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Elliptic flow from nuclear collisions is a hadronic observable sensitive to the early stages of system evolution. We report first results on elliptic flow of charged particles at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=130 GeV using the STAR TPC at RHIC. The elliptic flow signal, v_2, averaged over transverse momentum, reaches values of about 6% for relatively peripheral collisions and decreases for the more central collisions. This can be interpreted as the observation of a higher degree of thermalization than at lower collision energies. Pseudorapidity and transverse momentum dependence of elliptic flow are also presented.
We present the first measurement of fluctuations from event to event in the production of strange particles in collisions of heavy nuclei. The ratio of charged kaons to charged pions is determined for individual central Pb+Pb collisions. After accounting for the fluctuations due to detector resolution and finite number statistics we derive an upper limit on genuine non-statistical fluctuations, perhaps related to a first or second order QCD phase transition. Such fluctuations are shown to be very small.
Charge fluctuations studied on event-by-event basis have been recently suggested to provide a signal of the equilibrium quark-gluon plasma produced in heavy-ion collisions at high energies. It is argued that the fluctuations generated at the early collision stage when the energy is released can fake the signal. PACS 25.75.-q, 12.38.Mh, 24.60.-k
In high energy p+p(bar) interactions the mean multiplicity and transverse mass spectra of neutral mesons from eta to Upsilon (m = 0.5 - 10 GeV/c^2) and the transverse mass spectra of pions (m_T > 1 GeV/c^2) reveal a remarkable behaviour: they follow, over more than 10 orders of magnitude, the power-law function:The parameters C and P are energy dependent, but similar for all mesons produced at the same collision energy. This scaling resembles that expected in the statistical description of hadron production: the parameter P plays the role of a temperature and the normalisation constant C is analogous to the system volume. The fundamental difference is, however, in the form of the distribution function. In order to reproduce the experimental results and preserve the basic structure of the statistical approach the Boltzmann factor e^(-E/T) appearing in standard statistical mechanics has to be substituted by a power-law factor (E/Lambda)^(-P).
Die vorliegende Arbeit befaßt sich mit der Untersuchung von Photonenemissionsmustern im einzelnen Ereignis, wie sie bei einer Schwerionenkollision von Schwefel auf Gold bei einer Energie von 200 GeV pro Nukleon produziert werden. Diese Ereignisse wurden mit dem Photonen-Multiplizitäts-Detektor im WA93-Experiment am CERN aufgenommen. Die globalen Observablen einer ultrarelativistischen Schwerionenkollision, wie z.B. Multiplizitäts- und Energieverteilungen der Teilchen, lassen sich durch Rechnungen mit dem String-Modell VENUS3.11 gut beschreiben. In diesem Modell werden alle bekannten, in einer Kern-Kern-Kollision ablaufenden physikalischen Prozesse eingebaut. Ein Vergleich von Verteilungen globaler Meßgrößen aus dem Experiment mit solchen aus Modellrechnungen zeigt, welche Resultate durch schon bekannte, in dem Modell berücksichtigte, physikalische Vorgänge verursacht sind und welche auf noch unbekannten Vorgängen oder auf Detektoreffekten beruhen. Um aus solchen Vergleichen den Einfluß noch unbekannter physikalischer Prozesse auf Verteilungen zu erkennen, muß die Veränderung der physikalischen Observablen bei der Messung durch den Detektor selbst berücksichtigt werden. Die Wechselwirkung der aus der Reaktionszone emittierten Teilchen mit der im Experiment befindlichen Materie der Detektoren wird mit dem Detektorsimulationsprogramm GEANT dargestellt. Der Einfluß der Detektoren kann für globale Observablen sehr zufriedenstellend beschrieben werden, was sich in der guten Übereinstimmung der Multiplizitäts- und Rapiditätsverteilung der im WA93-Experiment nachgewiesenen Photonen mit den Verteilungen aus Modellrechnungen zeigt. Auch die Dynamik der Kollision, sichtbar in der Verteilung der transversalen Energie, wird durch das Modell wiedergegeben. Auf dem Niveau von Einzelereignissen und der Verteilung von Photonen innerhalb eines Ereignisses ist es äusserst wichtig, den Einfluß der Detektoreffekte auf die Verteilungen zu bestimmen. Bei der Untersuchung von Fluktuationen und Korrelationen auf der Basis von Einzelereignissen wurde deshalb ein Vergleich zu Mixed Events angestellt, bei denen die Detektoreffekte beibehalten, aber alle vorhandenen Korrelationen aufgelöst werden. In dieser Arbeit wurden die Photonenemissionsmuster der Einzelereignisse (eventby- event-Analyse) mit der Minimal-Spanning-Tree (MST)-Methode auf Dichtefluktuationen hin untersucht. Die emittierten Photonen geben einen Hinweis auf die Emissionsstruktur von Mesonen, insbesondere der leichten pi0-Mesonen, weil Photonen überwiegend durch den Zerfall produzierte Teilchen sind und die räumliche Verteilung ihrer Ursprungsteilchen weitgehend widerspiegeln. Die Untersuchung von Teilchendichtefluktuationen, insbesondere der durch die Kollision produzierten Mesonen, kann zum besseren Verständnis des Verhaltens der Kernmaterie bei hohen Dichten und hohen Temperaturen beitragen. Waren Dichte und Temperatur in der Reaktionszone ausreichend hoch, könnte sich ein Quark-Gluon-Plasma gebildet haben. Die bei der anschließenden Expansion und Abkühlung stattfindende Kondensation zu Hadronen könnte ein Phasenübergang erster Ordnung sein. Die Größe der Fragmente, in diesem Fall die Hadronen und alle Gruppierungen daraus, sollte eine Verteilung ergeben, die mit einer Funktion Sa angenähert werden kann, wie es von verschiedenen Autoren im Zusammenhang mit Phasenübergängen erster Ordnung beobachtet wurde. Dabei ist S die Fragmentgröße und a eine negative Konstante. Die MST-Methode ist geeignet, das Emissionsmuster einzelner Photonenereignisse aus Schwerionenreaktionen in Cluster zu unterteilen. Die mit der MST-Methode definierten Cluster ergeben sich direkt aus der unterschiedlichen Dichteverteilung der Photonen auf der Detektorfläche in einem Einzelereignis. Die Cluster werden mit den obengenannten Fragmenten in Zusammenhang gebracht, wobei die Zahl der Photonen in einem Cluster die Fragmentgröße S darstellt. Ein wesentlicher Vorteil der MST-Methode besteht darin, daß sie zunächst keinerlei Einschränkung in der Art der zu suchenden Strukturen erfordert. Es müssen keine räumlichen Strukturen vorgegeben werden, nach denen dann in der Punkteverteilung gesucht wird, wie das in anderen Analysemethoden der Fall ist. Aus der durchgeführten Analyse hat sich ergeben, daß die MST-Methode sehr sensitiv auf Fluktuationen in der räumliche Dichteverteilung der Treffer im Einzelereignis ist. Die zweidimensionalen Räume, in denen die Dichteverteilung untersucht wird, können beliebig festgelegt werden und sind durch die Metrik, in der die Abstände des Minimal-Spanning-Trees berechnet werden, definiert. In dieser Arbeit wurden der x-y- Raum (Metrik 1) und der h-j-Raum (Metrik 2) benutzt. Dabei gibt Metrik 1 im wesentlichen Effekte in der Detektorgeometrie wieder und Metrik 2 ist eher dem Phasenraum und damit der Physik angepaßt. Zum Vergleich mit den Ergebnissen aus WA93-Datenereignissen wurden Cluster auf die gleiche Weise in Mixed Events, in Ereignissen aus Modellrechnungen und in Ereignissen mit Zufallsverteilungen von Punkten bestimmt. Die räumliche Verteilung der in den WA93-Datenereignissen gefundenen Cluster auf der Ebene des Detektors weist auf starke Inhomogenitäten in der Photonenverteilung hin. Der Vergleich mit entsprechenden Verteilungen der Cluster in Mixed Events und berechneten Ereignissen zeigt, daß ein Großteil dieser Inhomogenitäten durch Detektoreffekte verursacht wird. Zu diesen Detektoreffekten zählt auch die hohe Ansprechwahrscheinlichkeit für geladene Hadronen, so daß durch den Einsatz des Dipolmagneten eine inhomogene Verteilung der Treffer auf dem PMD verursacht wird. Diese durch Detektoreffekte verursachten Inhomogenitäten in den Photonenemissionsmustern können mögliche, durch physikalische Ursachen während der Kollision hervorgerufene, Dichtefluktuationen überlagern. Die Größenverteilung der Cluster in den WA93-Daten konnte mit einer Funktion Sa angenähert werden. Die Konstante a ergab sich dabei zu -3.0 für die in Metrik 1 gefundenen Cluster und -2.7 für die in Metrik 2 gefundenen Cluster. Die Größenverteilung der in den WA93-Datenereignissen mit Metrik 1 bestimmten Cluster zeigt keine großen Abweichungen zu den aus Mixed Events und aus simulierten Ereignissen gewonnenen Größenverteilungen. Die Größenverteilung, die mit Metrik 1 aus einer reinen Zufallsverteilung von Punkten erhalten wurde, liegt unterhalb der anderen drei Verteilungen. In den Verteilungen der Größe der in Metrik 2 definierten Cluster bestehen jedoch deutliche Unterschiede von WA93-Datenereignissen zu den Verteilungen aus anderen Ereignissen mit vergleichbaren Pseudorapiditätsverteilungen. Es wird eine Erhöhung der Wahrscheinlichkeit für große Cluster mit mehr als 20 Photonen in realen Datenereignissen beobachtet. Zunächst wurde angenommen, daß diese Erhöhung der Wahrscheinlichkeit für große Cluster die Folge der starken Inhomogenitäten in der zugrundeliegenden Trefferverteilung sein könnte. Wie die detaillierte Untersuchung der räumlichen Verteilung der Cluster jedoch gezeigt hat, ist diese inhomogene Verteilung der Photonen auch in den Mixed Events zu finden; die Erhöhung der Wahrscheinlichkeit für große Cluster tritt allerdings nicht auf. Daß diese Beobachtung in den Mixed Events nicht gemacht wird, könnte ein Hinweis darauf sein, daß die Erhöhung in der Größenverteilung der Cluster durch physikalische Ursachen hervorgerufen wird. Ein weiterer Hinweis darauf, daß die Ineffizienzen des Detektors allein nicht zu großen Clustern führen, zeigt der Vergleich von Mixed Events zu den Datenereignissen mit zufälligem Azimut. Trotz der Unterschiede in der räumlichen Verteilung der Cluster ergibt sich eine annähernd gleiche Wahrscheinlichkeitsverteilung. Die in dieser Arbeit mit der MST-Methode durchgeführten Analyse hat gezeigt, daß „saubere“, d.h. untergrund- und detektoreffektfreiere Photonendaten notwendig sind, bevor Rückschlüsse auf zugrundeliegende physikalische Ursachen gemacht werden können. Dazu ist eine wesentliche Verbesserung der Datenauslese erforderlich, um die großen Unterschiede zwischen den einzelnen Auslesemodulen zu vermeiden. Eine Weiterentwicklung in der Datenaufbereitungsmethode könnte zu einer besseren Separation von Hadronen und Photonen und damit zu einer untergrundfreieren Photonenmessung führen. Erforderlich ist auch eine sehr genaue Simulation der Detektoreffekte durch Angabe aller Details des Experiments im GEANT-Programm. Nach den Schwerionenexperimenten mit Sauerstoff- und Schwefelstrahlen wurde das Schwerionenprogramm am CERN 1994 durch den Bleistrahl 208Pb mit der Energie von 158 GeV pro Nukleon weitergeführt. Mit der Vergrößerung des Reaktionssystems erwartete man nicht unbedingt eine Erhöhung der Energiedichte, aber einen größeren Thermalisierungsgrad des Systems. Ziel blieb immer noch der Nachweis des Quark- Gluon-Plasmas und die Erforschung von Materie unter extremsten Bedingungen. Um eine möglichst universelle Aussage über den Ablauf einer ultrarelativistischen Schwerionenreaktion machen zu können, wurde ein Experiment, das WA98-Experiment, mit einer großen Akzeptanz für die Messung von Photonen und Hadronen entworfen. Die Kombination von Signalen verschiedener Detektoren sollte es ermöglichen unterschiedliche Charakteristika der Stoßprozesse parallel zu untersuchen. Basierend auf den Erfahrungen mit dem Photonen-Multiplizitäts-Detektor im WA93-Experiment, auch die im Zusammenhang mit dieser Arbeit gewonnenen Erkenntnisse, wurde ein größerer und verbesserter Detektor für den Einsatz im WA98- Experiment gebaut. Der Detektor wurde erstmals 1994 zur Messung von Photonenverteilungen in Pb-Pb Kollisionen bei Energien von 158 GeV pro Nukleon am CERN SPS eingesetzt.
Recent results on transverse mass spectra of J/psi and psi prime mesons in central Pb+Pb collisions at 158 AGeV are considered. It is shown that those results support a hypothesis of statistical production of charmonia at hadronization and suggest the early thermal freeze-out of J/psi and psi prime mesons. Based on this approach the collective transverse velocity of hadronizing quark gluon plasma is estimated to be <v^H_T> \approx 0.2. Predictions for transverse mass spectra of hidden and open charm mesons at SPS and RHIC are discussed.
The transverse mass spectra of Omega, J/psi and psi' in Pb+Pb collisions at 158 AGeV are studied within a hydrodynamical model of the quark gluon plasma expansion and hadronization. The model reproduces the existing data with the common hadronization parameters: temperature T=T_H = 170 MeV and average collective transverse velocity v_T = 0.2.
Results of the production of Xi and Xi-bar hyperons in central Pb+Pb interactions at 158 GeV/c per nucleon are presented. This analysis utilises a global reconstruction procedure, which allows a measurement of 4pi integrated yields to be made for the first time. Inverse slope paramters, which are determined from an exponential fit to the transverse mass spectra, are shown. Central rapidity densities are found to be 1.49 +- 0.08 and 0.33 +- 0.04 per event per unit of rapidity for Xi and Xi-bar respectively. Yields integrated to full phase space are 4.12 +- 0.02 and 0.77 +- 0.04 for Xi and Xi-bar. The ratio of Xi-bar/Xi at mid-rapidity is 0.22 +- 0.03.
Measurements of charged pion and kaon production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 40, 80 and 158 AGeV are presented. These are compared with data at lower and higher energies as well as with results from p+p interactions. The mean pion multiplicity per wounded nucleon increases approximately linearly with s_NN^1/4 with a change of slope starting in the region 15-40 AGeV. The change from pion suppression with respect to p+p interactions, as observed at low collision energies, to pion enhancement at high energies occurs at about 40 AGeV. A non-monotonic energy dependence of the ratio of K^+ to pi^+ yields is observed, with a maximum close to 40 AGeV and an indication of a nearly constant value at higher energies.The measured dependences may be related to an increase of the entropy production and a decrease of the strangeness to entropy ratio in central Pb+Pb collisions in the low SPS energy range, which is consistent with the hypothesis that a transient state of deconfined matter is created above these energies. Other interpretations of the data are also discussed.
The transverse mass spectra of J/psi and psi' mesons and Omega hyperons produced in central Au+Au collisions at RHIC energies are discussed within a statistical model used successfully for the interpretation of the SPS results. The comparison of the presented model with the future RHIC data should serve as a further crucial test of the hypothesis of statistical production of charmonia at hadronization. Finally, in case of validity, the approach should allow to estimate the mean transverse flow velocity at the quark gluon plasma hadronization.
Experiment NA49 at the Cern SPS uses a large acceptance detector for a systematic study of particle yields and correlations in nucleus-nucleus, nucleon-nucleus and nucleon-nucleon collisions. Preliminary results for Pb+Pb collisions at 40, 80 and 158 A*GeV beam energy are shown and compared to measurements at lower and higher energies.
The energy dependence of hadron production in central Pb+Pb collisions is presented and discussed. In particular, midrapidity m_T-spectra for pi-, K-, K+, p, bar p, d, phi, Lambda and bar Lambda at 40, 80 and 158 AGeV are shown. In addition Xi and Omega spectra are available at 158 AGeV. The spectra allow to determine the thermal freeze-out temperature T and the transverse flow velocity beta_T at the three energies. We do not observe a significant energy dependence of these parameters; furthermore there is no indication of early thermal freeze-out of Xi and Omega at 158 AGeV. Rapidity spectra for pi-, K-, K+ and phi at 40, 80 and 158 AGeV are shown, as well as first results on Omega rapidity distributions at 158 AGeV. The chemical freeze-out parameters T and mu_B at the three energies are determined from the total yields. The parameters are close to the expected phase boundary in the SPS energy range and above. Using the total yields of kaons and lambdas, the energy dependence of the strangeness to pion ratio is discussed. A maximum in this ratio is found at 40 AGeV. This maximum could indicate the formation of deconfined matter at energies above 40 AGeV. A search for open charm in a large sample of 158 AGeV events is presented. No signal is observed. This result is compared to several model predictions.
Directed and elliptic flow of charged pions and protons in Pb + Pb collisions at 40 and 158 A GeV
(2003)
Directed and elliptic flow measurements for charged pions and protons are reported as a function of transverse momentum, rapidity, and centrality for 40 and 158A GeV Pb + Pb collisions as recorded by the NA49 detector. Both the standard method of correlating particles with an event plane, and the cumulant method of studying multiparticle correlations are used. In the standard method the directed flow is corrected for conservation of momentum. In the cumulant method elliptic flow is reconstructed from genuine 4, 6, and 8-particle correlations, showing the first unequivocal evidence for collective motion in A+A collisions at SPS energies.
New results from the energy scan programme of NA49, in particular kaon production at 30 AGeV and phi production at 40 and 80 AGeV are presented. The K+/pi+ ratio shows a pronounced maximum at 30 AGeV; the kaon slope parameters are constant at SPS energies. Both findings support the scenario of a phase transition at about 30 AGeV beam energy. The phi/pi ratio increases smoothly with beam energy, showing an energy dependence similar to K-/pi-. The measured particle yields can be reproduced by a hadron gas model, with chemical freeze-out parameters on a smooth curve in the T-muB plane. The transverse spectra can be understood as resulting from a rapidly expanding, locally equilibrated source. No evidence for an earlier kinetic decoupling of heavy hyperons is found.
Strange particle production in A+A interactions at 158 AGeV is studied by the CERN experiment NA49 as a function of system size and collision geometry. Yields of charged kaons, phi and Lambda are measured and compared to those of pions in central C+C, Si+Si and centrality-selected Pb+Pb reactions. An overall increase of relative strangeness production with the size of the system is observed which does not scale with the number of participants. Arguing that rescattering of secondaries plays a minor role in small systems the observed strangeness enhancement can be related to the space-time density of the primary nucleon-nucleon collisions.
The large acceptance and high momentum resolution as well as the significant particle identification capabilities of the NA49 experiment at the CERN SPS allow for a broad study of fluctuations and correlations in hadronic interactions. In the first part recent results on event-by-event charge and p_t fluctuations are presented. Charge fluctuations in central Pb+Pb reactions are investigated at three different beam energies (40, 80, and 158 AGeV), while for the p_t fluctuations the focus is put on the system size dependence at 158 AGeV. In the second part recent results on Bose Einstein correlations of h-h- pairs in minimum bias Pb+Pb reactions at 40 and 158 AGeV, as well as of K+K+ and K-K- pairs in central Pb+Pb collisions at 158 AGeV are shown. Additionally, other types of two particle correlations, namely pi p, Lambda p, and Lambda Lambda correlations, have been measured by the NA49 experiment. Finally, results on the energy and system size dependence of deuteron coalescence are discussed.
Rapidity distributions for $\Lambda$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ hyperons in central Pb-Pb collisions at 40, 80 and 158 A$\cdot$GeV and for ${\rm K}_{s}^{0}$ mesons at 158 A$\cdot$GeV are presented. The lambda multiplicities are studied as a function of collision energy together with AGS and RHIC measurements and compared to model predictions. A different energy dependence of the $\Lambda/\pi$ and $\bar{\Lambda}/\pi$ is observed. The $\bar{\Lambda}/\Lambda$ ratio shows a steep increase with collision energy. Evidence for a $\bar{\Lambda}/\bar{\rm p}$ ratio greater than 1 is found at 40 A$\cdot$GeV.
To preserve the required beam quality in an e+/e- collider it is necessary to have a very precise beam position control at each accelerating cavity. An elegant method to avoid additional length and beam disturbance is the usage of signals from existing HOM-dampers. The magnitude of the displacement is derived from the amplitude of a dipole mode whereas the sign follows from the phase comparison of a dipole and a monopole HOM. To check the performance of the system, a measurement setup has been built with an antenna which can be moved with micrometer resolution to simulate the beam. Furthermore we have developed a signal processing to determine the absolute beam displacement. Measurements on the HOM-damper cell can be done in the frequency domain using a network analyser. Final measurements with the nonlinear time dependent signal processing circuit has to be done with very short electric pulses simulating electron bunches. Thus, we have designed a sub nanosecond pulse generator using a clipping line and the step recovery effect of a diode. The measurement can be done with a resolution of about 10 micrometers. Measurements and numerical calculations concerning the monitor design and the pulse generator are presented.
We present a detailed study of chemical freeze-out in nucleus-nucleus collisions at beam energies of 11.6, 30, 40, 80 and 158A GeV. By analyzing hadronic multiplicities within the statistical hadronization approach, we have studied the strangeness production as a function of centre of mass energy and of the parameters of the source. We have tested and compared different versions of the statistical model, with special emphasis on possible explanations of the observed strangeness hadronic phase space under-saturation. We show that, in this energy range, the use of hadron yields at midrapidity instead of in full phase space artificially enhances strangeness production and could lead to incorrect conclusions as far as the occurrence of full chemical equilibrium is concerned. In addition to the basic model with an extra strange quark non-equilibrium parameter, we have tested three more schemes: a two-component model superimposing hadrons coming out of single nucleon-nucleon interactions to those emerging from large fireballs at equilibrium, a model with local strangeness neutrality and a model with strange and light quark non-equilibrium parameters. The behaviour of the source parameters as a function of colliding system and collision energy is studied. The description of strangeness production entails a non-monotonic energy dependence of strangeness saturation parameter gamma_S with a maximum around 30A GeV. We also present predictions of the production rates of still unmeasured hadrons including the newly discovered Theta^+(1540) pentaquark baryon.
Bose-Einstein correlations of charged kaons were measured near mid-rapidity in central Pb+Pb collisions at 158 A GeV by the NA49 experiment at the CERN SPS. Source radii were extracted using the Yano-Koonin-Podgoretsky and Bertsch-Pratt parameterizations. The results are compared to published pion data. The measured m_perp dependence for kaons and pions is consistent with collective transverse expansion of the source and a freeze-out time of about 9.5 fm.
We study the behaviour of the effective temperature for K+ in several energy domains. For this purpose, we apply the recently developed SPheRIO code for hydrodynamics in 3+1 dimensions, using both Landau-type compact initial conditions and spatially more spread ones. We show that initial conditions given in small volume, like Landau-type ones, are unable to reproduce the effective temperature together with other data (multiplicities and rapidity distributions). These quantities can be reproduced altogether only when using a large initial volume with an appropriate velocity distribution.
We suggest that the fluctuations of strange hadron multiplicity could be sensitive to the equation of state and microscopic structure of strongly interacting matter created at the early stage of high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. They may serve as an important tool in the study of the deconfinement phase transition. We predict, within the statistical model of the early stage, that the ratio of properly filtered fluctuations of strange to non-strange hadron multiplicities should have a non-monotonic energy dependence with a minimum in the mixed phase region.
The data on mT spectra of K0S K+ and K- mesons produced in all inelastic p + p and p + pbar interactions in the energy range sqrt(s)NN=4.7-1800GeV are compiled and analyzed. The spectra are parameterized by a single exponential function, dN/(m_T*dm_T)=C exp(-m_T/T), and the inverse slope parameter T is the main object of study. The T parameter is found to be similar for K0S, K+ and K- mesons. It increases monotonically with collision energy from T~30MeV at sqrt(s)NN=4.7GeV to T~220MeV at sqrt(s)NN=1800GeV. The T parameter measured in p+p and p+pbar interactions is significantly lower than the corresponding parameter obtained for central Pb+Pb collisions at all studied energies. Also the shape of the energy dependence of T is different for central Pb+Pb collisions and p+p(pbar) interactions.
The history and the main results of the energy scan program at the CERN SPS are reviewed. Several anomalies in energy dependence of hadron production predicted as signals of deconfinement phase transition are observed and they indicate that the onset of deconfinement is located at about 30 A GeV. For the first time we seem to have clear evidence for the existence of a deconfined state of matter in nature.
We propose a method to experimentally study the equation of state of strongly interacting matter created at the early stage of nucleus--nucleus collisions. The method exploits the relation between relative entropy and energy fluctuations and equation of state. As a measurable quantity, the ratio of properly filtered multiplicity to energy fluctuations is proposed. Within a statistical approach to the early stage of nucleus-nucleus collisions, the fluctuation ratio manifests a non--monotonic collision energy dependence with a maximum in the domain where the onset of deconfinement occurs.
Transverse activity of kaons and the deconfinement phase transition in nucleus-nucleus collisions
(2003)
We found that the experimental results on transverse mass spectra of kaons produced in central Pb+Pb (Au+Au) interactions show an anomalous dependence on the collision energy. The inverse slopes of the spectra increase with energy in the low (AGS) and high (RHIC) energy domains, whereas they are constant in the intermediate (SPS) energy range. We argue that this anomaly is probably caused by a modification of the equation of state in the transition region between confined and deconfined matter. This observation may be considered as a new signal, in addition to the previously reported anomalies in the pion and strangeness production, of the onset of deconfinement located in the low SPS energy domain.
Observation of an exotic S = -2, Q = -2 baryon resonance in proton-proton collisions at the CERN SPS
(2003)
Results of resonance searches in the Xi- pi-, Xi- pi+, antiXi+ pi- and antiXi+ pi+ invariant mass spectra in proton-proton collisions at sqrt s=17.2 GeV are presented. Evidence is shown for the existence of a narrow Xi- pi- baryon resonance with mass of 1.862+/-0.002 GeV/c^2 and width below the detector resolution of about 0.018 GeV/c^2. The significance is estimated to be 4.0 sigma. This state is a candidate for the hypothetical exotic Xi_(3/2)^-- baryon with S = -2, I = 3/2 and a quark content of (d s d s ubar). At the same mass a peak is observed in the Xi- pi+ spectrum which is a candidate for the Xi_(3/2)^0 member of this isospin quartet with a quark content of (d s u s dbar). The corresponding antibaryon spectra also show enhancements at the same invariant mass.
Results are presented on event-by-event fluctuations in transverse momentum of charged particles, produced at forward rapidities in p+p, C+C, Si+Si and Pb+Pb collisions at 158 AGeV. Three different characteristics are discussed: the average transverse momentum of the event, the Phi_pT fluctuation measure and two-particle transverse momentum correlations. In the kinematic region explored, the dynamical fluctuations are found to be small. However, a significant system size dependence of Phi_pT is observed, with the largest value measured in peripheral Pb+Pb interactions. The data are compared with predictions of several models. PACS numbers: 14.20.Jn, 13.75.Cs, 12.39.-x
Production of Lambda and Antilambda hyperons was measured in central Pb-Pb collisions at 40, 80, and 158 A GeV beam energy on a fixed target. Transverse mass spectra and rapidity distributions are given for all three energies. The Lambda/pi ratio at mid-rapidity and in full phase space shows a pronounced maximum between the highest AGS and 40 A GeV SPS energies, whereas the anti-Lambda}/pi ratio exhibits a monotonic increase. PACS numbers: 25.75.-q
Fluctuations of charged particle number are studied in the canonical ensemble. In the infinite volume limit the fluctuations in the canonical ensemble are different from the fluctuations in the grand canonical one. Thus, the well-known equivalence of both ensembles for the average quantities does not extend for the fluctuations. In view of a possible relevance of the results for the analysis of fluctuations in nuclear collisions at high energies, a role of the limited kinematical acceptance is studied.
A non-monotonic energy dependence of the K + / pi + ratio with a sharp maximum close to 30 A GeV is observed in central Pb+Pb collisions. Within a statistical model of the early stage, this is interpreted as a sign of the phase transition to a QGP, which causes a sharp change in the energy dependence of the strangeness to entropy ratio. This observation naturally motivates us to study the production of multistrange hyperons (Xi, Omega) as a function of the beam energy. Furthermore it was suggested that the kinematic freeze-out of Omega takes place directly at QGP hadronization. If this is indeed the case, the transverse momentum spectra of the Omega directly reflect the transverse expansion velocity of a hadronizing QGP. In this report we show preliminary NA49 results on Omega - and Omega + production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 40 and 158 A GeV and compare them to measurements of Xi - and Xi + production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 30, 40, 80 and 158 A GeV.
Report from NA49
(2004)
The most recent data of NA49 on hadron production in nuclear collisions at CERN SPS energies are presented. Anomalies in the energy dependence of pion and kaon production in central Pb+Pb collisions are observed. They suggest that the onset of deconfinement is located at about 30 AGeV. Large multiplicity and transverse momentum fluctuations are measured for collisions of intermediate mass systems at 158 AGeV. The need for a new experimental programme at the CERN SPS is underlined.
The transverse mass mt distributions for deuterons and protons are measured in Pb+Pb reactions near midrapidity and in the range 0<mt–m<1.0 (1.5) GeV/c2 for minimum bias collisions at 158A GeV and for central collisions at 40 and 80 A GeV beam energies. The rapidity density dn/dy, inverse slope parameter T and mean transverse mass <mt> derived from mt distributions as well as the coalescence parameter B2 are studied as a function of the incident energy and the collision centrality. The deuteron mt spectra are significantly harder than those of protons, especially in central collisions. The coalescence factor B2 shows three systematic trends. First, it decreases strongly with increasing centrality reflecting an enlargement of the deuteron coalescence volume in central Pb+Pb collisions. Second, it increases with mt. Finally, B2 shows an increase with decreasing incident beam energy even within the SPS energy range. The results are discussed and compared to the predictions of models that include the collective expansion of the source created in Pb+Pb collisions.
Preliminary results on pion-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb+Pb collisions measured by the NA49 experiment are presented. Rapidity as well as transverse momentum dependence of the HBT-radii are shown for collisions at 20, 30, 40, 80, and 158 AGeV beam energy. Including results from AGS and RHIC experiments only a weak energy dependence of the radii is observed. Based on hydrodynamical models parameters like lifetime and geometrical radius of the source are derived from the dependence of the radii on transverse momentum.
Event-by-event fluctuations of particle ratios in central Pb + Pb collisions at 20 to 158 AGeV
(2004)
In the vicinity of the QCD phase transition, critical fluctuations have been predicted to lead to non-statistical fluctuations of particle ratios, depending on the nature of the phase transition. Recent results of the NA49 energy scan program show a sharp maximum of the ratio of K+ to Pi+ yields in central Pb+Pb collisions at beam energies of 20-30 AGeV. This observation has been interpreted as an indication of a phase transition at low SPS energies. We present first results on event-by-event fluctuations of the kaon to pion and proton to pion ratios at beam energies close to this maximum.
Results are presented on event-by-event electric charge fluctuations in central Pb+Pb collisions at 20, 30, 40, 80 and 158 AGeV. The observed fluctuations are close to those expected for a gas of pions correlated by global charge conservation only. These fluctuations are considerably larger than those calculated for an ideal gas of deconfined quarks and gluons. The present measurements do not necessarily exclude reduced fluctuations from a quark-gluon plasma because these might be masked by contributions from resonance decays.
System-size dependence of strangeness production in nucleus-nucleus collisions at √sNN = 17.3 GeV
(2005)
Emission of pi, K, phi and Lambda was measured in near-central C+C and Si+Si collisions at 158 AGeV beam energy. Together with earlier data for p+p, S+S and Pb+Pb, the system-size dependence of relative strangeness production in nucleus-nucleus collisions is obtained. Its fast rise and the saturation observed at about 60 participating nucleons can be understood as onset of the formation of coherent partonic subsystems of increasing size. PACS numbers: 25.75.-q
Results are presented on Omega production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 40 and 158 AGeV beam energy. Given are transverse-mass spectra, rapidity distributions, and total yields for the sum Omega+Antiomega at 40 AGeV and for Omega and Antiomega separately at 158 AGeV. The yields are strongly under-predicted by the string-hadronic UrQMD model and are in better agreement with predictions from a hadron gas models. PACS numbers: 25.75.Dw
System size and centrality dependence of the balance function in A + A collisions at √sNN = 17.2 GeV
(2004)
Electric charge correlations were studied for p+p, C+C, Si+Si and centrality selected Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt s_NN = 17.2$ GeV with the NA49 large acceptance detector at the CERN-SPS. In particular, long range pseudo-rapidity correlations of oppositely charged particles were measured using the Balance Function method. The width of the Balance Function decreases with increasing system size and centrality of the reactions. This decrease could be related to an increasing delay of hadronization in central Pb+Pb collisions.
The hadronic final state of central Pb+Pb collisions at 20, 30, 40, 80, and 158 AGeV has been measured by the CERN NA49 collaboration. The mean transverse mass of pions and kaons at midrapidity stays nearly constant in this energy range, whereas at lower energies, at the AGS, a steep increase with beam energy was measured. Compared to p+p collisions as well as to model calculations, anomalies in the energy dependence of pion and kaon production at lower SPS energies are observed. These findings can be explained, assuming that the energy density reached in central A+A collisions at lower SPS energies is sufficient to force the hot and dense nuclear matter into a deconfined phase.
System size dependence of multiplicity fluctuations of charged particles produced in nuclear collisions at 158 A GeV was studied in the NA49 CERN experiment. Results indicate a non-monotonic dependence of the scaled variance of the multiplicity distribution with a maximum for semi-peripheral Pb+Pb interactions with number of projectile participants of about 35. This effect is not observed in a string-hadronic model of nuclear collision HIJING.
The hadronic final state of central Pb+Pb collisions at 20, 30, 40, 80, and 158 AGeV has been measured by the CERN NA49 collaboration. The mean transverse mass of pions and kaons at midrapidity stays nearly constant in this energy range, whereas at lower energies, at the AGS, a steep increase with beam energy was measured. Compared to p+p collisions as well as to model calculations, anomalies in the energy dependence of pion and kaon production at lower SPS energies are observed. These findings can be explained, assuming that the energy density reached in central A+A collisions at lower SPS energies is sufficient to transform the hot and dense nuclear matter into a deconfined phase.
Phase diagram of strongly interacting matter is discussed within the exactly solvable statistical model of the quark-gluon bags. The model predicts two phases of matter: the hadron gas at a low temperature T and baryonic chemical potential muB, and the quark-gluon gas at a high T and/or muB. The nature of the phase transition depends on a form of the bag mass-volume spectrum (its pre-exponential factor), which is expected to change with the muB/T ratio. It is therefore likely that the line of the 1st} order transition at a high muB/T ratio is followed by the line of the 2nd order phase transition at an intermediate muB/T, and then by the lines of "higher order transitions" at a low muB/T.
Im Kapitel 1 "Einleitung" wird aufgezeigt, wie die rasante technologische Entwicklung der Mikroelektronik nicht nur die Mikroskopie vorantreibt, sondern auch anderen, neuen Verfahren, wie z. B. dem Laser Scanning Mikroskop, zum Durchbruch verhilft. Damit verbunden ist ein Bedarf an neuen, geeigneten Messverfahren. Dazu stellt diese Arbeit ein neues, im Rahmen einer linearen Näherung arbeitendes, dreidimensionales Messverfahren vor, und demonstriert es am Beispiel des Lichtmikroskops im Hellfelddurchlichtbetrieb, wobei hier die 3. Dimension durch die Aufnahme einer Fokusserie entsteht. Im Kapitel 2 "Modellbildung" wird zuerst ein detailliertes, physikalisches Modell des experimentellen Aufbaus gebildet, um darauf aufbauend ein dreidimensionales, system-theoretisches Modell anzufertigen, anhand dessen das neue Messverfahren erarbeitet werden kann. Dabei wird auch die Berechnung der dreidimensionalen Übertragungsfunktionen des Lichtmikroskops für die drei Fälle absorbierende Objekte, Phasenobjekte und transparente Selbstleuchter beschrieben. Innerhalb des Kapitels 3 "Messverfahren" werden im Kapitel 3.1 zunächst die bekannten Verfahren skizziert. Anschließend, dies ist der Kern der Arbeit, wird im Kapitel 3.2 das neue Messverfahren beschrieben. Es verwendet als Anregung zweidimensionales Rauschen, hier ein Rauschen um eine Ebene senkrecht zur optischen Achse. Das Verfahren wird zunächst für absorbierende Objekte, anschließend auch für Phasenobjekte ausgearbeitet, und dabei experimentell demonstriert. Von zentraler Beutung ist, dass das neue Messverfahren in der Lage ist, auch die Phase der dreidimensionalen Übertragungsfunktion aus den Bildern der Rauschanregung zu berechnen, falls die Übertragung durch die Aufnahmeeinheit gewisse, häufig bei einem vernachlässigbaren Fehler vorliegende, Symmetrieeigenschaften besitzt. Es werden verschiedene Fälle von Symmetrieeigenschaften berücksichtigt, um unterschiedliche experimentelle Gegebenheiten und die drei Fälle absorbierende Objekte, Phasenobjekte und transparente Selbstleuchter abzudecken. Das Kapitel 4 "Messungen" vergleicht die mit dem neuen Messverfahren, mit einem bekannten Messverfahren und durch Berechnung ermittelten Übertragungseigenschaften auch bei Modifikationen des Strahlengangs durch Einfügen von Zentralblenden in die Pupille des Objektivs und in die Pupille des Kondensors. Die auf unterschiedlichen Wegen ermittelten Übertragungseigenschaften werden miteinander verglichen. Der Vergleich veranschaulicht die Leistungsfähigkeit des neuen Messverfahrens. Das Kapitel 5 "Die Bildgewinnung" stellt verschiedene, mehr oder weniger bekannte Ansätze zur Nutzung des vorgestellten Messverfahrens zusammen, darunter vor allem auch die Wiener-Inversfilterung.
The negative-pion multiplicity is measured for central collisions of 40Ar with KCl at eight energies from 0.36 to 1.8 GeV/nucleon and for 4He on KCl and 40Ar on BaI2 at 977 and 772 MeV/nucleon, respectively. A systematic discrepancy with a cascade-model calculation which fits proton- and pion-nucleus cross sections but omits potential-energy effects is used to derive the energy going into bulk compression of the system. A value of the incompressibility constant of K=240 MeV is extracted in a parabolic form of the nuclear-matter equation of state.
The parities of eleven J=1 levels in 208Pb were determined by nuclear resonance fluorescence scattering of linearly polarized photons. A new 1+ level at Ex=5.846 MeV with Gamma 02 / Gamma =1.2±0.4 eV was found. This level can probably be identified with the theoretically predicted isoscalar 1+ state in 208Pb. All other bound dipole states below 7 MeV with Gamma 02 / Gamma >1.5 eV have negative parity. The 1- assignment to the 4.842-MeV level is of special significance because of previous conflicting results about its parity.
The 16O ( gamma ,p0) reaction has been studied with linearly polarized bremsstrahlung photons in and below the giant E1 resonance. The parity of the absorbed radiation was determined from the observed azimuthal asymmetry of the emitted protons. Combined with unpolarized measurements the polarized results determine the proton decay amplitudes of the M1 resonance at Ex=16.2 MeV in 16O. The shape of the unpolarized 16O ( gamma ,p3) angular distribution in the giant E1 resonance was derived from the measured analyzing power. NUCLEAR REACTIONS 16O( gamma ,p), E=15-25 MeV; measured analyzing power theta =90° linearly polarized bremsstrahlung; 16O dipole levels deduced pi ; 16.2 MeV 1+ resonance deduced p0 decay amplitudes; 16O GEDR deduced p3 angular distribution.
The ultrarelativistic quantum molecular dynamics model (UrQMD) is used to study global observables in central reactions of Au+Au at sqrt[s]=200A GeV at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Strong stopping governed by massive particle production is predicted if secondary interactions are taken into account. The underlying string dynamics and the early hadronic decoupling implies only small transverse expansion rates. However, rescattering with mesons is found to act as a source of pressure leading to additional flow of baryons and kaons, while cooling down pions.
11 262 keV 1+ state in 20Ne
(1983)
The excitation energy of the lowest 1+, T=1 state in 20Ne, which is important for parity nonconservation studies, has been determined in a photon scattering experiment to be 11 262.3 ± 1.9 keV. Values for the gamma -ray branching of this level to the ground state and to the first 2+ level in 20Ne are 84 ± 5% and 16 ± 5%, respectively. NUCLEAR REACTIONS 20Ne( gamma , gamma ), E gamma <18 MeV, bremsstrahlung; measured E gamma , gamma branching. Ne natural targets.