, may be premature.     

Evidence for an emission source of large space-time extent in Au+Au collisions at RHIC

The source imaging technique of Brown and Danielewicz has been used to extract two-pion emission source functions over a broad range of k _T and centralities in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt s = 200$ GeV. The source functions reflect the combined contributions of a short-range Gaussian-like component and a long-range exponential-like component. A parametrization of the source function gives a RMS radius for the long-range source which is approximately three times that for the short-range source. The centrality dependence of the extracted source parameters for the short- and long-range sources indicate similar patterns.     

Diagnostics of hot dense matter produced in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

We study, in a pQCD calculation augmented by nuclear effects, the jet energy loss needed to reproduce the measured π ⁰ spectra in Au+Au collisions at large p _T , measured by PHENIX at RHIC at $\sqrt s = 200$ AGeV. Averaged energy loss obtained in the GLV formalism is applied in our recent calculation based on NLO pQCD (including shadowing and multiscattering). The method of jet tomography is capable to measure the opacity of the produced hot dense matter at RHIC energy in heavy ion collisions.     

Energy and system size dependence of charged hadron transverse momentum spectra from Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at √S NN =62.4 and 200 GeV

The PHOBOS Collaboration has measured transverse momentum distributions of charged hadrons produced in Cu+Cu collisions at √s _NN =200 and 62.4 GeV. The nuclear modification factor R _AA ^N _part is calculated relative to p+p data at both collision energies as a function of collision centrality. For the same number of participating nucleons, R _AA ^N _part is essentially the same in both systems over the full range of p Tthat is measured. In addition, we observe that within experimental uncertainties, the ratio of 200 GeV to 62.4 GeV Cu+Cu yields has only a moderate centrality dependence and is consistent with the value previously measured in Au+Au collisions for a broad range of p _T.     

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.     

Tomographic studies of the sQGP at RHIC

Azimuthal correlation functions are used to study jet and di-jet properties as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200$ GeV. Utilizing a novel technique to decompose the correlation function into a (di-)jet and an underlying event, the jet-pair distribution is extracted and compared to similar results for d+Au collisions obtained at the same collision energy. A striking similarity is observed between the widths and associated yields of the (di-)jet distributions for d+Au and peripheral Au+Au collisions. By contrast, the distributions for mid-central Au+Au collisions indicate an increase in the di-jet yield with centrality, and a very broad away-side jet having a possible minimum at Δ?≈π. These features point to significant medium induced modification to the away-side jet and are compatible with recent predictions of jet-induced “conical flow”.     

Multi-quark structure ofU(3.1)

We interpret the recently observedU(3.1) mesons with the \(\Lambda \bar p\) + pions decays as the bound state of \(\Lambda ,\bar p\) andX ₀(1480). TheX ₀(1480) is a mesonium with \(Q^2 \bar Q^2 \) structures observed in γγ reactions and \(\bar pn\) annihilations. With this interpretation, we can understand its decay modes. Furthermore, we predict the ratio of \(\sigma (\Lambda \bar p\pi ^ + \pi ^ - )/\sigma (\Lambda \bar p\pi ^ + \pi ^ + )\) to be ?3.1 for centrally produced events and that the width of \(U^ - (\Lambda \bar p\pi ^ + \pi ^ - )\) to be greater than that of \(U^ + (\Lambda \bar p\pi ^ + \pi ^ + )\) . Both predictions seem to be in reasonable accord with the available data. We call for the detection of the \(\Lambda \bar p\pi ^ - \pi ^ - \) mode to verify the present interpretation.     

Net charge fluctuations at RHIC

We present measurements of dynamical net charge fluctuations in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 20$ , 62, 130 and 200 GeV using the measure ν _+?,dyn. We observe the dynamical fluctuations are finite at all energies, and do not exhibit dependence on beam energy. We find net charge fluctuations violate the trivial 1/N scaling expected for nuclear collisions consisting of independent nucleon-nucleon interactions. We also find dynamical fluctuations exhibit sizable dependence of the pseudo-rapidity and azimuthal ranges of integration. We compare measured data with transport models and a toy model invoking radial flow, and show the bulk of the measured correlations can be accounted for by resonance production and radial collective flow.     

Covariant partition temperature model ande + e − annihilation

The rapidity distributions of inclusive \(e^ + e^ - \to h\bar h + \cdot \cdot \cdot\) of PEP and DESY experiments are analyzed in terms of the covariant partition temperatureT _p model. The estimates ofT _p ^* in the fireball system are comparable to the conventional temperature, the energy dependence follows approximately Stefan's law, the radius of the specific volume ralative to the energy density being ～1.18 fm. In the c.m.s. of collision, \(T_p = AW^a (W = \sqrt s in GeV)\) witha=0.60±0.05 andA=0.256±0.006, it is found \(T_p \cong {W \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {W {\tfrac{3}{2}\left\langle {n_ \pm } \right\rangle }}} \right. \kern-0em} {\tfrac{3}{2}\left\langle {n_ \pm } \right\rangle }}\) . These properties hold also for \(\bar pp\) collision, but not forpp→π^?+...     

Mid-rapidity ϕ meson production at \sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200 GeV Au+Au and pp collisions from STAR

We present the results for the measurement of ? meson production in $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200$ GeV Au+Au and pp collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Using the event mixing technique, spectra and yields are obrained from the ?→K⁺K^? decay channel for five centrality bins in Au+Au collisions and in pp collisions. We observe that the spectrum shape in Au+Au collisions depends weakly on the centrality and the shape of the spectrum in pp collisions is significantly different from that in Au+Au collisions.     

Identified particle production in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at RHIC

Measurements of identified particle production with the PHENIX experiment at RHIC have reached a mature state, where a multitude of nuclear systems at different colliding energies have been studied. The discovery configurations of $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 130$ and 200 GeV Au+Au collisions have now been supplemented by additional Au+Au and Cu+Cu configurations at various energies, along with baseline p+p and d+Au runs at $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 130$ GeV. In this work we present a systematic study of the Cronin effect in d+Au collisions and recent results from p+p collisions. We then proceed to make a critical comparison of pion, kaon and proton production in heavy ion and baseline systems, and discuss the observed nuclear effects on hadron production.     

Energy dependence of {\bar{K}N} interaction in nuclear medium

When the $\bar{K}N$ system is submerged in nuclear medium the $\bar{K}N$ scattering amplitude and the final state branching ratios exhibit a strong energy dependence when going to energies below the $\bar{K}N$ threshold. A sharp increase of $\bar{K}N$ attraction below the $\bar{K}N$ threshold provides a link between shallow $\bar{K}$ -nuclear potentials based on the chiral $\bar{K}N$ amplitude evaluated at threshold and the deep phenomenological optical potentials obtained in fits to kaonic atoms data. We show the energy dependence of the in-medium K ^??? p amplitude and demonstrate the impact of energy dependent branching ratios on the Λ-hypernuclear production rates.     

Perturbative QCD coherence ine + e − annihilation

We study the pattern of soft parton radiation in the hard annihilation processes \(e^ + e^ - \to q\bar q\gamma \) and \(e^ + e^ - \to q\bar qg\) by explicit evaluation of the cross sections for \(e^ + e^ - \to q\bar q\gamma g\) and \(e^ + e^ - \to q\bar qgg + q\bar qq\bar q\) taken care of correct normalization. We find the coherence effects as observed experimentally and discuss why these effects are not present in the usual models based onO(α _s ² ) perturbation theory with subsequent independent fragmentation.