We present the directed flow ($v_1$) measured in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 62.4 GeV in the mid-pseudorapidity region $|\eta|<1.3$ and in the forward pseudorapidity region $2.5 < |\eta| < 4.0$. The results are obtained using the three-particle cumulant method, the event plane method with mixed harmonics, and for the first time at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), the standard method with the event plane reconstructed from spectator neutrons. Results from all three methods are in good agreement. Over the pseudorapidity range studied, charged particle directed flow is in the direction opposite to that of fragmentation neutrons.
We present the first study of the energy dependence of $p_t$ angular correlations inferred from event-wise mean transverse momentum $<p_{t} >$ fluctuations in heavy ion collisions. We compare our large-acceptance measurements at CM energies $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =$ 19.6, 62.4, 130 and 200 GeV to SPS measurements at 12.3 and 17.3 GeV. $p_t$ angular correlation structure suggests that the principal source of $p_t$ correlations and fluctuations is minijets (minimum-bias parton fragments). We observe a dramatic increase in correlations and fluctuations from SPS to RHIC energies, increasing linearly with $\ln \sqrt{s_{NN}}$ from the onset of observable jet-related $<p_{t}>$ fluctuations near 10 GeV.