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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.
Midrapidity open charm spectra from direct reconstruction of D0(D0-bar)-->K± pi ± in d+Au collisions and indirect electron-positron measurements via charm semileptonic decays in p+p and d+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV are reported. The D0(D0-bar) spectrum covers a transverse momentum (pT) range of 0.1<pT<3 GeV/c, whereas the electron spectra cover a range of 1<pT<4 GeV/c. The electron spectra show approximate binary collision scaling between p+p and d+Au collisions. From these two independent analyses, the differential cross section per nucleon-nucleon binary interaction at midrapidity for open charm production from d+Au collisions at BNL RHIC is d sigma NNcc-bar/dy=0.30±0.04(stat)±0.09(syst) mb. The results are compared to theoretical calculations. Implications for charmonium results in A+A collisions are discussed.
Correlations in the hadron distributions produced in relativistic Au+Au collisions are studied in the discrete wavelet expansion method. The analysis is performed in the space of pseudorapidity (| eta | <= 1) and azimuth(full 2 pi ) in bins of transverse momentum (pt) from 0.14 <= pt <= 2.1GeV/c. In peripheral Au+Au collisions a correlation structure ascribed to minijet fragmentation is observed. It evolves with collision centrality and pt in a way not seen before, which suggests strong dissipation of minijet fragmentation in the longitudinally expanding medium.
We present a systematic analysis of two-pion interferometry in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200GeV using the STAR detector at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. We extract the Hanbury-Brown and Twiss radii and study their multiplicity, transverse momentum, and azimuthal angle dependence. The Gaussianness of the correlation function is studied. Estimates of the geometrical and dynamical structure of the freeze-out source are extracted by fits with blast-wave parametrizations. The expansion of the source and its relation with the initial energy density distribution is studied.
The short-lived K(892)* resonance provides an efficient tool to probe properties of the hot and dense medium produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We report measurements of K* in sqrt[sNN]=200GeV Au+Au and p+p collisions reconstructed via its hadronic decay channels K(892)*0-->K pi and K(892)*±-->K0S pi ± using the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The K*0 mass has been studied as a function of pT in minimum bias p+p and central Au+Au collisions. The K*pT spectra for minimum bias p+p interactions and for Au+Au collisions in different centralities are presented. The K*/K yield ratios for all centralities in Au+Au collisions are found to be significantly lower than the ratio in minimum bias p+p collisions, indicating the importance of hadronic interactions between chemical and kinetic freeze-outs. A significant nonzero K*0 elliptic flow (v2) is observed in Au+Au collisions and is compared to the K0S and Lambda v2. The nuclear modification factor of K* at intermediate pT is similar to that of K0S but different from Lambda . This establishes a baryon-meson effect over a mass effect in the particle production at intermediate pT (2<pT <= 4GeV/c).
The pseudorapidity asymmetry and centrality dependence of charged hadron spectra in d+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN ]=200 GeV are presented. The charged particle density at midrapidity, its pseudorapidity asymmetry, and centrality dependence are reasonably reproduced by a multiphase transport model, by HIJING, and by the latest calculations in a saturation model. Ratios of transverse momentum spectra between backward and forward pseudorapidity are above unity for pT below 5 GeV/c . The ratio of central to peripheral spectra in d+Au collisions shows enhancement at 2< pT <6 GeV/c , with a larger effect at backward rapidity than forward rapidity. Our measurements are in qualitative agreement with gluon saturation and in contrast to calculations based on incoherent multiple partonic scatterings.
We report on the measurements of directed flow v1 and elliptic flow v2 for hadrons (π±, K ±, K0 S , p, φ, Λ and ) from Au+Au collisions at √sN N = 3 GeV and v2 for (π±, K ±, p and p) at 27 and 54.4 GeV with the STAR experiment. While at the two higher energy midcentral collisions the numberof-constituent-quark (NCQ) scaling holds, at 3 GeV the v2 at midrapidity is negative for all hadrons and the NCQ scaling is absent. In addition, the v1 slopes at midrapidity for almost all observed hadrons are found to be positive, implying dominant repulsive baryonic interactions. The features of negative v2 and positive v1 slope at 3 GeV can be reproduced with a baryonic mean-field in transport model calculations. These results imply that the medium in such collisions is likely characterized by baryonic interactions.
We report on a polarization measurement of inclusive J/ψ mesons in the di-electron decay channel at mid-rapidity at 2 < pT < 6 GeV/c in p + p collisions at √s = 200 GeV. Data were taken with the STAR detector at RHIC. The J/ψ polarization measurement should help to distinguish between different models of the J/ψ production mechanism since they predict different pT dependences of the J/ψ polarization. In this analysis, J/ψ polarization is studied in the helicity frame. The polarization parameter λθ measured at RHIC becomes smaller towards high pT , indicating more longitudinal J/ψ polarization as pT increases. The result is compared with predictions of presently available models.
Effect of event selection on jetlike correlation measurement in d+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV
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Dihadron correlations are analyzed in √sNN = 200 GeV d + Au collisions classified by forward charged particle multiplicity and zero-degree neutral energy in the Au-beam direction. It is found that the jetlike correlated yield increases with the event multiplicity. After taking into account this dependence, the non-jet contribution on the away side is minimal, leaving little room for a back-to-back ridge in these collisions.
Dihadron angular correlations in d + Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV are reported as a function of the measured zero-degree calorimeter neutral energy and the forward charged hadron multiplicity in the Au-beam direction. A finite correlated yield is observed at large relative pseudorapidity (η) on the near side (i.e. relative azimuth φ ∼ 0). This correlated yield as a function of η appears to scale with the dominant, primarily jet-related, away-side (φ ∼ π) yield. The Fourier coefficients of the φ correlation, Vn = (cosnφ), have a strong η dependence. In addition, it is found that V1 is approximately inversely proportional to the mid-rapidity event multiplicity, while V2 is independent of it with similar magnitude in the forward (d-going) and backward (Au-going) directions.
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.
In this letter, measurements of the shared momentum fraction (zg) and the groomed jet radius (Rg), as defined in the SoftDrop algorithm, are reported in p+p collisions at √s = 200 GeV collected by the STAR experiment. These substructure observables are differentially measured for jets of varying resolution parameters from R = 0.2 − 0.6 in the transverse momentum range 15 < pT,jet < 60 GeV/c. These studies show that, in the pT,jet range accessible at √s = 200 GeV and with increasing jet resolution parameter and jet transverse momentum, the zg distribution asymptotically converges to the DGLAP splitting kernel for a quark radiating a gluon. The groomed jet radius measurements reflect a momentum-dependent narrowing of the jet structure for jets of a given resolution parameter, i.e., the larger the pT,jet, the narrower the first splitting. For the first time, these fully corrected measurements are compared to Monte Carlo generators with leading order QCD matrix elements and leading log in the parton shower, and to state-of-the-art theoretical calculations at next-to-leading-log accuracy. We observe that PYTHIA 6 with parameters tuned to reproduce RHIC measurements is able to quantitatively describe data, whereas PYTHIA 8 and HERWIG 7, tuned to reproduce LHC data, are unable to provide a simultaneous description of both zg and Rg, resulting in opportunities for fine parameter tuning of these models for p+p collisions at RHIC energies. We also find that the theoretical calculations without non-perturbative corrections are able to qualitatively describe the trend in data for jets of large resolution parameters at high pT,jet, but fail at small jet resolution parameters and low jet transverse momenta.
Investigation of the linear and mode-coupled flow harmonics in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV
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Flow harmonics (vn) of the Fourier expansion for the azimuthal distributions of hadrons are commonly employed to quantify the azimuthal anisotropy of particle production relative to the collision symmetry planes. While lower order Fourier coefficients (v2 and v3) are more directly related to the corresponding eccentricities of the initial state, the higher-order flow harmonics (vn>3) can be induced by a modecoupled response to the lower-order anisotropies, in addition to a linear response to the same-order anisotropies. These higher-order flow harmonics and their linear and mode-coupled contributions can be used to more precisely constrain the initial conditions and the transport properties of the medium in theoretical models. The multiparticle azimuthal cumulant method is used to measure the linear and mode-coupled contributions in the higher-order anisotropic flow, the mode-coupled response coefficients, and the correlations of the event plane angles for charged particles as functions of centrality and transverse momentum in Au+Au collisions at nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy √sN N= 200 GeV. The results are compared to similar LHC measurements as well as to several viscous hydrodynamic calculations with varying initial conditions.
We present three-particle mixed-harmonic correlations 〈cos(mφa + nφb − (m + n)φc )〉 for harmonics m, n = 1 − 3 for charged particles in √sN N = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC. These measurements provide information on the three-dimensional structure of the initial collision zone and are important for constraining models of a subsequent low-viscosity quark–gluon plasma expansion phase. We investigate correlations between the first, second and third harmonics predicted as a consequence of fluctuations in the initial state. The dependence of the correlations on the pseudorapidity separation between particles show hints of a breaking of longitudinal invariance. We compare our results to a number of state-of-the art hydrodynamic calculations with different initial states and temperature dependent viscosities. These measurements provide important steps towards constraining the temperature dependent viscosity and longitudinal structure of the initial state at RHIC.
We report results on the total and elastic cross sections in proton-proton collisions at √s = 200 GeV obtained with the Roman Pot setup of the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The elastic differential cross section was measured in the squared four-momentum transfer range 0.045 ≤ −t ≤ 0.135 GeV2. The value of the exponential slope parameter B of the elastic differential cross section dσ/dt ∼ e−Bt in the measured −t range was found to be B = 14.32 ± 0.09(stat.)+0.13 −0.28(syst.) GeV−2. The total cross section σtot, obtained from extrapolation of the dσ/dt to the optical point at −t = 0, is σtot = 54.67 ± 0.21(stat.)+1.28 −1.38(syst.) mb. We also present the values of the elastic cross section σel = 10.85 ± 0.03(stat.)+0..49 −0.41(syst.) mb, the elastic cross section integrated within the STAR t-range σ det el = 4.05 ± 0.01(stat.)+0.18−0.17(syst.) mb, and the inelastic cross section σinel = 43.82 ± 0.21(stat.)+1.37−1.44(syst.) mb. The results are compared with the world data
Quark interactions with topological gluon configurations can induce chirality imbalance and local parity violation in quantum chromodynamics. This can lead to electric charge separation along the strong magnetic field in relativistic heavy-ion collisions – the chiral magnetic effect (CME). We report measurements by the STAR collaboration of a CME-sensitive observable in p + Au and d + Au collisions at 200 GeV, where the CME is not expected, using charge-dependent pair correlations relative to a third particle. We observe strong charge-dependent correlations similar to those measured in heavy-ion collisions. This bears important implications for the interpretation of the heavy-ion data.
We present a measurement of inclusive J /ψ production at mid-rapidity (|y| < 1) in p+p collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √s = 200 GeV with the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The differential production cross section for J /ψ as a function of transverse momentum (p T ) for 0 < p T < 14 GeV/c and the total cross section are reported and compared to calculations from the color evaporation model and the non-relativistic Quantum Chromodynamics model. The dependence of J /ψ relative yields in three p T intervals on charged-particle multiplicity at mid-rapidity is measured for the first time in p+p collisions at √s = 200 GeV and compared with that measured at √s = 7 TeV, PYTHIA8 and EPOS3 Monte Carlo generators, and the Percolation model prediction.
Fluctuations of conserved quantities such as baryon number, charge, and strangeness are sensitive to the correlation length of the hot and dense matter created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and can be used to search for the QCD critical point. We report the first measurements of the moments of net-kaon multiplicity distributions in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 7.7, 11.5, 14.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4, and 200 GeV. The collision centrality and energy dependence of the mean (M), variance (σ 2), skewness (S), and kurtosis (κ) for net-kaon multiplicity distributions as well as the ratio σ 2/M and the products Sσ and κσ 2 are presented. Comparisons are made with Poisson and negative binomial baseline calculations as well as with UrQMD, a transport model (UrQMD) that does not include effects from the QCD critical point. Within current uncertainties, the net-kaon cumulant ratios appear to be monotonic as a function of collision energy.
New measurements of directed flow for charged hadrons, characterized by the Fourier coefficient v1, are presented for transverse momenta pT, and centrality intervals in Au+Au collisions recorded by the STAR experiment for the center-of-mass energy range √sN N = 7.7–200 GeV. The measurements underscore the importance of momentum conservation, and the characteristic dependencies on √sN N , centrality and pT are consistent with the expectations of geometric fluctuations generated in the initial stages of the collision, acting in concert with a hydrodynamic-like expansion. The centrality and pT dependencies of veven 1 , as well as an observed similarity between its excitation function and that for v3, could serve as constraints for initial-state models. The veven 1 excitation function could also provide an important supplement to the flow measurements employed for precision extraction of the temperature dependence of the specific shear viscosity.
The inclusive J/ψ transverse momentum spectra and nuclear modification factors are reported at midrapidity (|y| < 1.0) in Au+Au collisions at √sN N = 39, 62.4 and 200 GeV taken by the STAR experiment. A suppression of J/ψ production, with respect to the production in p + p scaled by the number of binary nucleon–nucleon collisions, is observed in central Au+Au collisions at these three energies. No significant energy dependence of nuclear modification factors is found within uncertainties. The measured nuclear modification factors can be described by model calculations that take into account both suppression of direct J/ψ production due to the color screening effect and J/ψ regeneration from recombination of uncorrelated charm–anticharm quark pairs.
The transversity distribution, which describes transversely polarized quarks in transversely polarized nucleons, is a fundamental component of the spin structure of the nucleon, and is only loosely constrained by global fits to existing semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS) data. In transversely polarized p↑+p collisions it can be accessed using transverse polarization dependent fragmentation functions which give rise to azimuthal correlations between the polarization of the struck parton and the final state scalar mesons.This letter reports on spin dependent di-hadron correlations measured by the STAR experiment. The new dataset corresponds to 25 pb−1 integrated luminosity of p↑+p collisions at s=500 GeV, an increase of more than a factor of ten compared to our previous measurement at s=200 GeV. Non-zero asymmetries sensitive to transversity are observed at a Q2 of several hundred GeV and are found to be consistent with the former measurement and a model calculation. We expect that these data will enable an extraction of transversity with comparable precision to current SIDIS datasets but at much higher momentum transfers where subleading effects are suppressed.
We report the direct virtual photon invariant yields in the transverse momentum ranges 1 < pT < 3 GeV/c and 5 < pT < 10 GeV/c at mid-rapidity derived from the dielectron invariant mass continuum region 0.10 < Mee < 0.28 GeV/c2 for 0–80% minimum-bias Au+Au collisions at √sN N = 200 GeV. A clear excess in the invariant yield compared to the nuclear overlap function T A A scaled p + p reference is observed in the pT range 1 < pT < 3 GeV/c. For pT > 6 GeV/c the production follows T A A scaling. Model calculations with contributions from thermal radiation and initial hard parton scattering are consistent ithin uncertainties with the direct virtual photon invariant yield.
We present the first measurement of the proton–Ω correlation function in heavy-ion collisions for the central (0–40%) and peripheral (40–80%) Au + Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC). Predictions for the ratio of peripheral collisions to central collisions for the proton–Ω correlation function are sensitive to the presence of a nucleon– bound state. These predictions are based on the proton– interaction extracted from (2 + 1)-flavor lattice QCD calculations at the physical point. The measured ratio of the proton–Ω correlation function between the peripheral (small system) and central (large system) collisions is less than unity for relative momentum smaller than 40 MeV/c. Comparison of our measured correlation ratio with theoretical calculation slightly favors a proton– bound system with a binding energy of ∼ 27 MeV.
We report the first multi-differential measurements of strange hadrons of K −, φ and − yields as well as the ratios of φ/K − and φ/− in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 3 GeV with the STAR experiment fixed target configuration at RHIC. The φ mesons and − hyperons are measured through hadronic decay channels, φ → K + K − and Ξ− → Λπ−. Collision centrality and rapidity dependence of the transverse momentum spectra for these strange hadrons are presented. The 4π yields and ratios are compared to thermal model and hadronic transport model predictions. At this collision energy, thermal model with grand canonical ensemble (GCE) under-predicts the φ/K − and φ/− ratios while the result of canonical ensemble (CE) calculations reproduce φ/K −, with the correlation length rc ∼ 2.7 fm, and φ/−, rc ∼ 4.2 fm, for the 0-10% central collisions. Hadronic transport models including high mass resonance decays could also describe the ratios. While thermal calculations with GCE work well for strangeness production in high energy collisions, the change to CE at 3 GeV implies a rather different medium property at high baryon density.
A data-driven method was applied to Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV made with the STAR detector at RHIC to isolate pseudorapidity distance η-dependent and η-independent correlations by using two- and four-particle azimuthal cumulant measurements. We identified a η-independent component of the correlation, which is dominated by anisotropic flow and flow fluctuations. It was also found to be independent of η within the measured range of pseudorapidity |η| < 1. In 20–30% central Au+Au collisions, the relative flow fluctuation was found to be 34%±2%(stat.)±3%(sys.) for particles with transverse momentum pT less than 2 GeV/c. The η-dependent part, attributed to nonflow correlations, is found to be 5% ± 2%(sys.) relative to the flow of the measured second harmonic cumulant at |η| > 0.7.
Measurement of cold nuclear matter effects for inclusive J/ψ in p+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV
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Measurement by the STAR experiment at RHIC of the cold nuclear matter (CNM) effects experienced by inclusive J/ψ at mid-rapidity in 0-100% p+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV is presented. Such effects are quantified utilizing the nuclear modification factor, RpAu, obtained by taking a ratio of J/ψ yield in p+Au collisions to that in p+p collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The differential J/ψ yield in both p+p and p+Au collisions is measured through the dimuon decay channel, taking advantage of the trigger capability provided by the Muon Telescope Detector in the RHIC 2015 run. Consequently, the J/ψ RpAu is derived within the transverse momentum (pT) range of 0 to 10 GeV/c. A suppression of approximately 30% is observed for pT < 2 GeV/c, while J/ψ RpAu becomes compatible with unity for pT greater than 3 GeV/c, indicating the J/ψ yield is minimally affected by the CNM effects at high pT. Comparison to a similar measurement from 0-20% central Au+Au collisions reveals that the observed strong J/ψ suppression above 3 GeV/c is mostly due to the hot medium effects, providing strong evidence for the formation of the quark-gluon plasma in these collisions. Several model calculations show qualitative agreement with the measured J/ψ RpAu, while their agreement with the J/ψ yields in p+p and p+Au collisions is worse.
We present the first measurements of charge-dependent correlations on angular difference variables η1 − η2 (pseudorapidity) and φ1 − φ2 (azimuth) for primary charged hadrons with transverse momentum 0.15 <= pt <= 2 GeV/c and |η| <= 1.3 from Au–Au collisions at √sNN = 130 GeV. We observe correlation structures not predicted by theory but consistent with evolution of hadron emission geometry with increasing centrality from one-dimensional fragmentation of color strings along the beam direction to an at least two-dimensional hadronization geometry along the beam and azimuth directions of a hadron-opaque bulk medium.
We report a high precision measurement of the transverse single spin asymmetry AN at the center of mass energy √s=200 GeV in elastic proton–proton scattering by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The AN was measured in the four-momentum transfer squared t range 0.003⩽|t|⩽0.035 (GeV/c)2, the region of a significant interference between the electromagnetic and hadronic scattering amplitudes. The measured values of AN and its t-dependence are consistent with a vanishing hadronic spin-flip amplitude, thus providing strong constraints on the ratio of the single spin-flip to the non-flip amplitudes. Since the hadronic amplitude is dominated by the Pomeron amplitude at this √s, we conclude that this measurement addresses the question about the presence of a hadronic spin flip due to the Pomeron exchange in polarized proton–proton elastic scattering.
Anisotropic flow and flow fluctuations of identified hadrons in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV
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The first measurements of elliptic flow of π±, K±, p+p¯¯¯, K0S, Λ+Λ¯¯¯¯, ϕ, Ξ−+Ξ+, and Ω−+Ω+ using multiparticle cumulants in Pb−Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV are presented. Results obtained with two- (v2{2}) and four-particle cumulants (v2{4}) are shown as a function of transverse momentum, pT, for various collision centrality intervals. Combining the data for both v2{2} and v2{4} also allows us to report the first measurements of the mean elliptic flow, elliptic flow fluctuations, and relative elliptic flow fluctuations for various hadron species. These observables probe the event-by-event eccentricity fluctuations in the initial state and the contributions from the dynamic evolution of the expanding quark-gluon plasma. The characteristic features observed in previous pT-differential anisotropic flow measurements for identified hadrons with two-particle correlations, namely the mass ordering at low pT and the approximate scaling with the number of constituent quarks at intermediate pT, are similarly present in the four-particle correlations and the combinations of v2{2} and v2{4}. In addition, a particle species dependence of flow fluctuations is observed that could indicate a significant contribution from final state hadronic interactions. The comparison between experimental measurements and CoLBT model calculations, which combine the various physics processes of hydrodynamics, quark coalescence, and jet fragmentation, illustrates their importance over a wide pT range.
Three-body nuclear forces play an important role in the structure of nuclei and hypernuclei and are also incorporated in models to describe the dynamics of dense baryonic matter, such as in neutron stars. So far, only indirect measurements anchored to the binding energies of nuclei can be used to constrain the three-nucleon force, and if hyperons are considered, the scarce data on hypernuclei impose only weak constraints on the three-body forces. In this work, we present the first direct measurement of the p−p−p and p−p−Λ systems in terms of three-particle mixed moments carried out for pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV. Three-particle cumulants are extracted from the normalised mixed moments by applying the Kubo formalism, where the three-particle interaction contribution to these moments can be isolated after subtracting the known two-body interaction terms. A negative cumulant is found for the p−p−p system, hinting to the presence of a residual three-body effect while for p−p−Λ the cumulant is consistent with zero. This measurement demonstrates the accessibility of three-baryon correlations at the LHC.
The transverse-momentum (pT) spectra of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) measured with the ALICE detector up to pT = 16 GeV/c in the rapidity range −1.2<y<0.3, in p-Pb collisions at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV are presented as a function of charged particle multiplicity and rapidity. The measured pT distributions show a dependence on both multiplicity and rapidity at low pT whereas no significant dependence is observed at high pT. A rapidity dependence is observed in the pT-integrated yield (dN/dy), whereas the mean transverse momentum (⟨pT⟩) shows a flat behavior as a function of rapidity. The rapidity asymmetry (Yasym) at low pT ( < 5 GeV/c) is more significant for higher multiplicity classes. At high pT, no significant rapidity asymmetry is observed in any of the multiplicity classes. Both K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) show similar Yasym. The nuclear modification factor (QCP) as a function of pT shows a Cronin-like enhancement at intermediate pT, which is more prominent at higher rapidities (Pb-going direction) and in higher multiplicity classes. At high pT (> 5 GeV/c), the QCP values are greater than unity and no significant rapidity dependence is observed.
The interaction of K− with protons is characterised by the presence of several coupled channels, systems like K¯¯¯¯0n and πΣ with a similar mass and the same quantum numbers as the K−p state. The strengths of these couplings to the K−p system are of crucial importance for the understanding of the nature of the Λ(1405) resonance and of the attractive K−p strong interaction. In this article, we present measurements of the K−p correlation functions in relative momentum space obtained in pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV, in p-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV, and (semi)peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV. The emitting source size, composed of a core radius anchored to the K+p correlation and of a resonance halo specific to each particle pair, varies between 1 and 2 fm in these collision systems. The strength and the effects of the K¯¯¯¯0n and πΣ inelastic channels on the measured K−p correlation function are investigated in the different colliding systems by comparing the data with state-of-the-art models of chiral potentials. A novel approach to determine the conversion weights ω, necessary to quantify the amount of produced inelastic channels in the correlation function, is presented. In this method, particle yields are estimated from thermal model predictions, and their kinematic distribution from blast-wave fits to measured data. The comparison of chiral potentials to the measured K−p interaction indicates that, while the πΣ−K−p dynamics is well reproduced by the model, the coupling to the K¯¯¯¯0n channel in the model is currently underestimated.
The production of non-prompt D0 mesons from beauty-hadron decays was measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in Pb-Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. Their nuclear modification factor (RAA), measured for the first time down to pT=1 GeV/c in the 0−10% and 30−50% centrality classes, indicates a significant suppression, up to a factor of about three, for pT>5 GeV/c in the 0−10% central Pb-Pb collisions. The data are described by models that include both collisional and radiative processes in the calculation of beauty-quark energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma, and quark recombination in addition to fragmentation as a hadronisation mechanism. The ratio of the non-prompt to prompt D0-meson RAA is larger than unity for pT>4 GeV/c in the 0−10% central Pb-Pb collisions, as predicted by models in which beauty quarks lose less energy than charm quarks in the quark-gluon plasma because of their larger mass.
This article presents groomed jet substructure measurements in pp and Pb−Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector. The soft drop grooming algorithm provides access to the hard parton splittings inside a jet by removing soft wide-angle radiation. We report the groomed jet momentum splitting fraction, zg, and the (scaled) groomed jet radius, θg. Charged-particle jets are reconstructed at midrapidity using the anti-kT algorithm with resolution parameters R=0.2 and R=0.4. In heavy-ion collisions, the large underlying event poses a challenge for the reconstruction of groomed jet observables, since fluctuations in the background can cause groomed parton splittings to be misidentified. By using strong grooming conditions to reduce this background, we report these observables fully corrected for detector effects and background fluctuations for the first time. A narrowing of the θg distribution in Pb−Pb collisions compared to pp collisions is seen, which provides direct evidence of the modification of the angular structure of jets in the quark-gluon plasma. No significant modification of the zg distribution in Pb−Pb collisions compared to pp collisions is observed. These results are compared with a variety of theoretical models of jet quenching, and provide constraints on jet energy-loss mechanisms and coherence effects in the quark-gluon plasma.
Measurements of the production of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in pp collisions at s√=13 TeV at midrapidity with the ALICE detector are presented down to a transverse momentum (pT) of 0.2 GeV/c and up to pT=35 GeV/c, which is the largest momentum range probed for inclusive electron measurements in ALICE. In p−Pb collisions, the production cross section and the nuclear modification factor of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays are measured in the pT range 0.5<pT<26 GeV/c at sNN−−−√=8.16 TeV. The nuclear modification factor is found to be consistent with unity within the statistical and systematic uncertainties. In both collision systems, first measurements of the yields of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in different multiplicity intervals normalised to the multiplicity-integrated yield (self-normalised yield) at midrapidity are reported as a function of the self-normalised charged-particle multiplicity estimated at midrapidity. The self-normalised yields in pp and p−Pb collisions grow faster than linear with the self-normalised multiplicity. A strong pT dependence is observed in pp collisions, where the yield of high-pT electrons increases faster as a function of multiplicity than the one of low-pT electrons. The measurement in p−Pb collisions shows no pT dependence within uncertainties. The self-normalised yields in pp and p−Pb collisions are compared with measurements of other heavy-flavour, light-flavour, and strange particles, and with Monte Carlo simulations.
The correlations between different moments of two flow amplitudes, extracted with the recently developed asymmetric cumulants, are measured in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV recorded by the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The magnitudes of the measured observables show a dependence on the different moments as well as on the collision centrality, indicating the presence of nonlinear response in all even moments up to the eighth. Furthermore, the higher-order asymmetric cumulants show different signatures than the symmetric and lower-order asymmetric cumulants. Comparisons with state-of-the-art event generators using two different parametrizations obtained from Bayesian optimization show differences between data and simulations in many of the studied observables, indicating a need for further tuning of the models behind those event generators. These results provide new and independent constraints on the initial conditions and transport properties of the system created in heavy-ion collisions.
Elliptic flow of heavy-flavor decay electrons in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 27 and 54.4 GeV at RHIC
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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.
The linear and mode-coupled contributions to higher-order anisotropic flow are presented for Au+Au collisions at √sN N = 27, 39, 54.4, and 200 GeV and compared to similar measurements for Pb+Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The coefficients and the flow harmonics’ correlations, which characterize the linear and mode-coupled response to the lower-order anisotropies, indicate a beam energy dependence consistent with an influence from the specific shear viscosity (η/s). In contrast, the dimensionless coefficients, mode-coupled response coefficients, and normalized symmetric cumulants are approximately beam-energy independent, consistent with a significant role from initialstate effects. These measurements could provide unique supplemental constraints to (i) distinguish between different initial-state models and (ii) delineate the temperature (T ) and baryon chemical potential (μB ) dependence of the specific shear viscosity η s (T ,μB ).
We report high-precision measurements of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry, 𝐴𝐿𝐿, for midrapidity inclusive jet and dijet production in polarized 𝑝𝑝 collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √𝑠=200 GeV. The new inclusive jet data are sensitive to the gluon helicity distribution, Δ𝑔(𝑥,𝑄2), for gluon momentum fractions in the range from 𝑥≃0.05 to 𝑥≃0.5, while the new dijet data provide further constraints on the 𝑥 dependence of Δ𝑔(𝑥,𝑄2). The results are in good agreement with previous measurements at √𝑠=200 GeV and with recent theoretical evaluations of prior world data. Our new results have better precision and thus strengthen the evidence that Δ𝑔(𝑥,𝑄2) is positive for 𝑥>0.05.
Measurement of inclusive J/ψ polarization in p + p collisions at √s=200 GeV by the STAR experiment
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We report on new measurements of inclusive 𝐽/𝜓 polarization at midrapidity in 𝑝+𝑝 collisions at √𝑠=200 GeV by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The polarization parameters, 𝜆𝜃, 𝜆𝜙, and 𝜆𝜃𝜙, are measured as a function of transverse momentum (𝑝T) in both the helicity and Collins-Soper (CS) reference frames within 𝑝T<10 GeV/𝑐. Except for 𝜆𝜃 in the CS frame at the highest measured 𝑝T, all three polarization parameters are consistent with 0 in both reference frames without any strong 𝑝T dependence. Several model calculations are compared with data, and the one using the Color Glass Condensate effective field theory coupled with nonrelativistic QCD gives the best overall description of the experimental results, even though other models cannot be ruled out due to experimental uncertainties.
We report new STAR measurements of the single-spin asymmetries 𝐴𝐿 for 𝑊+ and 𝑊− bosons produced in polarized proton-proton collisions at √𝑠=510 GeV as a function of the decay-positron and decay-electron pseudorapidity. The data were obtained in 2013 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 250 pb−1. The results are combined with previous results obtained with 86 pb−1. A comparison with theoretical expectations based on polarized lepton-nucleon deep-inelastic scattering and prior polarized proton-proton data suggests a difference between the ¯𝑢 and ¯𝑑 quark helicity distributions for 0.05<𝑥<0.25. In addition, we report new results for the double-spin asymmetries 𝐴𝐿𝐿 for 𝑊±, as well as 𝐴𝐿 for 𝑍/𝛾* production and subsequent decay into electron-positron pairs.
The production of K∗(892)± meson resonance is measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in Pb−Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The resonance is reconstructed via its hadronic decay channel K∗(892)±→K0Sπ±. The transverse momentum distributions are obtained for various centrality intervals in the pT range of 0.4−16 GeV/c . Measurements of integrated yields, mean transverse momenta, and particle yield ratios are reported and found to be consistent with previous ALICE measurements for K∗(892)0 within uncertainties. The pT-integrated yield ratio 2K∗(892)±/(K++K−) in central Pb−Pb collisions shows a significant suppression at a level of 9.3σ relative to pp collisions. Thermal model calculations result in an overprediction of the particle yield ratio. Although both hadron resonance gas in partial chemical equilibrium (HRG-PCE) and music + smash simulations consider the hadronic phase, only HRG-PCE accurately represents the measurements, whereas music + smash simulations tend to overpredict the particle yield ratio. These observations, along with the kinetic freeze-out temperatures extracted from the yields measured for light-flavored hadrons using the HRG-PCE model, indicate a finite hadronic phase lifetime, which decreases with increasing collision centrality percentile. The pT-differential yield ratios 2K∗(892)±/(K++K−) and 2K∗(892)±/(π++π−) are presented and compared with measurements in pp collisions at √s=5.02 TeV. Both pa rticle ratios are found to be suppressed by up to a factor of five at pT<2.0 GeV/c in central Pb−Pb collisions and are qualitatively consistent with expectations for rescattering effects in the hadronic phase. The nuclear modification factor (RAA) shows a smooth evolution with centrality and is found to be below unity at pT>8 GeV/c, consistent with measurements for other light-flavored hadrons. The smallest values are observed in most central collisions, indicating larger energy loss of partons traversing the dense medium.
The inclusive production of the charm-strange baryon Ω0c is measured for the first time via its semileptonic decay into Ω−e+νe at midrapidity (|y| < 0.8) in proton–proton (pp) collisions at the centre-of-mass energy √s = 13 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The transverse momentum (pT) differential cross section multiplied by the branching ratio is presented in the interval 2 < pT < 12 GeV/c. The branching-fraction ratio BR(Ω0c → Ω−e+νe)/BR(Ω0c → Ω−π+) is measured to be 1.12 ± 0.22 (stat.) ± 0.27 (syst.). Comparisons with other experimental measurements, as well as with theoretical calculations, are presented.
The knowledge of the material budget with a high precision is fundamental for measurements of direct photon production using the photon conversion method due to its direct impact on the total systematic uncertainty. Moreover, it influences many aspects of the charged-particle reconstruction performance. In this article, two procedures to determine data-driven corrections to the material-budget description in ALICE simulation software are developed. One is based on the precise knowledge of the gas composition in the Time Projection Chamber. The other is based on the robustness of the ratio between the produced number of photons and charged particles, to a large extent due to the approximate isospin symmetry in the number of produced neutral and charged pions. Both methods are applied to ALICE data allowing for a reduction of the overall material budget systematic uncertainty from 4.5% down to 2.5%. Using these methods, a locally correct material budget is also achieved. The two proposed methods are generic and can be applied to any experiment in a similar fashion.
Long- and short-range correlations for pairs of charged particles are studied via two-particle angular correlations in pp collisions at √sNN = 13 TeV and p–Pb collisions at √s = 5.02 TeV. The correlation functions are measured as a function of relative azimuthal angle ∆φ and pseudorapidity separation ∆η for pairs of primary charged particles within the pseudorapidity interval |η| < 0.9 and the transverse-momentum interval 1 < pT < 4 GeV/c. Flow coefficients are extracted for the long-range correlations (1.6 < |∆η| < 1.8) in various high-multiplicity event classes using the low-multiplicity template fit method. The method is used to subtract the enhanced yield of away-side jet fragments in high-multiplicity events. These results show decreasing flow signals toward lower multiplicity events. Furthermore, the flow coefficients for events with hard probes, such as jets or leading particles, do not exhibit any significant changes compared to those obtained from high-multiplicity events without any specific event selection criteria. The results are compared with hydrodynamic-model calculations, and it is found that a better understanding of the initial conditions is necessary to describe the results, particularly for low-multiplicity events.
We report the first measurements of cumulants, up to 4𝑡ℎ order, of deuteron number distributions and protondeuteron correlations in Au+Au collisions recorded by the STAR experiment in phase-I of Beam Energy Scan (BES) program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Deuteron cumulants, their ratios, and proton-deuteron mixed cumulants are presented for different collision centralities covering a range of center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair √𝑠NN = 7.7 to 200 GeV. It is found that the cumulant ratios at lower collision energies favor a canonical ensemble over a grand canonical ensemble in thermal models. An anti-correlation between proton and deuteron multiplicity is observed across all collision energies and centralities, consistent with the expectation from global baryon number conservation. The UrQMD model coupled with a phase-space coalescence mechanism qualitatively reproduces the collision-energy dependence of cumulant ratios and proton-deuteron correlations.
We report a new measurement of the production of electrons from open heavy-flavor hadron decays (HFEs) at mid-rapidity (|y| < 0.7) in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV. Invariant yields of HFEs are measured for the transverse momentum range of 3.5 < pT < 9 GeV/c in various configurations of the collision geometry. The HFE yields in head-on Au+Au collisions are suppressed by approximately a factor of 2 compared to that in p + p collisions scaled by the average number of binary collisions, indicating strong interactions between heavy quarks and the hot and dense medium created in heavy-ion collisions. Comparison of these results with models provides additional tests of theoretical calculations of heavy quark energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma.
We report results on an elastic cross section measurement in proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy √𝑠 = 510 GeV, obtained with the Roman Pot setup of the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The elastic differential cross section is measured in the four-momentum transfer squared range 0.23 ≤ −𝑡 ≤ 0.67 GeV2. This is the only measurement of the proton-proton elastic cross section in this 𝑡 range for collision energies above the Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR) and below the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) colliders. We find that a constant slope 𝐵 does not fit the data in the aforementioned 𝑡 range, and we obtain a much better fit using a second-order polynomial for 𝐵(𝑡). This is the first measurement below the LHC energies for which the non-constant behavior 𝐵(𝑡) is observed. The 𝑡 dependence of 𝐵 is also determined using six subintervals of 𝑡 in the STAR measured 𝑡 range, and is in good agreement with the phenomenological models. The measured elastic differential cross section d𝜎∕dt agrees well with the results obtained at √𝑠 = 540 GeV for proton–antiproton collisions by the UA4 experiment. We also determine that the integrated elastic cross section within the STAR 𝑡-range is 𝜎f id el = 462.1 ± 0.9(stat.) ± 1.1(syst.) ± 11.6(scale) 𝜇b.