Identified hadron production in √s = 130 GeV Au-Au collisions at relativistic heavy-ion collider

Identified π^±,K ^±, p and -p transverse momentum spectra at mid-rapidity in √^sNN = 130 GeV Au-Au collisions were measured by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC as a function of collision centrality. Average transverse momenta increase with the number of participating nucleonsN _part similarly for all particle species. The multiplicity densities scale faster thanN _part. TheK ^± andp ^±yields per participant increase faster than the π^± yields. We combine the PHENIX neutral and charged pion measurement and find that in central collisions forp _T >-2 GeV/c,-p andp yields are comparable to or even exceed the pion yields.     

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.     

Intriguing aspects in baryon production at relativistic heavy-ion collider

We review experimental results on baryon production at mid-rapidity in nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC. Outstanding physics issues include the mechanism for baryon-anti-baryon production from thermally equilibrated partons, the dynamics of baryon number transport and the evolution dynamics of baryons during hadronic expansion before the final freeze-out. We highlight recent measurements on the production of protons, lambdas and their anti-particles in terms of these physics issues. We propose a physical mechanism of topological baryon formation through gluon junction hadronization and future measurements, which can test this hypothesis experimentally.     

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     

Isospin equilibration in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the mixing and the kinetic equilibration of projectile and target nucleons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions in the energy regime between 150 AMeV and 2 AGeV in a coupled-channel BUU (CBUU) approach. We find that equilibrium in the projectile-target degrees of freedom is in general not reached even for large systems at low energy where elastic nucleon-nucleon collisions dominate. Inelastic nucleon excitations are more favorable for equilibration and their relative abundance increases both with energy and mass. Experimentally, the projectile/target admixture can be determined by measuring the degree of isospin equilibration in isospin asymmetric nuclear collisions. For one of the most promising systems currently under investigation, ⁹⁶ ₄₄Ru +⁹⁶ ₄₀Zr, we investigate the influence of the equation of state and the inelastic in-medium cross section. Received: 23 September 1998 / Revised version: 3 December 1998     

Charged particle density distributions in Au + Au collisions at relativistic heavy-ion collider energies

Charged particle pseudorapidity distributions have been measured in Au+ Au collisions using the BRAHMS detector at RHIC. The results are presented as a function of the collision centrality and the center of mass energy. They are compared to the predictions of different parton scattering models and the important role of hard scattering processes at RHIC energies is discussed. Keywords. Relativistic heavy-ion collisions; charged hadron production; pseudorapidity distributions; centrality dependence; hard scattering processes.     

Drell-Yan dilepton production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at RHIC

We investigate the lepton pair production with the Drell-Yan process in relativistic heavy ion collisions by computing the double differential cross section dσ/dM²dy and dσ/dM²dx_F at the next-to-leading order in p+Au and Au+Au collisions with √s_NN =200 GeV at RHIC. The resulting nuclear modification factors R^pAu and R^AuAu show strong sensitivity to the cold nuclear matter (CNM) effects and could probe the CNM effects at a very wide region of the longitudinal momentum fraction x. The variation of R with the invariant mass M, the rapidity y and the Feynman variable x_F is shown and we find that the nuclear modification factor for the double differential cross section could be smaller than 0.4 in some kinematic regions of high-energy nucleus-nucleus reactions at RHIC.     

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     

Searching for quark matter with dileptons and photons: From SPS to relativistic heavy-ion collider

The heavy-ion programme at the CERN SPS, which started back in ’86, has produced a wealth of very interesting and intriguing results in the quest for the quark-gluon plasma. The highlights of the programme on dilepton and direct photon measurements are reviewed emphasizing the most recent results obtained in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 A GeV. Prospects from RHIC are discussed.     

A first look at Au+Au collisions at RHIC energies using the PHOBOS detector

The PHOBOS detector has been used to study Au + Au collisions at√^sNN = 56,130, and 200 GeV Several global observables have been measured and the results are compared with theoretical models. These observables include the charged-particle multiplicity measured as a function of beam energy, pseudo-rapidity, and centrality of the collision. A unique feature of the PHOBOS detector is its almost complete angular coverage such that these quantities can be studied over a pseudo-rapidity interval of |η|≤5.4. This allows for an almost complete integration of the total charged particle yield, which is found to be about N _ch ^tot = 4200 ±470 at √^sNN = 130 GeV and N _ch ^tot = 5300 ±530 at √^sNN = 200 GeV. The ratio of anti-particles to particles emitted in the mid-rapidity region has also been measured using the PHOBOS magnetic spectrometer. Of particular interest is the ratio of anti-protons to protons in the mid-rapidity region, which was found to be (i.e.921-1) at √^sNN = 130 GeV. This high value suggests that an almost baryon-free region has been produced in the collisions.     

Two-dimensional multiplicity fluctuation analysis of target residues in nuclear collisions

Multiplicity fluctuation of the target residues emitted in the interactions in a wide range of projectile energies from 500 A MeV to 60 A GeV is investigated in the framework of two-dimensional scaled factorial moment methodology.The evidence of non-statistical multiplicity fluctuation is found in 16 O-AgBr collisions at 60 A GeV,but not in 56 Fe-AgBr collisions at 500 A MeV,84 Kr-AgBr collisions at 1.7 A GeV,16 O-AgBr collisions at 3.7 A GeV and 197 Au-AgBr collisions at 10.7 A GeV.     

Gluon saturation and net-proton spectra in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

By means of the AKK08 fragmentation function, the net-proton transverse momentum (pT) spectra in A+A collisions are studied with two phenomenological models based on the Color Glass Condensate formalism. After a x2 analysis of the experimental data from BRAHMS, the normalization constant C is extracted at RHIC energies of √SNN =62.4 and 200 GeV, and the theoretical results of the net-proton pT spectra at selected rapidities are also given. It is shown that the theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental data. Finally, assuming the constant C should have an exponent dependence of √SNN, we also predict the theoretical results of net-proton pT spectra at LHC energies of √SNN = 2.76, 3.94, and 5.52 TeV.     

Gluon saturation and net-proton spectra in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

By means of the AKK08 fragmentation function, the net-proton transverse momentum (pT) spectra in A+A collisions are studied with two phenomenological models based on the Color Glass Condensate formalism. After a χ² analysis of the experimental data from BRAHMS, the normalization constant C is extracted at RHIC energies of √sNN=62.4 and 200 GeV, and the theoretical results of the net-proton pT spectra at selected rapidities are also given. It is shown that the theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental data. Finally, assuming the constant C should have an exponent dependence of √sNN, we also predict the theoretical results of net-proton pT spectra at LHC energies of √sNN=2.76, 3.94, and 5.52 TeV.     

Can van Hove singularities be observed in relativistic heavy-ion collisions?

Based on general arguments, the in-medium quark propagator in a quark-gluon plasma leads to a quark dispersion relation consisting of two branches, of which one exhibits a minimum at some finite momentum. This results in a vanishing group velocity for collective quark modes. Important quantities such as the production rate of low mass lepton pairs and mesonic correlators depend inversely on this group velocity. Therefore these quantities, which follow from self energy diagrams containing a quark loop, are strongly affected by van Hove singularities (peaks and gaps). If these sharp structures could be observed in relativistic heavy-ion collisions it would reveal the physical picture of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) as a gas of quasiparticles.     

System scan of the multiplicity correlation between forward and backward rapidities in relativistic heavy-ion collisions using a multi-phase transport model

A systematic study on forward–backward (FB) multiplicity correlations from large systems to small ones through a multi-phase transport model (AMPT) has been performed and the phenomenon that correlation strength increases with centrality can be explained by taking the distribution of events as the superposition of a series of Gaussian distributions. It is also found that correlations in the begin{document}$ eta -phi $end{document} plane can imply the shape of the event. Furthermore, long-range correlations originate from the fluctuations associated with the source information. FB correlations allow us to decouple long-range correlations from short-range correlations, and may provide a chance to investigate the α-clustering structure in initial colliding light nuclei as well. It seems the tetrahedron ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O collision gives a more uniform and symmetrical fireball, that emits the final particles more isotropically or independently in the longitudinal direction, indicating that the forward–backward multiplicity correlation could be used to identify the pattern of α-clustered ¹⁶O in future experiments.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.