Rapidity correlations in the RHIC Beam Energy Scan Data

Azimuthal correlations of charged hadrons with direct-photon ( γdir ) and neutral-pion ( π0 ) trigger particles are analyzed in central Au+Au and minimum-bias p+p collisions at sNN=200 GeV in the STAR experiment. The charged-hadron per-trigger yields at mid-rapidity from central Au+Au collisions are compared with p+p collisions to quantify the suppression in Au+Au collisions. The suppression of the away-side associated-particle yields per γdir trigger is independent of the transverse momentum of the trigger particle ( pTtrig ), whereas the suppression is smaller at low transverse momentum of the associated charged hadrons ( pTassoc ). Within uncertainty, similar levels of suppression are observed for γdir and π0 triggers as a function of zT ( ≡pTassoc/pTtrig ). The results are compared with energy-loss-inspired theoretical model predictions. Our studies support previous conclusions that the lost energy reappears predominantly at low transverse momentum, regardless of the trigger energy.

We present the first results on 3-particle Δη–Δη correlations in minimum bias d + Au, peripheral and central Au+Au collisions at = 200 GeV measured by the STAR experiment. The analysis technique is described in detail. The ridge particles, observed at large Δη in dihadron correlations in central Au+Au collisions, appear to be uniformly distributed over the measured Δη–Δη region in 3-particle correlation. The results, together with theoretical models, should help further our understanding of the underlying physics of the ridge.

We have updated the parton and hadron cascade model PACIAE 2.0 for relativistic nuclear collisions (cf. Comput. Phys. Comm. 183(2012)333) to the new issue of PACIAE 2.1. The PACIAE model is based on PYTHIA. In the PYTHIA model, once the generated particle/parton transverse momentum $p_T$ is randomly selected, its component of $[p_x,p_y]$ was originally put on the circle with radius $p_T$ randomly. It is now replaced by put on the circumference of ellipse with half major and minor axes of $p_T(1+\delta_p)$ and $p_T(1-\delta_p)$, respectively, in order to investigate better the transverse momentum anisotropy in final hadronic state.

RHIC experiments carry out a comprehensive physics program which studies open heavy flavor and quarkonium production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The discovery at RHIC of large high-pT suppression and flow of electrons from heavy quarks flavors have altered our view of the hot and dense matter formed in central Au + Au collisions at SNN=200 GeV. These results suggest a large energy loss and flow of heavy quarks in the hot, dense matter. In recent years, the RHIC experiments upgraded the detectors; (1) PHENIX Collaboration installed silicon vertex tracker (VTX) at mid-rapidity region and forward silicon vertex tracker (FVTX) at the forward rapidity region, and (2) STAR Collaboration installed the heavy flavor tracker (HFT) and the muon telescope detector (MTD) both at the mid-rapidity region. With these new upgrades, both experiments have collected large data samples. These new detectors enhance the capability of heavy flavor measurements via precision tracking. The PHENIX experiments established measurements of ψ (1S ) and ψ (2S ) production as a function of system size, p + p , p + Al, p + Au, and 3 He + Au collisions at SNN=200 GeV. In p/3 He + A collisions at forward rapidity, we observe no difference in the ψ (2S )/ψ (1S ) ratio relative to p + p collisions. At backward rapidity, where the comoving particle density is higher, we find that the ψ (2S ) is preferentially suppressed by a factor of two. STAR Collaboration presents the first J/ψ and ϒ measurements in the di-muon decay channel in Au + Au collisions at SNN=200 GeV at mid-rapidity at RHIC. We observe clear J/ψ RAA suppression and qualitatively well described by transport models simultaneously accounting for dissociation and regeneration processes.

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.

Measurements of inclusive hadron suppression and di-hadron azimuthal correlations have provided important insights into jet quenching in hot QCD matter. However, they do not provide access to the energy of the hard-scattered partons and are limited in their sensitivity since they can be affected by biases toward hard fragmentation and small energy loss. Full jet reconstruction in heavy-ion collisions enables a complete study of the modification of jet structure due to energy loss, but is challenging due to the high multiplicity environment. Study of jet production and properties in d+Au and p+p collisions provides important baseline measurement for jet studies in heavy-ion collisions. We report measurements of fully reconstructed jets in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at s NN = 200 GeV from the STAR experiment at RHIC. Measurement of initial state nuclear effects in d+Au collisions utilizing di-jet azimuthal correlations is presented together with similar measurement in p+p collisions. Inclusive jet p T spectra and fragmentation functions in p+p and central Au+Au collisions are reported, with subsequent studies of jet nuclear modification factor, jet energy profile and modifications in the fragmentation function due to jet quenching.

The beam energy scan (BES) program at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) was extended to energies below sNN=7.7 GeV in 2015 by successful implementation of the fixed-target mode of operation in the STAR (Solenoidal Tracker At RHIC) experiment. In this mode, ions circulate in one ring of the collider and interact with a stationary target at the entrance of the STAR time projection chamber. The first results for Au+Au collisions at sNN=4.5 GeV are presented, demonstrating good performance of all the relevant detector subsystems in fixed-target mode. Results presented here include directed and elliptic flow of identified hadrons, and radii from pion femtoscopy. The latter, together with recent HADES results, reveal a long-sought peak structure that may be caused by the system evolving through a first-order phase transition from quark-gluon plasma to the hadronic phase. Directed and elliptic flow for pions are presented for the first time at this beam energy. Pion and proton elliptic flow show behavior which hints at constituent quark scaling, and demonstrate that a definitive conclusion will be achievable using the full statistics of the ongoing second phase of BES (BES-II). In particular, BES-II to date has recorded fixed-target data sets with two orders of magnitude more events at each of nine energies between sNN=3.0 and 7.7 GeV.13 MoreReceived 29 July 2020Revised 12 December 2020Accepted 2 March 2021DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.103.034908©2021 American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasCollective flowParticle correlations & fluctuationsRelativistic heavy-ion collisionsNuclear Physics

Measurements of jet structure and fragmentation from full jet reconstruction in heavy ion collisions at RHIC

High transverse momentum results from the STAR collaboration

Λc Production in Au+Au Collisions at [formula omitted] measured by the STAR experiment

Description of parton interaction with the hot and dense nuclear matter created in heavy-ion collisions at high energies is a complex task, which requires a detailed knowledge of jet production in p+p and d+Au collisions. Measurements in these collision systems are therefore essential to disentangle initial state nuclear effects from cold nuclear matter effects, medium-induced kT broadening and jet quenching. To obtain complete description of the p+p (d+Au) collision it is also important to study particle production in the underlying event. The measured properties of underlying event can be used to tune the QCD based Monte-Carlo models.In this paper some of the recent results on jet and underlying event properties in p+p and d+Au collisions at = 200 GeV measured by the STAR experiment are presented. In particular, the preliminary results on charged and strange particle fragmentation functions in p+p collisions are discussed and confronted with PYTHIA simulations. Next, the measurement of inclusive jet spectrum and di-jet correlations in d+Au collisions is presented and compared with the measurements in p+p collisions to estimate the size of cold nuclear matter effects. Finally, the study of underlying event properties in p+p collisions is shown and compared to PYTHIA simulation.

Inclusive spectra of charged particles at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV and 200 GeV were measured with the STAR detector at RHIC. The measured mean transverse momentum shows a characteristic dependence on charged particle multiplicity and beam energy in Au+Au collisions that is distinctly different from pp, pbarp and ee collisions. A comparison with model predictions is discussed.

Local parity-odd domains are theorized to form inside a quark-gluon plasma which has been produced in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. The local parity-odd domains manifest themselves as charge separation along the magnetic field axis via the chiral magnetic effect. The experimental observation of charge separation has previously been reported for heavy-ion collisions at the top RHIC energies. In this Letter, we present the results of the beam-energy dependence of the charge correlations in Au+Au collisions at midrapidity for center-of-mass energies of 7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27, 39, and 62.4GeV from the STAR experiment. After background subtraction, the signal gradually reduces with decreased beam energy and tends to vanish by 7.7GeV. This implies the dominance of hadronic interactions over partonic ones at lower collision energies.

In heavy-ion collisions, understanding how light nuclei species are produced can provide insight into the nature of hadronic interactions in extreme conditions. It can also shed light on understanding the matter-antimatter asymmetry and dark matter searches in astrophysical processes. To investigate the production mechanism of light nuclei such as deuteron, triton, and helium-3, we use a naive coalescence afterburner coupled to the well-known “A Multi-Phase Transport model” (AMPT). We focus on studying the production of light nuclei in central Au+Au collisions at different center of mass energies (sNN = 19.6, 39, and 200 GeV) and in Pb+Pb collisions at sNN = 2.76 TeV, at mid-rapidity. We generate events with the string melting version of AMPT, and feed the information of the nucleons with spatial and momentum conditions into the coalescence afterburner. Our study reports differential and integrated yields in transverse momentum (pT) of the light nuclei in different center of mass energies. We also estimate the coalescence parameters (BA) as a function of pT and collision energy for (anti-)deuterons, tritons and helium-3s for Au+Au and Pb+Pb collisions, which are compared to other light nuclei production studies. All results are compared with measurements from the STAR and ALICE experiments.

New results on antiparticle to particle ratios in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at = 62.4 and 200 GeV from the PHOBOS experiment at RHIC are presented. Transverse momentum spectra of pions, kaons, protons and antiprotons from Au+Au collisions at = 62.4 GeV close to mid-rapidity are also discussed. Antiparticle to particle ratios are found to be remarkably independent of the collision centrality in both colliding systems. The collision energy dependence of the ratios is very significant in Cu+Cu collisions. Baryons are found to have substantially harder transverse momentum spectra than mesons. The pT region in which the proton to pion ratio reaches unity in central Au+Au collisions at = 62.4 GeV fits into a smooth trend as a function of collision energy. The observed particle yields at very low pT are comparable to extrapolations from higher pT for kaons, protons and antiprotons. The net proton yield at mid-rapidity is found to be proportional to the number of participant nucleons in Au+Au collisions at 62.4 and 200 GeV energies.