Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Preprint (744)
- Article (541)
- Part of Periodical (21)
- Book (1)
- Conference Proceeding (1)
- Working Paper (1)
Language
- English (1309)
Has Fulltext
- yes (1309)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (1309)
Keywords
- Heavy Ion Experiments (21)
- Hadron-Hadron scattering (experiments) (12)
- Hadron-Hadron Scattering (11)
- LHC (9)
- Heavy-ion collision (6)
- Heavy-ion collisions (5)
- ALICE experiment (4)
- Collective Flow (4)
- Jets (4)
- Quark-Gluon Plasma (4)
- ALICE (3)
- Diffraction (3)
- Elastic scattering (3)
- Heavy Ions (3)
- Heavy Quark Production (3)
- Jets and Jet Substructure (3)
- pp collisions (3)
- Beam Energy Scan (2)
- Beauty production (2)
- Charm physics (2)
- Chiral Magnetic Effect (2)
- Collectivity (2)
- Correlation (2)
- Elliptic flow (2)
- Experimental nuclear physics (2)
- Experimental particle physics (2)
- Lepton-Nucleon Scattering (experiments) (2)
- Particle Correlations and Fluctuations (2)
- Particle and resonance production (2)
- Particle correlations and fluctuations (2)
- Pb–Pb collisions (2)
- Polarization (2)
- QCD (2)
- Quarkonium (2)
- RHIC (2)
- STAR (2)
- Shear viscosity (2)
- Single electrons (2)
- Suicide (2)
- 900 GeV (1)
- ALICE detector (1)
- ALL (1)
- AML (1)
- Abdominal infections (1)
- Acute calcolous cholecystitis (1)
- Advanced biliary tract cancer (1)
- Animal flight (1)
- Anti-nuclei (1)
- Antibiotic (1)
- B-slope (1)
- BTC (1)
- Beam energy scan (1)
- Biliary tree stones (1)
- Biological (1)
- Biomarker (1)
- Bipolar disorder (1)
- Bird flight (1)
- Boosted Jets (1)
- Breast cancer (1)
- COVID-19 (1)
- CTLA-4 (1)
- CVID (1)
- Caccoleptus (Bicaccoleptus) kacka, Nearctic region (1)
- Canonical suppression (1)
- Canopy height model (1)
- Centrality Class (1)
- Centrality Selection (1)
- Charged-particle multiplicity (1)
- Charm quark spatial diffusion coefficient (1)
- Charmonia (1)
- Chickens (1)
- Chiral magnetic effect (1)
- Cholecystectomy (1)
- Circadian (1)
- Closure (1)
- Coalescence (1)
- Cold nuclear matter effects (1)
- Collective Flow, (1)
- Combined immune checkpoint blockade (1)
- Comparison with QCD (1)
- Critical point (1)
- Data sharing (1)
- Dermis (1)
- Deuteron production (1)
- Di-hadron correlations (1)
- Diagnosis (1)
- Digital (1)
- Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) (1)
- Digital mammography (1)
- Electron-pion identification (1)
- Electroweak interaction (1)
- Embryos (1)
- Endoscopic ultrasound (1)
- Equity (1)
- European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID) (1)
- Feathers (1)
- Femtoscopy (1)
- Fibre/foam sandwich radiator (1)
- Fibroblast growth factor (1)
- Fistula (1)
- Flow (1)
- Forward physics (1)
- GWAS (1)
- Gallbladder percutaneous drainage (1)
- German PID-NET registry (1)
- Green fluorescent protein (1)
- Groomed jet radius (1)
- Guadeloupe Archipelago (1)
- Guidelines (1)
- HBT (1)
- Hadron production (1)
- Hadron-Hadron Scattering Heavy (1)
- Hadron-hadron interactions (1)
- Hadronization (1)
- Hand-foot syndrome (1)
- Hard Scattering (1)
- Heavy Ion Experiment (1)
- Heavy flavor production (1)
- Heavy flavour production (1)
- Heavy ion collisions (1)
- Heavy ions (1)
- Heavy-Ion Collision (1)
- Heavy-flavor decay electron (1)
- Heavy-flavour decay muons (1)
- Heavy-flavour production (1)
- Heavy-ion (1)
- Hif1α (1)
- Higher moments (1)
- IgG substitution therapy (1)
- Inclusive spectra (1)
- Intensity interferometry (1)
- Interference fragmentation function (1)
- Intra-abdominal infection (1)
- Invariant Mass Distribution (1)
- Ionisation energy loss (1)
- Ipilimumab (1)
- J/ψ suppression (1)
- Jet Physics (1)
- Jet Substructure (1)
- Jet substructure (1)
- Laparostomy (1)
- Lifestyle (1)
- MLL (1)
- Macrotomini (1)
- Magnetic resonance (1)
- Material budget (1)
- Mesh (1)
- Mid-rapidity (1)
- Minimum Bias (1)
- Monitoring (1)
- Monte Carlo (1)
- Multi-Parton Interactions (1)
- Multi-strange baryons (1)
- Multi-wire proportional drift chamber (1)
- Multiple parton interactions (1)
- Net-charge correlations (1)
- Net-charge fluctuations (1)
- Neural network (1)
- Nivolumab (1)
- Non-trauma (1)
- Nonflow (1)
- Nuclear modification factor (1)
- Nutrition (1)
- Open abdomen (1)
- PD-1 (1)
- PDGFRβ (1)
- PID prevalence (1)
- PYTHIA (1)
- Pancreatitis (1)
- Pandemic (1)
- Particle and Resonance Production (1)
- Particle production (1)
- Patient safety (1)
- Pb–Pb (1)
- Peritonitis (1)
- Population-based screening (1)
- Poverty (1)
- Production Cross Section (1)
- Properties of Hadrons (1)
- Proton-proton collisions (1)
- Proton–proton (1)
- Proton–proton collisions (1)
- Psychiatry (1)
- Quark Deconfinement (1)
- Quark Gluon Plasma (1)
- Quark Production (1)
- Quark gluon plasma (1)
- Quark–gluon plasma (1)
- Rapidity Range (1)
- Re-exploration (1)
- Recall rate (1)
- Reintervention (1)
- Relativistic heavy ion physics (1)
- Relativistic heavy-ion collisions (1)
- Resolution Parameter (1)
- Resonances (1)
- Rhaphipodini (1)
- Seasonal variation (1)
- Seed beetles (1)
- Single muons (1)
- Social determinants (1)
- SoftDrop (1)
- Solar insolation (1)
- Sorafenib (1)
- Spin alignment (1)
- Spine care (1)
- Splitting function (1)
- Standardization (1)
- Strangeness enhancement (1)
- Sunlight (1)
- Surgical risk (1)
- Synthetic (1)
- Systematic Uncertainty (1)
- TR (1)
- Technique (1)
- Thermal model (1)
- Time Projection Chamber (1)
- Timing (1)
- Tracking (1)
- Transition radiation detector (1)
- Transverse momentum (1)
- Transversity (1)
- Trauma (1)
- Trigger (1)
- UAV (1)
- Uveal melanoma (1)
- VEGFR-2 (1)
- VEGFR-3 (1)
- Vascular emergencies (1)
- Vector Boson Production (1)
- Xenon-based gas mixture (1)
- acute leukemia (1)
- alleles (1)
- antiepileptic drugs (1)
- autism spectrum disorder (1)
- autistic disorder (1)
- beetle species (1)
- biogeographic legaciese (1)
- c-kit (1)
- chromosomal translocations (1)
- copy number polymorphism (1)
- dE/dx (1)
- detector (1)
- dexamethasone (1)
- drone (1)
- ectosomes (1)
- exosomes (1)
- experimental results (1)
- extracellular vesicles (1)
- fine spatial resolution remote sensing (1)
- forest classification (1)
- forest functional similarity (1)
- genes (1)
- genetic generalized epilepsy (1)
- genetics (1)
- genome (1)
- genotype (1)
- genotype determination (1)
- glioma microenvironment (1)
- global change (1)
- guidelines (1)
- habitat destruction (1)
- heavy ion experiments (1)
- heavy-ion collisions (1)
- host plants (1)
- immune checkpoint blockade (1)
- immune infiltration (1)
- kidney function (1)
- lamotrigine (1)
- land use (1)
- levetiracetam (1)
- liver metastasis (1)
- microparticles (1)
- microvesicles (1)
- minimal information requirements (1)
- new species (1)
- p+p collisions (1)
- peritumoral edema (1)
- peritumoral edema zone (1)
- pharmacoresistance (1)
- phenotype (1)
- phylogenetic community distance (1)
- plant height (1)
- primary immunodeficiency (PID) (1)
- prognosis (1)
- quark gluon plasma (1)
- registry for primary immunodeficiency (1)
- reproducibility (1)
- rigor (1)
- single nucleotide polymorphism (1)
- spectra (1)
- standardization (1)
- stroke (1)
- structure-from-motion photogrammetry (1)
- systematics (1)
- taxonomy (1)
- translocation partner genes (1)
- treatment resistance (1)
- tropical forests (1)
- uveal melanoma (1)
- valproic acid (1)
- Υ suppression (1)
- √sN N = 2.76 TeV (1)
Institute
- Physik (1101)
- Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) (1061)
- Informatik (920)
- Medizin (28)
- Geowissenschaften (22)
- Extern (4)
- Informatik und Mathematik (3)
- Biodiversität und Klima Forschungszentrum (BiK-F) (2)
- Hochschulrechenzentrum (2)
- Institut für Ökologie, Evolution und Diversität (2)
In this Letter, the first measurement of the inelastic cross section for antitriton−nucleus interactions is reported, covering the momentum range of 0.8≤p<2.4 GeV/c. The measurement is carried out using data recorded with the ALICE detector in pp and Pb−Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon of 13 TeV and 5.02 TeV, respectively. The detector material serves as an absorber for antitriton nuclei. The raw yield of (anti)triton nuclei measured with the ALICE apparatus is compared to the results from detailed ALICE simulations based on the GEANT4 toolkit for the propagation of (anti)particles through matter, allowing one to quantify the inelastic interaction probability in the detector material. This analysis complements the measurement of the inelastic cross section of antinuclei up to A=3 carried out by the ALICE Collaboration, and demonstrates the feasibility of the study of the isospin dependence of inelastic interaction cross section with the analysis techniques presented in this Letter.
The first measurement of the cross section for incoherent photonuclear production of J/ψ vector meson as a function of the Mandelstam |t| variable is presented. The measurement was carried out with the ALICE detector at midrapidity, |y|<0.8, using ultra-peripheral collisions of Pb nuclei at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV. This rapidity interval corresponds to a Bjorken-x range (0.3−1.4)×10−3. Cross sections are reported in five |t| intervals in the range 0.04<|t|<1~GeV2 and compared to the predictions of different models. Models that ignore quantum fluctuations of the gluon density in the colliding hadron predict a |t|-dependence of the cross section much steeper than in data. The inclusion of such fluctuations in the same models provides a better description of the data.
Measurements of mass and Λ binding energy of 4ΛH and 4ΛHe in Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−√=3 GeV are presented, with an aim to address the charge symmetry breaking (CSB) problem in hypernuclei systems with atomic number A = 4. The Λ binding energies are measured to be 2.22±0.06(stat.)±0.14(syst.) MeV and 2.38±0.13(stat.)±0.12(syst.) MeV for 4ΛH and 4ΛHe, respectively. The measured Λ binding-energy difference is 0.16±0.14(stat.)±0.10(syst.) MeV for ground states. Combined with the γ-ray transition energies, the binding-energy difference for excited states is −0.16±0.14(stat.)±0.10(syst.) MeV, which is negative and comparable to the value of the ground states within uncertainties. These new measurements on the Λ binding-energy difference in A = 4 hypernuclei systems are consistent with the theoretical calculations that result in ΔB4Λ(1+exc)≈−ΔB4Λ(0+g.s.)<0 and present a new method for the study of CSB effect using relativistic heavy-ion collisions.
Elliptic flow of heavy-flavor decay electrons in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 27 and 54.4 GeV at RHIC
(2023)
We report on new measurements of elliptic flow (v2) of electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays at mid-rapidity (|y|<0.8) in Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−√ = 27 and 54.4 GeV from the STAR experiment. Heavy-flavor decay electrons (eHF) in Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−√ = 54.4 GeV exhibit a non-zero v2 in the transverse momentum (pT) region of pT< 2 GeV/c with the magnitude comparable to that at sNN−−−√=200 GeV. The measured eHF v2 at 54.4 GeV is also consistent with the expectation of their parent charm hadron v2 following number-of-constituent-quark scaling as other light and strange flavor hadrons at this energy. These suggest that charm quarks gain significant collectivity through the evolution of the QCD medium and may reach local thermal equilibrium in Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−√=54.4 GeV. The measured eHF v2 in Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−√= 27 GeV is consistent with zero within large uncertainties. The energy dependence of v2 for different flavor particles (π,ϕ,D0/eHF) shows an indication of quark mass hierarchy in reaching thermalization in high-energy nuclear collisions.
Density fluctuations near the QCD critical point can be probed via an intermittency analysis in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We report the first measurement of intermittency in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 7.7-200 GeV measured by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The scaled factorial moments of identified charged hadrons are analyzed at mid-rapidity and within the transverse momentum phase space. We observe a power-law behavior of scaled factorial moments in Au+Au collisions and a decrease in the extracted scaling exponent (ν) from peripheral to central collisions. The ν is consistent with a constant for different collisions energies in the mid-central (10-40%) collisions. Moreover, the ν in the 0-5% most central Au+Au collisions exhibits a non-monotonic energy dependence that reaches a minimum around √sNN = 27 GeV. The physics implications on the QCD phase structure are discussed.
Measurements of mass and Λ binding energy of 4ΛH and 4ΛHe in Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−√=3 GeV are presented, with an aim to address the charge symmetry breaking (CSB) problem in hypernuclei systems with atomic number A = 4. The Λ binding energies are measured to be 2.22±0.06(stat.)±0.14(syst.) MeV and 2.38±0.13(stat.)±0.12(syst.) MeV for 4ΛH and 4ΛHe, respectively. The measured Λ binding-energy difference is 0.16±0.14(stat.)±0.10(syst.) MeV for ground states. Combined with the γ-ray transition energies, the binding-energy difference for excited states is −0.16±0.14(stat.)±0.10(syst.) MeV, which is negative and comparable to the value of the ground states within uncertainties. These new measurements on the Λ binding-energy difference in A = 4 hypernuclei systems are consistent with the theoretical calculations that result in ΔB4Λ(1+exc)≈−ΔB4Λ(0+g.s.)<0 and present a new method for the study of CSB effect using relativistic heavy-ion collisions.
J/ψ suppression has long been considered a sensitive signature of the formation of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. In this letter, we present the first measurement of inclusive J/ψ production at mid-rapidity through the dimuon decay channel in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV with the STAR experiment. These measurements became possible after the installation of the Muon Telescope Detector was completed in 2014. The J/ψ yields are measured in a wide transverse momentum (pT) range of 0.15 GeV/c to 12 GeV/c from central to peripheral collisions. They extend the kinematic reach of previous measurements at RHIC with improved precision. In the 0-10% most central collisions, the J/ψ yield is suppressed by a factor of approximately 3 for pT > 5 GeV/c relative to that in p + p collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The J/ψ nuclear modification factor displays little dependence on pT in all centrality bins. Model calculations can qualitatively describe the data, providing further evidence for the color-screening effect experienced by J/ψ mesons in the QGP.
The STAR Collaboration reports measurements of the transverse single-spin asymmetry (TSSA) of inclusive 𝜋0 at center-of-mass energies (√𝑠) of 200 GeV and 500 GeV in transversely polarized proton-proton collisions in the pseudo-rapidity region 2.7 to 4.0. The results at the two different energies show a continuous increase of the TSSA with Feynman-𝑥, and, when compared to previous measurements, no dependence on √𝑠 from 19.4 GeV to 500 GeV is found. To investigate the underlying physics leading to this large TSSA, different topologies have been studied. 𝜋0 with no nearby particles tend to have a higher TSSA than inclusive 𝜋0. The TSSA for inclusive electromagnetic jets, sensitive to the Sivers effect in the initial state, is substantially smaller, but shows the same behavior as the inclusive 𝜋0 asymmetry as a function of Feynman-𝑥. To investigate final-state effects, the Collins asymmetry of 𝜋0 inside electromagnetic jets has been measured. The Collins asymmetry is analyzed for its dependence on the 𝜋0 momentum transverse to the jet thrust axis and its dependence on the fraction of jet energy carried by the 𝜋0. The asymmetry was found to be small in each case for both center-of-mass energies. All the measurements are compared to QCD-based theoretical calculations for transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions and fragmentation functions. Some discrepancies are found, which indicates new mechanisms might be involved.
Measurements of mass and Λ binding energy of 4ΛH and 4ΛHe in Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−√=3 GeV are presented, with an aim to address the charge symmetry breaking (CSB) problem in hypernuclei systems with atomic number A = 4. The Λ binding energies are measured to be 2.22±0.06(stat.)±0.14(syst.) MeV and 2.38±0.13(stat.)±0.12(syst.) MeV for 4ΛH and 4ΛHe, respectively. The measured Λ binding-energy difference is 0.16±0.14(stat.)±0.10(syst.) MeV for ground states. Combined with the γ-ray transition energies, the binding-energy difference for excited states is −0.16±0.14(stat.)±0.10(syst.) MeV, which is negative and comparable to the value of the ground states within uncertainties. These new measurements on the Λ binding-energy difference in A = 4 hypernuclei systems are consistent with the theoretical calculations that result in ΔB4Λ(1+exc)≈−ΔB4Λ(0+g.s.)<0 and present a new method for the study of CSB effect using relativistic heavy-ion collisions.
In high-energy heavy-ion collisions, partonic collectivity is evidenced by the constituent quark number scaling of elliptic flow anisotropy for identified hadrons. A breaking of this scaling and dominance of baryonic interactions is found for identified hadron collective flow measurements in sNN−−−√ = 3 GeV Au+Au collisions. In this paper, we report measurements of the first-order and second-order azimuthal anisotropic parameters, v1 and v2, of light nuclei (d, t, 3He, 4He) produced in sNN−−−√ = 3 GeV Au+Au collisions at the STAR experiment. An atomic mass number scaling is found in the measured v1 slopes of light nuclei at mid-rapidity. For the measured v2 magnitude, a strong rapidity dependence is observed. Unlike v2 at higher collision energies, the v2 values at mid-rapidity for all light nuclei are negative and no scaling is observed with the atomic mass number. Calculations by the Jet AA Microscopic Transport Model (JAM), with baryonic mean-field plus nucleon coalescence, are in good agreement with our observations, implying baryonic interactions dominate the collective dynamics in 3 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC.
We report cumulants of the proton multiplicity distribution from dedicated fixed-target Au+Au collisions at 3.0 GeV, measured by the STAR experiment in the kinematic acceptance of rapidity (y) and transverse momentum (pT) within −0.5<y<0 and 0.4<pT<2.0 GeV/c. In the most central 0--5\% collisions, a proton cumulant ratio is measured to be C4/C2=−0.85±0.09 (stat.)±0.82 (syst.), which is less than unity, the Poisson baseline. The hadronic transport UrQMD model reproduces our C4/C2 in the measured acceptance. Compared to higher energy results and the transport model calculations, the suppression in C4/C2 is consistent with fluctuations driven by baryon number conservation and indicates an energy regime dominated by hadronic interactions. These data imply that the QCD critical region, if created in heavy-ion collisions, could only exist at energies higher than 3\,GeV.
We report cumulants of the proton multiplicity distribution from dedicated fixed-target Au+Au collisions at 3.0 GeV, measured by the STAR experiment in the kinematic acceptance of rapidity (y) and transverse momentum (pT) within −0.5<y<0 and 0.4<pT<2.0 GeV/c. In the most central 0--5\% collisions, a proton cumulant ratio is measured to be C4/C2=−0.85±0.09 (stat.)±0.82 (syst.), which is less than unity, the Poisson baseline. The hadronic transport UrQMD model reproduces our C4/C2 in the measured acceptance. Compared to higher energy results and the transport model calculations, the suppression in C4/C2 is consistent with fluctuations driven by baryon number conservation and indicates an energy regime dominated by hadronic interactions. These data imply that the QCD critical region, if created in heavy-ion collisions, could only exist at energies higher than 3\,GeV.
We report cumulants of the proton multiplicity distribution from dedicated fixed-target Au+Au collisions at sNN−−−√ = 3.0 GeV, measured by the STAR experiment in the kinematic acceptance of rapidity (y) and transverse momentum (pT) within −0.5<y<0 and 0.4<pT<2.0 GeV/c. In the most central 0--5\% collisions, a proton cumulant ratio is measured to be C4/C2=−0.85±0.09 (stat.)±0.82 (syst.), which is less than unity, the Poisson baseline. The hadronic transport UrQMD model reproduces our C4/C2 in the measured acceptance. Compared to higher energy results and the transport model calculations, the suppression in C4/C2 is consistent with fluctuations driven by baryon number conservation and indicates an energy regime dominated by hadronic interactions. These data imply that the QCD critical region, if created in heavy-ion collisions, could only exist at energies higher than 3\,GeV.
A linearly polarized photon can be quantized from the Lorentz-boosted electromagnetic field of a nucleus traveling at ultrarelativistic speed. When two relativistic heavy nuclei pass one another at a distance of a few nuclear radii, the photon from one nucleus may interact through a virtual quark-antiquark pair with gluons from the other nucleus, forming a short-lived vector meson (e.g., ρ0). In this experiment, the polarization was used in diffractive photoproduction to observe a unique spin interference pattern in the angular distribution of ρ0 → π+π− decays. The observed interference is a result of an overlap of two wave functions at a distance an order of magnitude larger than the ρ0 travel distance within its lifetime. The strong-interaction nuclear radii were extracted from these diffractive interactions and found to be 6.53 ± 0.06 fm (197Au) and 7.29 ± 0.08 fm (238U), larger than the nuclear charge radii. The observable is demonstrated to be sensitive to the nuclear geometry and quantum interference of nonidentical particles. Polarized photon-gluon fusion reveals quantum wave interference of non-identical particles and shape of high-energy nuclei.
Two-particle correlations on transverse rapidity in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV at STAR
(2022)
Two-particle correlation measurements projected onto two-dimensional, transverse rapidity coordinates (yT1,yT2), allow access to dynamical properties of the QCD medium produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions that angular correlation measurements are not sensitive to. We report non-identified charged-particle correlations for Au + Au minimum-bias collisions at sNN−−−√ = 200 GeV taken by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC). Correlations are presented as 2D functions of transverse rapidity for like-sign, unlike-sign and all charged-particle pairs, as well as for particle pairs whose relative azimuthal angles lie on the near-side, the away-side, or at all relative azimuth. The correlations are constructed using charged particles with transverse momentum pT≥0.15 GeV/c, pseudorapidity from −1 to 1, and azimuthal angles from −π to π. The significant correlation structures that are observed evolve smoothly with collision centrality. The major correlation features include a saddle shape plus a broad peak with maximum near yT≈3, corresponding to pT≈ 1.5 GeV/c. The broad peak is observed in both like- and unlike-sign charge combinations and in near- and away-side relative azimuthal angles. The all-charge, all-azimuth correlation measurements are compared with the theoretical predictions of {\sc hijing} and {\sc epos}. The results indicate that the correlations for peripheral to mid-central collisions can be approximately described as a superposition of nucleon + nucleon collisions with minimal effects from the QCD medium. Strong medium effects are indicated in mid- to most-central collisions.
Notwithstanding decades of progress since Yukawa first developed a description of the force between nucleons in terms of meson exchange, a full understanding of the strong interaction remains a major challenge in modern science. One remaining difficulty arises from the non-perturbative nature of the strong force, which leads to the phenomenon of quark confinement at distances on the order of the size of the proton. Here we show that in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, where quarks and gluons are set free over an extended volume, two species of produced vector (spin-1) mesons, namely ϕ and K∗0, emerge with a surprising pattern of global spin alignment. In particular, the global spin alignment for ϕ is unexpectedly large, while that for K∗0 is consistent with zero. The observed spin-alignment pattern and magnitude for the ϕ cannot be explained by conventional mechanisms, while a model with a connection to strong force fields, i.e. an effective proxy description within the Standard Model and Quantum Chromodynamics, accommodates the current data. This connection, if fully established, will open a potential new avenue for studying the behaviour of strong force fields.
The strong force, as one of the four fundamental forces at work in the universe, governs interactions of quarks and gluons, and binds together the atomic nucleus. Notwithstanding decades of progress since Yukawa first developed a description of the force between nucleons in terms of meson exchange, a full understanding of the strong interaction remains a major challenge in modern science. One remaining difficulty arises from the non-perturbative nature of the strong force, which leads to the phenomenon of quark confinement at distance scales on the order of the size of the proton. Here we show that in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, where quarks and gluons are set free over an extended volume, two species of produced vector (spin-1) mesons, namely ϕ and K∗0, emerge with a surprising pattern of global spin alignment. In particular, the global spin alignment for ϕ is unexpectedly large, while that for K∗0 is consistent with zero. The observed spin-alignment pattern and magnitude for the ϕ cannot be explained by conventional mechanisms, while a model with strong force fields accommodates the current data. This is the first time that the strong force field is experimentally supported as a key mechanism that leads to global spin alignment. We extract a quantity proportional to the intensity of the field of the strong force. Within the framework of the Standard Model, where the strong force is typically described in the quark and gluon language of Quantum Chromodynamics, the field being considered here is an effective proxy description. This is a qualitatively new class of measurement, which opens a new avenue for studying the behaviour of strong force fields via their imprint on spin alignment.
The strong force, as one of the four fundamental forces at work in the universe, governs interactions of quarks and gluons, and binds together the atomic nucleus. Notwithstanding decades of progress since Yukawa first developed a description of the force between nucleons in terms of meson exchange, a full understanding of the strong interaction remains a major challenge in modern science. One remaining difficulty arises from the non-perturbative nature of the strong force, which leads to the phenomenon of quark confinement at distance scales on the order of the size of the proton. Here we show that in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, where quarks and gluons are set free over an extended volume, two species of produced vector (spin-1) mesons, namely ϕ and K∗0, emerge with a surprising pattern of global spin alignment. In particular, the global spin alignment for ϕ is unexpectedly large, while that for K∗0 is consistent with zero. The observed spin-alignment pattern and magnitude for the ϕ cannot be explained by conventional mechanisms, while a model with strong force fields accommodates the current data. This is the first time that the strong force field is experimentally supported as a key mechanism that leads to global spin alignment. We extract a quantity proportional to the intensity of the field of the strong force. Within the framework of the Standard Model, where the strong force is typically described in the quark and gluon language of Quantum Chromodynamics, the field being considered here is an effective proxy description. This is a qualitatively new class of measurement, which opens a new avenue for studying the behaviour of strong force fields via their imprint on spin alignment.
A linearly polarized photon can be quantized from the Lorentz-boosted electromagnetic field of a nucleus traveling at ultra-relativistic speed. When two relativistic heavy nuclei pass one another at a distance of a few nuclear radii, the photon from one nucleus may interact through a virtual quark-antiquark pair with gluons from the other nucleus forming a short-lived vector meson (e.g. ρ0). In this experiment, the polarization was utilized in diffractive photoproduction to observe a unique spin interference pattern in the angular distribution of ρ0→π+π− decays. The observed interference is a result of an overlap of two wave functions at a distance an order of magnitude larger than the ρ0 travel distance within its lifetime. The strong-interaction nuclear radii were extracted from these diffractive interactions, and found to be 6.53±0.06 fm (197Au) and 7.29±0.08 fm (238U), larger than the nuclear charge radii. The observable is demonstrated to be sensitive to the nuclear geometry and quantum interference of non-identical particles.
In high-energy heavy-ion collisions, partonic collectivity is evidenced by the constituent quark number scaling of elliptic flow anisotropy for identified hadrons. A breaking of this scaling and dominance of baryonic interactions is found for identified hadron collective flow measurements in sNN−−−√ = 3 GeV Au+Au collisions. In this paper, we report measurements of the first- and second-order azimuthal anisotropic parameters, v1 and v2, of light nuclei (d, t, 3He, 4He) produced in sNN−−−√ = 3 GeV Au+Au collisions at the STAR experiment. An atomic mass number scaling is found in the measured v1 slopes of light nuclei at mid-rapidity. For the measured v2 magnitude, a strong rapidity dependence is observed. Unlike v2 at higher collision energies, the v2 values at mid-rapidity for all light nuclei are negative and no scaling is observed with the atomic mass number. Calculations by the Jet AA Microscopic Transport Model (JAM), with baryonic mean-field plus nucleon coalescence, are in good agreement with our observations, implying baryonic interactions dominate the collective dynamics in 3 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC.