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Anti-proton to proton ratio in Au+Au collisions at STAR
(2003)
- In this thesis the anti-proton to proton ratio in 197Au + 197Au collisions, measured at mid-rapidity, at a center of mass energy of psNN = 200GeV is reported. The value was measured to be ¹p/p = 0.81+-0.002stat +- 0.05syst: in the 5% most central collisions. The ratio shows no dependence on rapidity in the range jyj < 0:5. Furthermore, a dependence on transverse momentum within 0:4< p? < 1:0 GeV/c is not observed. At higher p?, a slight drop in the ratio is observed. In the present analysis, the highest momentum considered is p? = 4:5 GeV/c yielding ¹p=p = 0:645§0:005stat: §0:10syst:. However, the systematic error is higher in this momentum range. A slight centrality dependence was observed, where a decrease from ¹p=p = 0:83§0:002stat:§0:05syst: for most peripheral collisions (less than 80% central) to ¹p=p = 0:78§0:002stat:§0:05syst: for the 5% most central collisions was measured. An estimate of the feed-down contributions fromthe decay of heavier strange baryons results in ¹p=p = 0:77 § 0:05syst:. The measured ratio indicates a » 12:5 times higher value compared to the highest SPS energy of psNN = 17:3 and an \almost net-baryon free" region, at mid- rapidity. The asymmetry of protons and anti-protons may be explained by the contribution ofvalence quarks in a nucleus break-up picture. In such a scenario, the absolute value of the ratio and the fact that the ratio does not depend on rapidity (at mid-rapidity) is well reproduced. Fragmentation of quarks and anti- quarks into protons and anti-protons is assumed. An estimate of the ratio, when feed-down correction is taken into consideration, agrees well with the prediction of a statistical model analysis at a temperature of T = 177 § 7 MeV and a baryon chemical potential of ¹B = 29 § 8 MeV. The temperature achieved is only slightly higher when compared to the top SPS energy, while the baryochemical potential is factor »10 lower. As in the case of the SPS results, these parameters are close to the phase boundary of Figure 1.6. The measurement of the ratio at high transverse momentum was of special in- terest in this analysis, since at RHIC energies, the cross section for hadrons at high transverse momentum is increased with respect to SPS energies. The weak dependence of the ratio on the transverse momentum is well described by the non- perturbative quenched and baryon junction scenario (i.e. Soft+Quench model), where baryon creation is enhanced by baryon junctions. In comparison the ratio does not decrease within the considered momentum range as predicted by pQCD.
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Messung von Lepton-Paaren aus Meson-Zerfällen in den Hadronenexperimenten NA49 und STAR
(1998)
- Die in ultra-relativistischen Schwerionenkollisionen erreichten Dichten und Temperaturen führen möglicherweise zu einem Übergang der hochangeregten Kernmaterie in eine partonische Phase ohne Einschluß der Quarks und Gluonen. Dieser Zustand wird Quark-Gluon- Plasma genannt. Die Existenz dieses Plasmas vor einem Phasenübergang in ein Hadrongas versucht man in einer Reihe von Experimenten unter anderem an den Kernforschungszentren CERN in Genf/Schweiz und Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) auf Long Island/USA nachzuweisen. Aufgrund theoretischer Modelle wird erwartet, daß Signaturen eines solchen Zustandes das Verhältnis der Pion- zu Baryonen-Produktion und die Produktion von Teilchen, die Strange-Quarks enthalten, sein könnten. Nach diesen Signalen sucht man im hadronischen Endzustand des Systems. Das Fixed-Target-Experiment NA49 untersucht Blei-Blei Kollisionen bei einer Strahlenergie von 158 GeV/c pro Nukleon. Das Experiment zeichnet sich durch seine große Detektorakzeptanz für geladene Teilchen verbunden mit einer präzisen Impulsmessung aus. Ähnliche Merkmale weist auch das momentan im Aufbau befindliche Collider-Experiment STAR am BNL auf. Hier sollen ab 1999 Kollisionen von Gold Kernen bei Energien von 100 GeV/c pro Nukleon analysiert werden. Die hohe Akzeptanz und die gute Impulsbestimmung der produzierten Teilchen zeichnen die Experimente als hervorragende Meßinstrumente für den hadronischen Endzustand aus. Andere Observablen, von denen man sich Aufschluß über die Reaktionsdynamik einer ultra-relativistischen Schwerionenkollisionen erhofft, sind Vektormesonen, die kurz nach oder sogar noch im Reaktionsvolumen der Kollision in ein Lepton-Paar zerfallen. Der Vorteil hierbei ist, daß die Zerfallsteilchen (Elektronen oder Myonen) mit anderen Teilchen nur elektromagnetisch wechselwirken. Deswegen können sie ohne Wechselwirkung mit den umgebenden Hadronen die Reaktionszone verlassen. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit für den Zerfall in Leptonen ist allerdings 10 exp (-4) mal niedriger als für den in Hadronen. Im NA49-Experiment, das auf die Erfassung des hadronischen Endzustandes optimiert ist, ist es aufgrund des hohen Untergrundes an Hadronen nicht trivial, die Lepton-Paare aus dem Zerfall von Vektormesonen zu selektieren. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit bestand darin, zu untersuchen, wie gut eine Identifikation von Elektronen bzw. Positronen im NA-49-Experiment möglich ist. Es konnte die Effizienz der Selektion von Elektron-Positron-Paaren aus dem Zerfall von Phi-Mesonen abgeschätzt und die Kontamination der Lepton-Kandidaten durch Hadronen ermittelt werden. Danach wurde ein Signal zu Untergrund-Verhältnis für das Signal des Phi-Mesons im Invariante-Masse-Spektrum abgeschätzt. Aus den mit dem NA- Experiment gewonnenen Erkenntnissen konnten Vorschläge zur Optimierung der Messung von Lepton-Paaren aus Vektormesonen im zukünftigen STAR-Experiment gemacht werden.
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Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations in the hard scattering regime at RHIC
(2003)
- Azimuthal anisotropy (v2) and two-particle angular correlations of high pT charged hadrons have been measured in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV for transverse momenta up to 6 GeV/c, where hard processes are expected to contribute significantly. The two-particle angular correlations exhibit elliptic flow and a structure suggestive of fragmentation of high pT partons. The monotonic rise of v2(pT) for pT<2 GeV/c is consistent with collective hydrodynamical flow calculations. At pT>3 GeV/c, a saturation of v2 is observed which persists up to pT=6 GeV/c.
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Centrality Dependence of High-pT Hadron Suppression in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV
(2002)
- Inclusive transverse momentum distributions of charged hadrons within 0.2<pT<6.0 GeV/c have been measured over a broad range of centrality for Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV. Hadron yields are suppressed at high pT in central collisions relative to peripheral collisions and to a nucleon-nucleon reference scaled for collision geometry. Peripheral collisions are not suppressed relative to the nucleon-nucleon reference. The suppression varies continuously at intermediate centralities. The results indicate significant nuclear medium effects on high-pT hadron production in heavy-ion collisions at high energy.
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Coherent rho 0 production in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions
(2002)
- The STAR Collaboration reports the first observation of exclusive rho 0 photoproduction, AuAu-->AuAu rho 0, and rho 0 production accompanied by mutual nuclear Coulomb excitation, AuAu-->Au [star] Au [star] rho 0, in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions. The rho 0 have low transverse momenta, consistent with coherent coupling to both nuclei. The cross sections at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV agree with theoretical predictions treating rho 0 production and Coulomb excitation as independent processes.
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Azimuthal anisotropy of K0S and Lambda + Lambda -bar production at midrapidity from Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV
(2002)
- We report STAR results on the azimuthal anisotropy parameter v2 for strange particles K0S, Lambda , and Lambda -bar at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The value of v2 as a function of transverse momentum, pt, of the produced particle and collision centrality is presented for both particles up to pt~3.0 GeV/c. A strong pt dependence in v2 is observed up to 2.0 GeV/c. The v2 measurement is compared with hydrodynamic model calculations. The physics implications of the pt integrated v2 magnitude as a function of particle mass are also discussed.
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Disappearance of back-to-back high-pT hadron correlations in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV
(2003)
- Azimuthal anisotropy (v2) and two-particle angular correlations of high pT charged hadrons have been measured in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV for transverse momenta up to 6 GeV/c, where hard processes are expected to contribute significantly. The two-particle angular correlations exhibit elliptic flow and a structure suggestive of fragmentation of high pT partons. The monotonic rise of v2(pT) for pT<2 GeV/c is consistent with collective hydrodynamical flow calculations. At pT>3 GeV/c, a saturation of v2 is observed which persists up to pT=6 GeV/c.
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Centrality and pseudorapidity dependence of charged hadron production at intermediate pT in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN ]=130 GeV
(2004)
- We present STAR measurements of charged hadron production as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN ]=130 GeV . The measurements cover a phase space region of 0.2< pT <6.0 GeV/c in transverse momentum and -1< eta <1 in pseudorapidity. Inclusive transverse momentum distributions of charged hadrons in the pseudorapidity region 0.5< | eta | <1 are reported and compared to our previously published results for | eta | <0.5 . No significant difference is seen for inclusive pT distributions of charged hadrons in these two pseudorapidity bins. We measured dN/d eta distributions and truncated mean pT in a region of pT > pcutT , and studied the results in the framework of participant and binary scaling. No clear evidence is observed for participant scaling of charged hadron yield in the measured pT region. The relative importance of hard scattering processes is investigated through binary scaling fraction of particle production.
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Azimuthal anisotropy in Au+Au collisions at SNN=200GeV
(2005)
- The results from the STAR Collaboration on directed flow (v1), elliptic flow (v2), and the fourth harmonic (v4) in the anisotropic azimuthal distribution of particles from Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200GeV are summarized and compared with results from other experiments and theoretical models. Results for identified particles are presented and fit with a blast-wave model. Different anisotropic flow analysis methods are compared and nonflow effects are extracted from the data. For v2, scaling with the number of constituent quarks and parton coalescence are discussed. For v4, scaling with v22 and quark coalescence are discussed.
