Search Results (149 total)

Azimuthal angle (Δϕ) correlations are presented for a broad range of transverse momentum (0.4<p_T<10 GeV/c) and centrality (0–92%) selections for charged hadrons from dijets in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200 GeV. With increasing p_T, the away-side Δϕ distribution evolves from a broad and relatively flat shape to a concave shape, then to a convex shape. Comparisons with p+p data suggest that the away-side distribution 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 associated hadrons in the head region softens toward central collisions. The spectral slope for the shoulder region is independent of centrality and trigger p_T. The properties of the near-side distributions are also modified relative to those in p+p collisions, reflected by the broadening of the jet shape in Δϕ and Δη, and an enhancement of the per-trigger yield. However, these modifications seem to be limited to p_T≲4 GeV/c, above which both the hadron pair shape and per-trigger yield become similar to p+p collisions. These observations suggest that both the away- and near-side distributions contain a jet fragmentation component which dominates for p_T≳5 GeV/c and a medium-induced component which is important for p_T≲4 GeV/c. We also quantify the role of jets at intermediate and low p_T through the yield of jet-induced pairs in comparison with binary scaled p+p pair yield. The yield of jet-induced pairs is suppressed at high pair proxy energy (sum of the p_T magnitudes of the two hadrons) and is enhanced at low pair proxy energy. The former is consistent with jet quenching; the latter is consistent with the enhancement of soft hadron pairs due to transport of lost energy to lower p_T.

The PHENIX experiment has measured the suppression of semi-inclusive single high-transverse-momentum π⁰'s in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200 GeV. The present understanding of this suppression is in terms of energy loss of the parent (fragmenting) parton in a dense color-charge medium. We have performed a quantitative comparison between various parton energy-loss models and our experimental data. The statistical point-to-point uncorrelated as well as correlated systematic uncertainties are taken into account in the comparison. We detail this methodology and the resulting constraint on the model parameters, such as the initial color-charge density dN^g/dy, the medium transport coefficient 〈q-^ 〉, or the initial energy-loss parameter ε₀. We find that high-transverse-momentum π⁰ suppression in Au+Au collisions has sufficient precision to constrain these model-dependent parameters at the ±20–25% (one standard deviation) level. These constraints include only the experimental uncertainties, and further studies are needed to compute the corresponding theoretical uncertainties.

A three-dimensional correlation function obtained from midrapidity, low p_T, pion pairs in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200  GeV is studied. The extracted model-independent source function indicates a long range tail in the directions of the pion pair transverse momentum (out) and the beam (long). A proper breakup time τ₀∼9  fm/c and a mean proper emission duration Δτ∼2  fm/c, leading to sizable emission time differences (⟨|Δt_LCM|⟩≈12  fm/c), are required to allow models to be successfully matched to these tails. The model comparisons also suggest an outside-in “burning” of the emission source reminiscent of many hydrodynamical models.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

Deuteron-gold (d+Au) collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider provide ideal platforms for testing QCD theories in dense nuclear matter at high energy. In particular, models suggesting strong saturation effects for partons carrying small nucleon momentum fraction (x) predict modifications to jet production at forward rapidity (deuteron-going direction) in d+Au collisions. We report on two-particle azimuthal angle correlations between charged hadrons at forward/backward (deuteron/gold going direction) rapidity and charged hadrons at midrapidity in d+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt[s_NN]=200  GeV. Jet structures observed in the correlations are quantified in terms of the conditional yield and angular width of away-side partners. The kinematic region studied here samples partons in the gold nucleus with x∼0.1 to ∼0.01. Within this range, we find no x dependence of the jet structure in d+Au collisions.

We present an improved measurement of the double helicity asymmetry for π⁰ production in polarized proton-proton scattering at sqrt[s]=200  GeV employing the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The improvements to our previous measurement come from two main factors: Inclusion of a new data set from the 2004 RHIC run with higher beam polarizations than the earlier run and a recalibration of the beam polarization measurements for the earlier run, which resulted in reduced uncertainties and increased beam polarizations. The results are compared to a Next to Leading Order (NLO) perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (pQCD) calculation with a range of polarized gluon distributions.