Search Results (79 total)

We present a new analysis of J/ψ production yields in deuteron-gold collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200 GeV using data taken from the PHENIX experiment in 2003 and previously published in S. S. Adler [Phys. Rev. Lett 96, 012304 (2006)]. The high statistics proton-proton J/ψ data taken in 2005 are used to improve the baseline measurement and thus construct updated cold nuclear matter modification factors (R_dAu). A suppression of J/ψ in cold nuclear matter is observed as one goes forward in rapidity (in the deuteron-going direction), corresponding to a region more sensitive to initial-state low-x gluons in the gold nucleus. The measured nuclear modification factors are compared to theoretical calculations of nuclear shadowing to which a J/ψ (or precursor) breakup cross section is added. Breakup cross sections of σ_breakup=2.8_-1.4^+1.7 (2.2_-1.5^+1.6) mb are obtained by fitting these calculations to the data using two different models of nuclear shadowing. These breakup cross-section values are consistent within large uncertainties with the 4.2±0.5 mb determined at lower collision energies. Projecting this range of cold nuclear matter effects to copper-copper and gold-gold collisions reveals that the current constraints are not sufficient to firmly quantify the additional hot nuclear matter effect.

We present transverse momentum (p_T) spectra of charged hadrons measured in deuteron-gold and nucleon-gold collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200 GeV for four centrality classes. Nucleon-gold collisions were selected by tagging events in which a spectator nucleon was observed in one of two forward rapidity detectors. The spectra and yields were investigated as a function of the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions, ν, suffered by deuteron nucleons. A comparison of charged particle yields to those in p+p collisions show that yield per nucleon-nucleon collision saturates with ν for high momentum particles. We also present the charged hadron to neutral pion ratios as a function of p_T.

Azimuthal angle (Δϕ) correlations are presented for charged hadrons from dijets for 0.4<p_T<10 GeV/c in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200 GeV. With increasing p_T, the away-side distribution evolves from a broad and relatively flat shape to a concave shape, then to a convex shape. Comparisons to p+p data suggest that the away-side can be divided into a partially suppressed “head” region centered at Δϕ~π and an enhanced “shoulder” region centered at Δϕ~π±1.1. The p_T spectrum for the head region softens toward central collisions, consistent with the onset of jet quenching. The spectral slope for the shoulder region is independent of centrality and trigger p_T, which offers constraints on energy transport mechanisms and suggests that it contains the medium response to energetic jets.

Muon production at forward rapidity (1.5≤|η|≤1.8) has been measured by the PHENIX experiment over the transverse momentum range 1≤p_T≤3  GeV/c in sqrt[s]=200  GeV p+p collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. After statistically subtracting contributions from light hadron decays an excess remains which is attributed to the semileptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy flavor, i.e. charm quarks or, at high p_T, bottom quarks. The resulting muon spectrum from heavy flavor decays is compared to PYTHIA and a next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculation. PYTHIA is used to determine the charm quark spectrum that would produce the observed muon excess. The corresponding differential cross section for charm quark production at forward rapidity is determined to be dσ_cc̅ /dy|_y=1.6=0.243±0.013(stat.)±0.105(data syst.)+0.049 / -0.087(PYTHIA syst.)  mb.

The PHENIX experiment presents results from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider 2005 run with polarized proton collisions at sqrt[s]=200  GeV, for inclusive π⁰ production at midrapidity. Unpolarized cross section results are given for transverse momenta p_T=0.5 to 20  GeV/c, extending the range of published data to both lower and higher p_T. The cross section is described well for p_T<1  GeV/c by an exponential in p_T, and, for p_T>2  GeV/c, by perturbative QCD. Double helicity asymmetries A_LL are presented based on a factor of 5 improvement in uncertainties as compared to previously published results, due to both an improved beam polarization of 50%, and to higher integrated luminosity. These measurements are sensitive to the gluon polarization in the proton. Using one representative model of gluon polarization it is demonstrated that the gluon spin contribution to the proton spin is significantly constrained.

Measurements of neutral pion (π⁰) production at midrapidity in sqrt[s_NN]=200 GeV Au+Au collisions as a function of transverse momentum, p_T, collision centrality, and angle with respect to reaction plane are presented. The data represent the final π⁰ results from the PHENIX experiment for the first RHIC Au+Au run at design center-of-mass energy. They include additional data obtained using the PHENIX Level-2 trigger with more than a factor of 3 increase in statistics over previously published results for p_T>6 GeV/c. We evaluate the suppression in the yield of high-p_T π⁰'s relative to pointlike scaling expectations using the nuclear modification factor R_AA. We present the p_T dependence of R_AA for nine bins in collision centrality. We separately integrate R_AA over larger p_T bins to show more precisely the centrality dependence of the high-p_T suppression. We then evaluate the dependence of the high-p_T suppression on the emission angle Δϕ of the pions with respect to event reaction plane for seven bins in collision centrality. We show that the yields of high-p_T π⁰'s vary strongly with Δϕ, consistent with prior measurements . We show that this variation persists in the most peripheral bin accessible in this analysis. For the peripheral bins we observe no suppression for neutral pions produced aligned with the reaction plane, whereas the yield of π⁰'s produced perpendicular to the reaction plane is suppressed by a factor of ~2. We analyze the combined centrality and Δϕ dependence of the π⁰ suppression in different p_T bins using different possible descriptions of parton energy loss dependence on jet path-length averages to determine whether a single geometric picture can explain the observed suppression pattern.

Longitudinal density correlations of produced matter in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200 GeV have been measured from the inclusive charged particle distributions as a function of pseudorapidity window sizes. The extracted αξ parameter, related to the susceptibility of the density fluctuations in the long-wavelength limit, exhibits a nonmonotonic behavior as a function of the number of participant nucleons, N_part. A local maximum is seen at N_part~90, with corresponding energy density based on the Bjorken picture of ε_Bjτ~2.4 GeV/(fm²c) with a transverse area size of 60 fm². This behavior may suggest a critical phase boundary based on the Ginzburg-Landau framework.

Differential elliptic flow (v₂) for ϕ mesons and (anti)deuterons (d̅ )d is measured for Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200  GeV. The v₂ for ϕ mesons follows the trend of lighter π^± and K^± mesons, suggesting that ordinary hadrons interacting with standard hadronic cross sections are not the primary driver for elliptic flow development. The v₂ values for (d̅ )d suggest that elliptic flow is additive for composite particles. This further validation of the universal scaling of v₂ per constituent quark for baryons and mesons suggests that partonic collectivity dominates the transverse expansion dynamics.

J/ψ production in p+p collisions at sqrt[s]=200  GeV has been measured by the PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over a rapidity range of -2.2<y<2.2 and a transverse momentum range of 0<p_T<9  GeV/c. The size of the present data set allows a detailed measurement of both the p_T and the rapidity distributions and is sufficient to constrain production models. The total cross section times the branching ratio is B_llσ_pp^J/ψ=178±3^stat±53^sys±18^norm  nb.

We present azimuthal angle correlations of intermediate transverse momentum (1–4  GeV/c) hadrons from dijets in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=62.4 and 200 GeV. The away-side dijet induced azimuthal correlation is broadened, non-Gaussian, and peaked away from Δϕ=π in central and semicentral collisions in all the systems. The broadening and peak location are found to depend upon the number of participants in the collision, but not on the collision energy or beam nuclei. These results are consistent with sound or shock wave models, but pose challenges to Cherenkov gluon radiation models.

The PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC)has measured J/ψ production for rapidities -2.2<y<2.2 in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200  GeV. The J/ψ invariant yield and nuclear modification factor R_AA as a function of centrality,transverse momentum, and rapidity are reported. A suppression of J/ψ relative to binary collision scaling of proton-protonreaction yields is observed. Models which describe the lower energy J/ψ data at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron invoking only J/ψ destruction based on the local medium density predicta significantly larger suppression at RHIC and more suppression at midrapiditythan at forward rapidity. Both trends are contradicted by our data.

The PHENIX experiment at RHIC has measured the invariant cross section for ω-meson production at midrapidity in the transverse momentum range 2.5<p_T<9.25 GeV/c in p+p and d+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200 GeV. Measurements in two decay channels (ω→π⁰π⁺π^- and ω→π⁰γ) yield consistent results, and the reconstructed ω mass agrees with the accepted value within the p_T range of the measurements. The ω/π⁰ ratio is found to be 0.85±0.05^stat±0.09^sys in p+p and 0.94±0.08^stat±0.12^sys in d+Au collisions, independent of p_T. The nuclear modification factor R_dA^ω is 1.03±0.12^stat±0.21^sys and 0.83±0.21^stat±0.17^sys in minimum bias and central (0–20%) d+Au collisions, respectively.

The dependence of transverse momentum spectra of neutral pions and η mesons with p_T<16  GeV/c and p_T<12  GeV/c, respectively, on the centrality of the collision has been measured at midrapidity by the PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in d+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200  GeV. The measured yields are compared to those in p+p collisions at the same sqrt[s_NN] scaled by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions in d+Au. At all centralities, the yield ratios show no suppression, in contrast to the strong suppression seen for central Au+Au collisions at RHIC. Only a weak p_T and centrality dependence can be observed.

The PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has measured electrons with 0.3<p_T<9  GeV/c at midrapidity (|y|<0.35) from heavy-flavor (charm and bottom) decays in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200  GeV. The nuclear modification factor R_AA relative to p+p collisions shows a strong suppression in central Au+Au collisions, indicating substantial energy loss of heavy quarks in the medium produced at RHIC energies. A large azimuthal anisotropy v₂ with respect to the reaction plane is observed for 0.5<p_T<5  GeV/c indicating substantial heavy-flavor elliptic flow. Both R_AA and v₂ show a p_T dependence different from those of neutral pions. A comparison to transport models which simultaneously describe R_AA(p_T) and v₂(p_T) suggests that the viscosity to entropy density ratio is close to the conjectured quantum lower bound, i.e., near a perfect fluid.

Differential measurements of elliptic flow (v₂) for Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200  GeV are used to test and validate predictions from perfect fluid hydrodynamics for scaling of v₂ with eccentricity, system size, and transverse kinetic energy (KE_T). For KE_T≡m_T-m up to ∼1  GeV the scaling is compatible with hydrodynamic expansion of a thermalized fluid. For large values of KE_T mesons and baryons scale separately. Quark number scaling reveals a universal scaling of v₂ for both mesons and baryons over the full KE_T range for Au+Au. For Au+Au and Cu+Cu the scaling is more pronounced in terms of KE_T, rather than transverse momentum.

Emission source functions are extracted from correlation functions constructed from charged pions produced at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200  GeV. The source parameters extracted from these functions at low k_T give first indications of a long tail for the pion emission source. The source extension cannot be explained solely by simple kinematic considerations. The possible role of a halo of secondary pions from resonance emissions is explored.

Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of η mesons in the range p_T≈2–12 GeV/c have been measured at midrapidity (|η|<0.35) by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC in p+p,d+Au, and Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200 GeV. The η mesons are reconstructed through their η→γ γ channel for the three colliding systems as well as through the η→π⁰π⁺π^- decay mode in p+p and d+Au collisions. The nuclear modification factor in d+Au collisions, R_dAu(p_T)≈1.0–1.1, suggests at most only modest p_T broadening (“Cronin enhancement”). In central Au+Au reactions, the η yields are significantly suppressed, with R_AuAu(p_T)≈0.2. The ratio of η to π⁰ yields is approximately constant as a function of p_T for the three colliding systems in agreement with the high-p_T world average of R_η/π⁰≈0.5 in hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions for a wide range of center-of-mass energies (sqrt[s_NN]≈3–1800 GeV) as well as, for high scaled momentum x_p, in e⁺e^- annihilations at sqrt[s]=91.2 GeV. These results are consistent with a scenario where high-p_T η production in nuclear collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider is largely unaffected by initial-state effects but where light-quark mesons (π⁰,η) are equally suppressed due to final-state interactions of the parent partons in the dense medium produced in Au+Au reactions.

We measured angular distributions of differential cross section, beam analyzing power, and recoil polarization for neutral pion electroproduction at Q²=1.0 (GeV/c)² in 10 bins of 1.17≤W≤1.35 GeV across the Δ resonance. A total of 16 independent response functions were extracted, of which 12 were observed for the first time. Comparisons with recent model calculations show that response functions governed by real parts of interference products are determined relatively well near the physical mass, W=M_Δ≈1.232 GeV, but the variation among models is large for response functions governed by imaginary parts, and for both types of response functions, the variation increases rapidly with W>M_Δ. We performed a multipole analysis that adjusts suitable subsets of ℓ_π≤2 amplitudes with higher partial waves constrained by baseline models. This analysis provides both real and imaginary parts. The fitted multipole amplitudes are nearly model independent—there is very little sensitivity to the choice of baseline model or truncation scheme. By contrast, truncation errors in the traditional Legendre analysis of N→Δ quadrupole ratios are not negligible. Parabolic fits to the W dependence around M_Δ for the multiple analysis gives values for Re(S₁₊/M₁₊)=(-6.61±0.18)% and Re(E₁₊/M₁₊)=(-2.87±0.19)% for the pπ⁰ channel at W=1.232 GeV and Q²=1.0 (GeV/c)² that are distinctly larger than those from the Legendre analysis of the same data. Similarly, the multipole analysis gives Re(S₀₊/M₁₊)=(+7.1±0.8)% at W=1.232 GeV, consistent with recent models, while the traditional Legendre analysis gives the opposite sign because its truncation errors are quite severe.

Cross sections for midrapidity production of direct photons in p+p collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) are reported for transverse momenta of 3<p_T<16  GeV/c. Next-to-leading order perturbative QCD (pQCD) describes the data well for p_T>5  GeV/c, where the uncertainties of the measurement and theory are comparable. We also report on the effect of requiring the photons to be isolated from parton jet energy. The observed fraction of isolated photons is well described by pQCD for p_T>7  GeV/c.

The momentum distribution of electrons from decays of heavy flavor (charm and bottom) for midrapidity |y|<0.35 in p+p collisions at sqrt[s]=200  GeV has been measured by the PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over the transverse momentum range 0.3<p_T<9  GeV/c. Two independent methods have been used to determine the heavy-flavor yields, and the results are in good agreement with each other. A fixed-order-plus-next-to-leading-log perturbative QCD calculation agrees with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties, with the data/theory ratio of 1.71±0.02^stat±0.18^sys for 0.3<p_T<9  GeV/c. The total charm production cross section at this energy has also been deduced to be σ_cc̅ =567±57^stat±193^sys  μb.

The properties of jets produced in p+p collisions at sqrt[s]=200  GeV are measured using the method of two-particle correlations. The trigger particle is a leading particle from a large transverse momentum jet while the associated particle comes from either the same jet or the away-side jet. Analysis of the angular width of the near-side peak in the correlation function determines the jet-fragmentation transverse momentum j_T. The extracted value, sqrt[⟨j_T²⟩]=585±6(stat)±15(sys)  MeV/c, is constant with respect to the trigger particle transverse momentum, and comparable to the previous lower sqrt[s] measurements. The width of the away-side peak is shown to be a convolution of j_T with the fragmentation variable, z, and the partonic transverse momentum, k_T. The ⟨z⟩ is determined through a combined analysis of the measured π⁰ inclusive and associated spectra using jet-fragmentation functions measured in e⁺e^- collisions. The final extracted values of k_T are then determined to also be independent of the trigger particle transverse momentum, over the range measured, with value of sqrt[⟨k_T²⟩]=2.68±0.07(stat)±0.34(sys)  GeV/c.

PHENIX has measured the centrality dependence of midrapidity pion, kaon, and proton transverse momentum distributions in d+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200 GeV. The p+p data provide a reference for nuclear effects in d+Au and previously measured Au+Au collisions. Hadron production is enhanced in d+Au, relative to independent nucleon-nucleon scattering, as was observed in lower energy collisions. The nuclear modification factor for (anti)protons is larger than that for pions. The difference increases with centrality but is not sufficient to account for the abundance of baryon production observed in central Au+Au collisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The centrality dependence in d+Au shows that the nuclear modification factor increases gradually with the number of collisions encountered by each participant nucleon. We also present comparisons with lower energy data as well as with parton recombination and other theoretical models of nuclear effects on particle production.

Azimuthal correlations of jet-induced high-p_T charged hadron pairs are studied at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200  GeV. The distribution of jet-associated partner hadrons (1.0<p_T<2.5  GeV/c) per trigger hadron (2.5<p_T<4.0  GeV/c) is found to vary with collision centrality, in both shape and yield, indicating a significant effect of the nuclear collision medium on the jet fragmentation process.

The recoil proton polarization was measured in the ²H(e→,e^′p→)n reaction in Hall A of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The electron kinematics were centered on the quasielastic peak (x_Bj≈1) and included three values of the squared four-momentum transfer, Q²=0.43,1.00 and 1.61 (GeV/c)². For Q²=0.43 and 1.61 (GeV/c)², the missing momentum, p_m, was centered at zero, whereas for Q²=1.00  (GeV/c)² two values of p_m were chosen: 0 and 174  MeV/c. At low p_m, the Q² dependence of the longitudinal polarization, P_z^′, is not well described by a state-of-the-art calculation. Further, at higher p_m, a 3.5σ discrepancy was observed in the transverse polarization, P_x^′. Understanding the origin of these discrepancies is important to confidently extract the neutron electric form factor from the analogous ²H(e→,e^′n→)p experiment.