Refine
Year of publication
- 2001 (3) (remove)
Document Type
- Preprint (3)
Language
- English (3)
Has Fulltext
- yes (3)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (3)
Keywords
- nuclear broadening effect (2)
- prompt photon (2)
- J/ϕ (1)
- QGP signals (1)
- dileptons (1)
- flow (1)
- particle ratios (1)
- strangeness (1)
Institute
Compelling evidence for the creation of a new form of matter has been claimed to be found in Pb+Pb collisions at SPS. We discuss the uniqueness of often proposed experimental signatures for quark matter formation in relativistic heavy ion collisions. It is demonstrated that so far none of the proposed signals like J/psi meson production/suppression, strangeness enhancement, dileptons, and directed flow unambigiously show that a phase of deconfined matter has been formed in SPS Pb+Pb collisions. We emphasize the need for systematic future measurements to search for simultaneous irregularities in the excitation functions of several observables in order to come close to pinning the properties of hot, dense QCD matter from data.
We calculate prompt photon production in high-energy nuclear collisions. We focus on the broadening of the intrinsic transverse momenta of the partons in the initial state from nuclear e ects, and their influence on the prompt photon pt distribution. Comparing to WA98 data from Pb+Pb collisions at s = 17.4A GeV we find evidence for the presence of nuclear broadening at high pt in this hard process. Below pt < 2.7 GeV the photon distribution is due to small momentum transfer processes. At RHIC energy, s = 200A GeV, the e ect of intrinsic transverse momentum on the spectrum of prompt photons is less prominent. The region pt = 3 4 GeV would be the most promising for studying the nuclear broadening effects at that energy. Below pt = 2 3 GeV the contribution from large momentum transfers flattens out, and we expect that region to be dominated by soft contributions.
We calculate prompt photon production in high-energy nuclear collisions. We focus on the broadening of the intrinsic transverse momenta of the partons in the initial state from nuclear effects, and their influence on the prompt photon pt distribution. Comparing to WA98 data from Pb+Pb collisions at s = 17.4A GeV we find evidence for the presence of nuclear broadening at high pt in this hard process. Below pt < 2.7 GeV the photon distribution is due to small momentum transfer processes. At RHIC energy, s = 200A GeV, the e ect of intrinsic transverse momentum on the spectrum of prompt photons is less prominent. The region pt = 3 4 GeV would be the most promising for studying the nuclear broadening e ects at that energy. Below pt = 2 3 GeV the contribution from large momentum transfers flattens out, and we expect that region to be dominated by soft contributions.