Messung von Lepton-Paaren aus Meson-Zerfällen in den Hadronenexperimenten NA49 und STAR

Jens Berger — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 13:04:55 +0200

Die in ultra-relativistischen Schwerionenkollisionen erreichten Dichten und Temperaturen führen möglicherweise zu einem Übergang der hochangeregten Kernmaterie in eine partonische Phase ohne Einschluß der Quarks und Gluonen. Dieser Zustand wird Quark-Gluon- Plasma genannt. Die Existenz dieses Plasmas vor einem Phasenübergang in ein Hadrongas versucht man in einer Reihe von Experimenten unter anderem an den Kernforschungszentren CERN in Genf/Schweiz und Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) auf Long Island/USA nachzuweisen. Aufgrund theoretischer Modelle wird erwartet, daß Signaturen eines solchen Zustandes das Verhältnis der Pion- zu Baryonen-Produktion und die Produktion von Teilchen, die Strange-Quarks enthalten, sein könnten. Nach diesen Signalen sucht man im hadronischen Endzustand des Systems. Das Fixed-Target-Experiment NA49 untersucht Blei-Blei Kollisionen bei einer Strahlenergie von 158 GeV/c pro Nukleon. Das Experiment zeichnet sich durch seine große Detektorakzeptanz für geladene Teilchen verbunden mit einer präzisen Impulsmessung aus. Ähnliche Merkmale weist auch das momentan im Aufbau befindliche Collider-Experiment STAR am BNL auf. Hier sollen ab 1999 Kollisionen von Gold Kernen bei Energien von 100 GeV/c pro Nukleon analysiert werden. Die hohe Akzeptanz und die gute Impulsbestimmung der produzierten Teilchen zeichnen die Experimente als hervorragende Meßinstrumente für den hadronischen Endzustand aus. Andere Observablen, von denen man sich Aufschluß über die Reaktionsdynamik einer ultra-relativistischen Schwerionenkollisionen erhofft, sind Vektormesonen, die kurz nach oder sogar noch im Reaktionsvolumen der Kollision in ein Lepton-Paar zerfallen. Der Vorteil hierbei ist, daß die Zerfallsteilchen (Elektronen oder Myonen) mit anderen Teilchen nur elektromagnetisch wechselwirken. Deswegen können sie ohne Wechselwirkung mit den umgebenden Hadronen die Reaktionszone verlassen. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit für den Zerfall in Leptonen ist allerdings 10 exp (-4) mal niedriger als für den in Hadronen. Im NA49-Experiment, das auf die Erfassung des hadronischen Endzustandes optimiert ist, ist es aufgrund des hohen Untergrundes an Hadronen nicht trivial, die Lepton-Paare aus dem Zerfall von Vektormesonen zu selektieren. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit bestand darin, zu untersuchen, wie gut eine Identifikation von Elektronen bzw. Positronen im NA-49-Experiment möglich ist. Es konnte die Effizienz der Selektion von Elektron-Positron-Paaren aus dem Zerfall von Phi-Mesonen abgeschätzt und die Kontamination der Lepton-Kandidaten durch Hadronen ermittelt werden. Danach wurde ein Signal zu Untergrund-Verhältnis für das Signal des Phi-Mesons im Invariante-Masse-Spektrum abgeschätzt. Aus den mit dem NA- Experiment gewonnenen Erkenntnissen konnten Vorschläge zur Optimierung der Messung von Lepton-Paaren aus Vektormesonen im zukünftigen STAR-Experiment gemacht werden.

Erratum: Midrapidity antiproton-to-proton ratio from Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4778 (2001)]

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 17:24:50 +0200

Azimuthal anisotropy in Au+Au collisions at SNN=200GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 17:20:13 +0200

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.

Open charm yields in d+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 17:17:13 +0200

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

Event-wise fluctuations in Au-Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 17:14:06 +0200

We present the first large-acceptance measurement of event-wise mean transverse momentum fluctuations for Au-Au collisions at nucleon-nucleon center-of-momentum collision energy sqrt[sNN] = 130 GeV. The observed nonstatistical fluctuations substantially exceed in magnitude fluctuations expected from the finite number of particles produced in a typical collision. The r.m.s. fractional width excess of the event-wise distribution is 13.7±0.1(stat) ±1.3(syst)% relative to a statistical reference, for the 15% most-central collisions and for charged hadrons within pseudorapidity range | eta |<1,2 pi azimuth, and 0.15 <= pt <= 2 GeV/c. The width excess varies smoothly but nonmonotonically with collision centrality and does not display rapid changes with centrality which might indicate the presence of critical fluctuations. The reported fluctuation excess is qualitatively larger than those observed at lower energies and differs markedly from theoretical expectations. Contributions to fluctuations from semihard parton scattering in the initial state and dissipation in the bulk colored medium are discussed.

K(892)* resonance production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 17:11:47 +0200

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

Pion interferometry in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 17:09:03 +0200

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.

Transverse-momentum dependent modification of dynamic texture in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 17:06:24 +0200

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.

Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations at large transverse momenta in p+p and Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN] = 200 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 17:03:40 +0200

Results on high transverse momentum charged particle emission with respect to the reaction plane are presented for Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV. Two- and four-particle correlations results are presented as well as a comparison of azimuthal correlations in Au+Au collisions to those in p+p at the same energy. The elliptic anisotropy v2 is found to reach its maximum at pt~3 GeV/c, then decrease slowly and remain significant up to pt ~ 7-10 GeV/c. Stronger suppression is found in the back-to-back high-pt particle correlations for particles emitted out of plane compared to those emitted in plane. The centrality dependence of v2 at intermediate pt is compared to simple models based on jet quenching.

Azimuthally sensitive Hanbury Brown-Twiss interferometry in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 17:01:07 +0200

We present the results of a systematic study of the shape of the pion distribution in coordinate space at freeze-out in Au+Au collisions at BNL RHIC using two-pion Hanbury Brown-Twiss (HBT) interferometry. Oscillations of the extracted HBT radii versus emission angle indicate sources elongated perpendicular to the reaction plane. The results indicate that the pressure and expansion time of the collision system are not sufficient to completely quench its initial shape.

Pseudorapidity asymmetry and centrality dependence of charged hadron spectra in d+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN ]=200 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:58:25 +0200

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.

Measurements of transverse energy distributions in Au+Au collisions at sqrt [sNN ]=200 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:55:59 +0200

Transverse energy ( ET ) distributions have been measured for Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN ]=200 GeV by the STAR Collaboration at RHIC. ET is constructed from its hadronic and electromagnetic components, which have been measured separately. ET production for the most central collisions is well described by several theoretical models whose common feature is large energy density achieved early in the fireball evolution. The magnitude and centrality dependence of ET per charged particle agrees well with measurements at lower collision energy, indicating that the growth in ET for larger collision energy results from the growth in particle production. The electromagnetic fraction of the total ET is consistent with a final state dominated by mesons and independent of centrality.

Photon and neutral pion production in Au + Au collisions at sqrt[sNN ]=130 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:53:30 +0200

We report inclusive photon measurements about midrapidity ( |y| <0.5 ) from 197 Au + 197 Au collisions at sqrt[sNN ]=130 GeV at RHIC. Photon pair conversions were reconstructed from electron and positron tracks measured with the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) of the STAR experiment. With this method, an energy resolution of Delta E/E ~ 2% at 0.5 GeV has been achieved. Reconstructed photons have also been used to measure the transverse momentum ( pt ) spectra of pi 0 mesons about midrapidity ( |y| <1 ) via the pi 0 --> gamma gamma decay channel. The fractional contribution of the pi 0 --> gamma gamma decay to the inclusive photon spectrum decreases by 20%±5% between pt =1.65 GeV/c and pt =2.4 GeV/c in the most central events, indicating that relative to pi 0 --> gamma gamma decay the contribution of other photon sources is substantially increasing.

Centrality and pseudorapidity dependence of charged hadron production at intermediate pT in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN ]=130 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:50:31 +0200

We present STAR measurements of charged hadron production as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN ]=130 GeV . The measurements cover a phase space region of 0.2< pT <6.0 GeV/c in transverse momentum and -1< eta <1 in pseudorapidity. Inclusive transverse momentum distributions of charged hadrons in the pseudorapidity region 0.5< | eta | <1 are reported and compared to our previously published results for | eta | <0.5 . No significant difference is seen for inclusive pT distributions of charged hadrons in these two pseudorapidity bins. We measured dN/d eta distributions and truncated mean pT in a region of pT > pcutT , and studied the results in the framework of participant and binary scaling. No clear evidence is observed for participant scaling of charged hadron yield in the measured pT region. The relative importance of hard scattering processes is investigated through binary scaling fraction of particle production.

Rapidity and centrality dependence of proton and antiproton production from 197Au + 197Au collisions at sqrt[SNN ]=130 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:46:06 +0200

We report on the rapidity and centrality dependence of proton and antiproton transverse mass distributions from 197Au + 197Au collisions at sqrt[sNN ]=130 GeV as measured by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Our results are from the rapidity and transverse momentum range of |y| <0.5 and 0.35< pt <1.00 GeV/c . For both protons and antiprotons, transverse mass distributions become more convex from peripheral to central collisions demonstrating characteristics of collective expansion. The measured rapidity distributions and the mean transverse momenta versus rapidity are flat within |y| <0.5 . Comparisons of our data with results from model calculations indicate that in order to obtain a consistent picture of the proton (antiproton) yields and transverse mass distributions the possibility of prehadronic collective expansion may have to be taken into account.

Production of e+ e- pairs accompanied by nuclear dissociation in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:43:20 +0200

We present data on e+ e- pair production accompanied by nuclear breakup in ultraperipheral gold-gold collisions at a center of mass energy of 200 GeV per nucleon pair. The nuclear breakup requirement selects events at small impact parameters, where higher-order diagrams for pair production should be enhanced. We compare the data with two calculations: one based on the equivalent photon approximation, and the other using lowest-order quantum electrodynamics (QED). The data distributions agree with both calculations, except that the pair transverse momentum spectrum disagrees with the equivalent photon approach. We set limits on higher-order contributions to the cross section.

Multistrange baryon production in Au-Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:40:20 +0200

The transverse mass spectra and midrapidity yields for Xi s and Omega s are presented. For the 10% most central collisions, the Xi -bar+/h- ratio increases from the Super Proton Synchrotron to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider energies while the Xi -/h- stays approximately constant. A hydrodynamically inspired model fit to the Xi spectra, which assumes a thermalized source, seems to indicate that these multistrange particles experience a significant transverse flow effect, but are emitted when the system is hotter and the flow is smaller than values obtained from a combined fit to pi , K, p, and Lambda s.

Cross sections and transverse single-spin asymmetries in forward neutral-pion production from proton collisions at sqrt[s] = 200 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:37:45 +0200

Measurements of the production of forward high-energy pi 0 mesons from transversely polarized proton collisions at sqrt[s]=200 GeV are reported. The cross section is generally consistent with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations. The analyzing power is small at xF below about 0.3, and becomes positive and large at higher xF, similar to the trend in data at sqrt[s] <= 20 GeV. The analyzing power is in qualitative agreement with perturbative QCD model expectations. This is the first significant spin result seen for particles produced with pT>1 GeV/c at a polarized proton collider.

Identified particle distributions in pp and Au + Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:34:43 +0200

Transverse mass and rapidity distributions for charged pions, charged kaons, protons, and antiprotons are reported for sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV pp and Au+Au collisions at Relativistic Heary Ion Collider (RHIC). Chemical and kinetic equilibrium model fits to our data reveal strong radial flow and long duration from chemical to kinetic freeze-out in central Au+Au collisions. The chemical freeze-out temperature appears to be independent of initial conditions at RHIC energies.

Rho 0 production and possible modification in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:31:10 +0200

We report results on rho (770)0--> pi + pi - production at midrapidity in p+p and peripheral Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV. This is the first direct measurement of rho (770)0--> pi + pi - in heavy-ion collisions. The measured rho 0 peak in the invariant mass distribution is shifted by ~40 MeV/c2 in minimum bias p+p interactions and ~70 MeV/c2 in peripheral Au+Au collisions. The rho 0 mass shift is dependent on transverse momentum and multiplicity. The modification of the rho 0 meson mass, width, and shape due to phase space and dynamical effects are discussed.

Azimuthal anisotropy at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider: the first and fourth harmonics

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:28:34 +0200

We report the first observations of the first harmonic (directed flow, v1) and the fourth harmonic (v4), in the azimuthal distribution of particles with respect to the reaction plane in Au+Au collisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Both measurements were done taking advantage of the large elliptic flow (v2) generated at RHIC. From the correlation of v2 with v1 it is determined that v2 is positive, or in-plane. The integrated v4 is about a factor of 10 smaller than v2. For the sixth (v6) and eighth (v8) harmonics upper limits on the magnitudes are reported.

Particle-type dependence of azimuthal anisotropy and nuclear modification of particle production in Au + Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:25:19 +0200

We present STAR measurements of the azimuthal anisotropy parameter v2 and the binary-collision scaled centrality ratio RCP for kaons and lambdas ( Lambda + Lambda -bar) at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV. In combination, the v2 and RCP particle-type dependencies contradict expectations from partonic energy loss followed by standard fragmentation in vacuum. We establish pT ~ 5 GeV/c as the value where the centrality dependent baryon enhancement ends. The K0S and Lambda + Lambda -bar v2 values are consistent with expectations of constituent-quark-number scaling from models of hadron formation by parton coalescence or recombination.

Pion-kaon correlations in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:21:29 +0200

Pion-kaon correlation functions are constructed from central Au+Au STAR data taken at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The results suggest that pions and kaons are not emitted at the same average space-time point. Space-momentum correlations, i.e., transverse flow, lead to a space-time emission asymmetry of pions and kaons that is consistent with the data. This result provides new independent evidence that the system created at RHIC undergoes a collective transverse expansion.

Three-pion Hanbury Brown-Twiss correlations in relativistic heavy-ion collisions from the STAR experiment

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:18:34 +0200

Data from the first physics run at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=130 GeV, have been analyzed by the STAR Collaboration using three-pion correlations with charged pions to study whether pions are emitted independently at freeze-out. We have made a high-statistics measurement of the three-pion correlation function and calculated the normalized three-particle correlator to obtain a quantitative measurement of the degree of chaoticity of the pion source. It is found that the degree of chaoticity seems to increase with increasing particle multiplicity.

Transverse-momentum and collision-energy dependence of high-pT hadron suppression in Au+Au collisions at ultrarelativistic energies

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:15:13 +0200

We report high statistics measurements of inclusive charged hadron production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV. A large, approximately constant hadron suppression is observed in central Au+Au collisions for 5

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