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.     

A remark on the large difference between the glueball mass and T<Subscript>c</Subscript> in quenched QCD

The lattice QCD studies indicate that the critical temperature T _c ≃ 260-280 MeV of the deconfinement phase transition in quenched QCD is considerably smaller than the lowest-lying glueball mass m _G ≃ 1500-1700 MeV, i.e., T _c ≪ m _G. As a consequence of this large difference, the thermal excitation of the glueball in the confinement phase is strongly suppressed by the statistical factor e ^-mG/Tc ≃ 0.00207 even near T ≃ T _c. We consider its physical implication, and argue the abnormal feature of the deconfinement phase transition in quenched QCD from the statistical viewpoint. To appreciate this, we demonstrate a statistical argument of the QCD phase transition using the recent lattice QCD data. From the phenomenological relation between T _c and the glueball mass, the deconfinement transition is found to take place in quenched QCD before a reasonable amount of glueballs is thermally excited. In this way, quenched QCD reveals a question “what is the trigger of the deconfinement phase transition ?” Received: 18 November 2002 / Accepted: 4 February 2003 / Published online: 29 April 2003     

<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.     

Sigma mesonic mode near the QCD critical point

Properties of the QCD critical point, an endpoint of the first order boundary line in the temperature T–baryochemical potential μ _B plane, are discussed with the Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model. It is demonstrated that the softening of the sigma mesonic mode is inherent to the crossover transition of the chiral symmetry while the spectral enhancement of the particle–hole mode near zero frequency is associated with the QCD critical point. Phenomenological implications in heavy-ion experiments are mentioned briefly.     

How to make sense of the jet correlations results at RHIC?

We review the di-hadron correlation results from RHIC. A consistent physical picture was constructed based on the correlation landscape in p _T , Δφ, Δη and particle species. We show that the data are consistent with competition between fragmentation of survived jets and response of the medium to quenched jets. At intermediate p _T where the medium response are important, a large fraction of trigger hadrons do not come from jet fragmentation. We argue that these hadrons can strongly influence the interpretation of the low p _T correlation data. We demonstrate this point through a simple geometrical jet absorption model simulation. The model shows that the correlation between medium response hadrons dominates the pair yield and mimics the double hump structure of the away-side Δφ distribution at low p _T . This correlation was also shown to lead to complications in interpreting the results on reaction plane dependence and three particle correlations. Finally, we briefly discuss several related experimental issues which are important for proper interpretations of the experimental data.     

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.     

Can the RHIC <Emphasis Type="Italic">J</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">ψ</Emphasis> puzzle(s) be settled at LHC?

One observes strong suppression effects for hard probes, e.g. the production of J/ψ or high-p _T particles, in nucleus–nucleus (AA) collisions at RHIC. Surprisingly, the magnitude of the suppression is quite similar to that at SPS. In order to establish whether these features arise due to the presence of a thermalized system of quarks and gluons formed in the course of the collision, one should investigate the impact of suppression mechanisms which do not explicitly involve such a state. We calculate shadowing for gluons in the Glauber–Gribov theory and propose a model invoking a rapidity-dependent absorptive mechanism motivated by energy-momentum conservation effects. Furthermore, final-state suppression due to interaction with comoving matter (hadronic or pre-hadronic) has been shown to describe the data at SPS. We extend this model by including the backward reaction channel, i.e. recombination of open charm, which is estimated directly from pp data at RHIC. Strong suppression of charmonium both in pA and AA collisions at LHC is predicted. This is in stark contrast with the predictions of models assuming QGP formation and thermalization of heavy quarks.     

Fusion cross section for the system6Li+28Si atE ∼ 36 MeV

The fusion cross section for the system⁶Li+²⁸Si has been measured atE∼36 MeV. Combining this with the data available at lower energies, the nucleus-nucleus real potentials have been determined for a range of interaction distances.     

NA60 results on thermal dimuons

The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS has measured muon pairs with unprecedented precision in 158 A GeV In–In collisions. A strong excess of pairs above the known sources is observed in the whole mass region 0.2<M<2.6 GeV. The mass spectrum for M<1 GeV is consistent with a dominant contribution from π ⁺ π ⁻→ρ→μ ⁺ μ ⁻ annihilation. The associated ρ spectral function shows a strong broadening, but essentially no shift in mass. For M>1 GeV, the excess is found to be prompt, not due to enhanced charm production, with pronounced differences to Drell–Yan pairs. The slope parameter T _eff associated with the transverse momentum spectra rises with mass up to the ρ, followed by a sudden decline above. The rise for M<1 GeV is consistent with radial flow of a hadronic emission source. The seeming absence of significant flow for M>1 GeV and its relation to parton–hadron duality is discussed in detail, suggesting a dominantly partonic emission source in this region. A comparison of the data to the present status of theoretical modeling is also contained. The accumulated empirical evidence, including also a Planck-like shape of the mass spectra at low p _T and the lack of polarization, is consistent with a global interpretation of the excess dimuons as thermal radiation. We conclude with first results on ω in-medium effects.     

What do we really know about cold nuclear matter effects?

The measurement of charmonium suppression in relativistic heavy ion collisions is posited to be an unambiguous probe of the properties of the strongly interacting quark gluon plasma (sQGP). In hot and dense QCD matter Debye color screening prevents charm and anti-charm quark pairs from forming J/ψ mesons if the screening radius is smaller than the binding radius. However, one must have a clear understanding of the expected suppression in normal density QCD matter before interpreting any additional anomalous suppression. The PHENIX experiment has measured J/ψ production from colliding proton + proton and deuteron + gold beams at 200 GeV from the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC). The deuteron + gold data can be compared to the proton + proton baseline in order to establish the typical suppression in cold nuclear matter (CNM). For PHENIX, a suppression of J/ψ in cold nuclear matter is observed as one goes forward in rapidity (in the deuteron-going direction), corresponding to a region more sensitive to initial state low-x gluons in the gold nucleus. These results can be convoluted with the nuclear-environment-modified parton distribution functions, extracted from deep inelastic scattering (DIS) and Drell-Yan (DY) data, in order to estimate the J/ψ break up cross section in cold nuclear matter. One can also use a data driven method that does not rely on the assumption of the production mechanism, or PDF parameterization, to extrapolate to the heavy ion collision case. At this time both the predictions for CNM effect suppression in heavy ion collisions are somewhat ambiguous. Future results using the data acquired by the PHENIX experiment in run-6 (p + p) and run-8 (d + Au) will be vital for our understanding. These data, which are in the process of being analyzed, will provide a needed improvement in the statistical and systematic precision of constraints for CNM effects. These constraints must be improved in order to make firm conclusions concerning additional hot nuclear matter charmonium suppression in the sQGP.     

Elastic scattering ofα-particles from20Ne

A relatively simple procedure using nuclear interaction calculated microscopically from two-nucleon potential employing equivalence of resonating group method and generator coordinate method has been used to calculate the differential cross-sections (DCS) forα +²⁰Ne elastic scattering atE _lab=18.0, 20.2, 21.9, 23.0 and 27.2 MeV. The absorption effects due to the opening of the non-elastic channels are taken into account approximately by the sharp cut-off of lower partial waves. The anomalous large oscillations of the DCS at backward angles atE _lab=18.0 and 27.2 MeV are reproduced. The calculated results are in fair agreement with the experimental data.     

Neutron experiments with cryogenic methane hydrate and mesitylene moderators

In this article we describe the experimental results of a methane hydrate moderator as well as as mesitylene moderator operated at a temperature around 20K at the JESSICA (Jülich Experimental Spallation Target Set-up In COSY Area) experiment at the Jülich cooler synchrotron COSY. For the first time the cold neutron spectrum of a methane hydrate moderator was experimentally investigated. A comparison with a solid methane and an ice moderator atT = 20 K will be shown. MCNPX simulations with new developedS(α,β) scattering kernels will be compared with experimental data. The applicability of mesitylene and methane hydrate as cold moderators at spallation neutron sources will be discussed.     

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.     

Reaction48Ca (p,n)48Sc fromE p =1.885 to 5.1 MeV

The total (p, n) reaction cross section for⁴⁸Ca has been measured as a function of proton energy in the energy range 1.885 to 5.100 MeV with an overall resolution of ∼ 2 keV and in ∼ 5 keV energy steps. The fluctutions in fine resolution data have been analysed to determine the average coherence width 〈Γ〉. The excitation function averaged over large energy intervals has been analyzed in terms of the optical model. The isobaric analogue resonances atE _p ∼ 1.95 and 4 MeV have been shape-analyzed to extract the proton partial width and the spectroscopic factorS _n . A comparison of the gross structures observed in ∼ 55 keV averaged excitation function with the predictions of Izumo’s partial equilibrium model has also been made.     

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.     

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.     

Coexistence of color superconductivity and chiral symmetry breaking within the NJL model

The phase diagram for quark matter is investigated within a simple Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model without vector correlations. It is found that the phase structure in the temperature-density plane depends sensitively on the parametrization of the model. We present two schemes of parametrization of the model where, within the first one, a first-order phase transition from a phase with broken chiral symmetry to a color superconducting phase for temperatures below the triple point at T _t = 55 MeV occurs, whereas for the second one a second-order phase transition for temperatures below T _t = 7 MeV is found. In the latter case, there is also a coexistence phase of broken chiral symmetry with color superconductivity, which is a new finding within this class of models. Possible consequences for the phenomenology of the QCD phase transition at high baryon densities are discussed. Received: 3 January 2003 / Accepted: 21 February 2003 / Published online: 24 April 2003     

Markovian MC simulation of QCD evolution at NLO level with minimum <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis></Subscript>

We present two Monte Carlo algorithms of the Markovian type which solve the modified QCD evolution equations at NLO level. The modifications with respect to the standard DGLAP evolution concern the argument of the strong coupling constant, α _S. We first analyze the z-dependent argument and then the k _T -dependent one. The evolution time variable is identified with the rapidity. The two algorithms are tested to 0.05% precision level. We find that the NLO corrections in the evolution of the parton momentum distributions with k _T -dependent coupling constant are of the order of 10 to 20%, and in the small-x region even up to 30%, with respect to the LO contributions. The project is partly supported by the EU grant MTKD-CT-2004-510126, realized in a partnership with the CERN Physics Department and by the Polish Ministry of Science and Information Society Technologies grant No. 620/E-77/6.PR UE/DIE 188/2005-2008.     

Quark potential in a quark–meson plasma

We investigate the effect of the restoration of chiral symmetry on the quark potential in a quark–meson plasma by considering meson exchanges in the two flavor Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model at finite temperature and density. There are two possible oscillations in the chiral restoration phase; one is the Friedel oscillation due to the sharp quark Fermi surface at high density, and the other is the Yukawa oscillation driven by the complex meson poles at high temperature. The quark–meson plasma is strongly coupled in the temperature region 1≤T/T _c≤3, with T _c being the critical temperature of the chiral phase transition. The maximum coupling in this region is located at the phase transition point.