Variation of jet quenching from RHIC to LHC and thermal suppression of the QCD coupling constant

We perform a joint jet tomographic analysis of the data on the nuclear modification factor R _AA from PHENIX at RHIC and ALICE at LHC. The computations are performed accounting for radiative and collisional parton energy loss with running coupling constant. Our results show that the observed slow variation of R _AA from RHIC to LHC indicates that the QCD coupling constant is suppressed in the quark-gluon plasma produced at LHC.     

Fragmentation function in non-equilibrium QCD using closed-time path integral formalism

In this paper we implement the Schwinger–Keldysh closed-time path integral formalism in non-equilibrium QCD in accordance to the definition of the Collins–Soper fragmentation function. We consider a high-p _T parton in QCD medium at initial time τ ₀ with an arbitrary non-equilibrium (non-isotropic) distribution function fragmenting to a hadron. We formulate the parton-to-hadron fragmentation function in non-equilibrium QCD in the light-cone quantization formalism. It may be possible to include final-state interactions with the medium via a modification of the Wilson lines in this definition of the non-equilibrium fragmentation function. This may be relevant to the study of hadron production from a quark–gluon plasma at RHIC and LHC.     

Nuclear modification at ?{sNN }\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 17.3 GeV, measured at NA49

Transverse momentum spectra up to 4.5GeV/c were measured around midrapidity in Pb+Pb reactions at ?{s_NN }\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 17.3GeV, for π ^±, p, [`(p)]\bar p and K ^±, by the NA49 experiment. The nuclear modification factors R _AA , R _AA/pA and R _CP were extracted and are compared to RHIC results at ?{S_NN }\sqrt {S_{NN} } = 200GeV. The modification factor R _AA shows a rapid increase with transverse momentum in the covered region. The modification factor R _CP shows saturation well below unity in the π ^± channel. The extracted R _CP values follow the 200GeV RHIC results closely in the available transverse momentum range for all particle species. For π ^± above 2.5GeV/c transverse momentum, the measured suppression is smaller than that observed at RHIC. The nuclear modification factor R _AA/pA for π ^± stays well below unity.     

Deuteron and antideuteron measurements in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200~\mbox{GeV}$ at RHIC-PHENIX

In Run-7 of RHIC operations PHENIX has recorded over 5.4 billion minimum bias events, facilitating a detailed study of deuteron and antideuteron production as a function of centrality and up to transverse momentum of p _T =5 GeV/c. We present transverse momentum p _T and transverse mass m _T spectra, mean transverse momentum 〈p _T 〉, source parameters, particle ratios, and nuclear modification factor R _CP . Deuteron and antideuteron spectra are compared to those of other identified particles and to hydrodynamical predictions.     

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.     

Suppression of high-pT non-photonic electrons in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =200 GeV

The strong suppression of high p_T hadrons observed at RHIC has led to the interpretation that energetic partons lose their energy via induced gluon radiation in the hot and dense matter before fragmenting into hadrons. The study of heavy quark production can extend our understanding of this scenario. Due to the dead cone effect, the suppression of heavy quark mesons at high p_T is expected to be smaller than that observed for charged hadrons at the same energy. The measurement of non-photonic single electrons up to high p_T provides information on charm and beauty production. The semi-leptonic decays of D and B mesons are the dominant contribution to the non-photonic electron spectra. The preliminary spectra from p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at  =200 GeV have been extracted for mid-rapidity non-photonic electrons in the range 1.5<p_T (GeV/c)<10. The corresponding nuclear modification factors (R_AA) are presented and show a large suppression in central Au+Au collisions, indicating an unexpectedly large energy loss for heavy quarks in the hot and dense matter created at RHIC. This observed suppression is compared to recent theoretical models. PACS  13.85.Qk; 13.20.Fc; 13.20.He; 25.75.Dw     

Pion production in dAu collisions at RHIC energy

We present our results on neutral pion (π⁰) production in pp and dAu collisions at RHIC energy. Pion spectra are calculated in a next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD-based model. The model includes the transverse component of the initial parton distribution (“intrinsic k_T”). We compare our results to the available experimental data from RHIC, and fit the data with high precision. The calculation tuned this way is repeated for the dAu collision, and used to investigate the interplay of shadowing and multiple scattering at RHIC. The centrality dependence of the nuclear modification factor shows a measurable difference between different shadowing parameterizations.     

Induced photon emission from quark jets in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the induced photon bremsstrahlung from a fast quark produced in AA collisions due to multiple scattering in quark-gluon plasma. For RHIC and LHC conditions, the induced photon spectrum is sharply peaked at a photon energy close to the initial quark energy. In this region, the contribution of the induced radiation to the photon fragmentation function exceeds the ordinary vacuum radiation. Contrary to previous analyses [4–7], our results show that, at RHIC and LHC energies, the final-state interaction effects in quark-gluon plasma do not suppress the direct photon production and may even enhance it at p _T ～5–15 GeV.     

Interactions of charmed mesons with nucleons in the ¯<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis> reaction

We study the possibility to measure the elastic ΦN (Φ≡J/ψ,ψ(2S), ψ(3770), χ_2c) scattering cross section in the reaction ˉp+d→Φ+n _sp and the elastic D(ˉD)N scattering cross section in the reaction ˉp+d→D ⁻ D ⁰ p _sp. Our studies indicate that the elastic scattering cross sections can be determined for Φ momenta about 4–6 GeV/c and D/ˉD momenta 2–5 GeV/c by selecting events with p _t≥ 0.4 GeV/c for Φ's and p _t(p _sp) ≥ 0.5 GeV/c for D/ˉD-meson production. Received: 8 November 1999     

High-p<Subscript>T</Subscript> π<Superscript>0</Superscript> production with respect to the reaction plane using the PHENIX detector at RHIC

The origin of the azimuthal anisotropy in particle yields at high p_T (p_T>5 GeV/c) in RHIC collisions remains an intriguing puzzle. Traditional flow and parton energy loss models have failed to completely explain the large v₂ observed at high p_T. Measurement of this parameter at high p_T will help to gain an understanding of the interplay between flow, recombination and energy loss, and the role they play in the transition from soft to hard physics. Neutral mesons measured in the PHENIX experiment provide an ideal observable for such studies. We present recent measurements of π⁰ yields with respect to the reaction plane, and discuss the impact current models have on our understanding of these mechanisms. PACS 25.75.-q; 25.75.Dw     

Corona effect in <Emphasis Type="Italic">AA</Emphasis> collisions at the LHC

Following our earlier finding based on RHIC data on the dominant jet production from nucleus corona region, we reconsider this effect in nucleus–nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. Our hypothesis was based on experimental data, which raised the idea of a finite formation time for the produced medium. At the RHIC energy and in low-density corona region, this time reaches about 2 fm/c. Following this hypothesis, the nuclear modification factor R _AA at high p _t should be independent on particle momentum, and the azimuthal anisotropy of high p _t particles, v ₂, should be finite. A separate prediction held that, at the LHC energy, the formation time in the corona region should be about 1 fm/c. New LHC data show that R _AA is not flat and is rising with p _t . We add to our original hypothesis an assumption that a fast parton traversing the produced medium loses the fixed portion of its energy. A shift of about 7 GeV from the original power law p ^?6 production cross section in pp explains well all the observed R _AA dependencies. The shift of about 7 GeV is also valid at the RHIC energy. We also show that the observed at the LHC dependence of v ₂ at high p _t and our previous predictions agree.     

<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.     

Transverse-momentum dependence of <Emphasis Type="Italic">J</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">ψ</Emphasis> shadowing effects

We present a new approach to estimate the effect of gluon shadowing in nucleus + nucleus collisions and its consequences on the J/ψ production yield. Using kinematical information available from the measured J/ψ production in proton + proton collisions at  GeV, we build a Glauber Monte Carlo code which takes into account shadowing in two alternative ways: multiple-scattering corrections or Q ² evolution of parton densities. We exploit the dependence of these different parameterizations to the J/ψ transverse momentum and we give the first predictions on the resulting p _T dependence of the nuclear modification factor in deuteron + gold collisions at the same energy.     

From leading hadron suppression to jet quenching at RHIC and at the LHC

In nucleus-nucleus collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), one generically observes a strong medium-induced suppression of high- p_T hadron production. This suppression is accounted for in models which assume a significant medium-induced radiative energy loss of high- p_T parent partons produced in the collision. How can we further test the microscopic dynamics conjectured to underlie this abundant high- p_T phenomenon? What can we learn about the dynamics of parton fragmentation, and what can we learn about the properties of the medium which modifies it? Given that inelastic parton scattering is expected to be the dominant source of partonic equilibration processes, can we use hard processes as an experimentally well-controlled window into QCD non-equilibrium dynamics? Here I review what has been achieved so far, and which novel opportunities open up with higher luminosity at RHIC, and with the wider kinematical range accessible soon at the LHC.Received: 15 February 2005, Published online: 3 June 2005PACS: 12.38.Mh, 24.85. + p     

Generation of complete events containing very high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Subscript>T</Subscript> jets

The study of very high transverse-momentum jets will be an important issue at the LHC, in particular since the corresponding cross sections will be considerably larger than at RHIC energies. Jets are expected to provide information on QGP formation, due to the energy loss of fast partons in the medium. Jet cross sections can in principle be compared to simple pQCD calculations, based on the hypothesis of factorization. But often it is useful or even necessary to not only compute the production rate of the very high-p _T jets, but in addition the “rest of the event”. The proposed talk is based on recent work, where we try to construct an event generator—fully compatible with pQCD—which allows one to compute complete events, consisting of high-p _T jets plus all the other low p _T particles produced at the same time. Whereas in “generators of inclusive spectra” like Pythia one may easily trigger on high-p _T phenomena, this is not so obvious for “generators of physical events”, where in principle one has to generate a very large number of events in order to finally obtain rare events (like those with a very high-p _T jet). We shall discuss how we overcome these difficulties in the framework of the EPOS model.     

Possible existence of finite formation time of strongly interacting plasma in nuclear collisions at RHIC and LHC

We argue that, on the basis of recent experimental data, there is possible existence of a finite formation time of strongly interacting plasma in nuclear collisions at RHIC. To show this, we construct a simple model based on a Monte Carlo simulation of nucleus—nucleus collisions with a realistic nuclear density distribution. The most striking feature of the experimental data—an absence of absorption of high-transverse-momentum pions in the reaction-plane direction for midperipheral collisions—points to the presence of a surface zone with no absorption and strong suppression in the inner core. A natural interpretation of such a zone could be the plasma formation time T ≃ 2–3 fm/c. With this assumption, we describe the angular anisotropy of high-transverse-momentum pions with respect to the reaction plane and the centrality dependence of the nuclear modification factor in Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions.We present predictions for LHC. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

z-scaling in heavy ion collisions at the RHIC

Experimental data on transverse particle spectra obtained by the STAR, PHENIX, PHOBOS, and BRAHMS collaborations at the RHIC are analyzed in the framework of the generalized concept of z-scaling. It was developed for analysis of inclusive particle production in proton-(anti)proton collisions at high p _T and high multiplicities. The general scheme of the approach based on the physical principles of self-similarity, locality, and fractality is reviewed. Independence of the scaling function ψ(z) from energy, multiplicity, and atomic weight for h ^±, π ^±,0, K _S ⁰ , and Λ hadrons produced in Au-Au and Cu-Cu collisions at √s = 130 and 200 GeV is discussed. Based on z-scaling, the multiplicity dependence of pion transverse spectra up to p _T = 25 GeV/c in Au-Au collisions at √s = 200 GeV for experiments at the RHIC is predicted. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

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.     

Jet color chemistry and anomalous baryon production in <Emphasis Type="Italic">AA</Emphasis>-collisions

We study anomalous high-p _T baryon production in AA-collisions due to formation of the two parton collinear gq system in the anti-sextet color state for quark jets and gg system in the decuplet/anti-decuplet color states for gluon jets. Fragmentation of these states, which are absent for NN-collisions, after escaping from the quark–gluon plasma leads to baryon production. Our qualitative estimates show that this mechanism can be potentially important at RHIC and LHC energies.