Atomic nuclei are self-organized, many-body quantum systems bound by strong nuclear forces within femtometer-scale space. These complex systems manifest a variety of shapes, traditionally explored using non-invasive spectroscopic techniques at low energies. However, at these energies, their instantaneous shapes are obscured by long-timescale quantum fluctuations, making direct observation challenging. Here we introduce the ``collective flow assisted nuclear shape imaging'' method, which images the nuclear global shape by colliding them at ultrarelativistic speeds and analyzing the collective response of outgoing debris. This technique captures a collision-specific snapshot of the spatial matter distribution within the nuclei, which, through the hydrodynamic expansion, imprints patterns on the particle momentum distribution observed in detectors. We benchmark this method in collisions of ground state Uranium-238 nuclei, known for their elongated, axial-symmetric shape. Our findings show a large deformation with a slight deviation from axial symmetry in the nuclear ground state, aligning broadly with previous low-energy experiments. This approach offers a new method for imaging nuclear shapes, enhances our understanding of the initial conditions in high-energy collisions and addresses the important issue of nuclear structure evolution across energy scales.
Data from Figure 2, panel a, Au+Au, 0-0.5% Centrality, 0.2<p_{T}<3 GeV/c, systematics include non-flow difference in the two systems, but correlated non-flow systematics with the value of $\delta \left\langle v_{2}^{2}\right\rangle$ =+-3.2e-5 included
Data from Figure 2, panel a, U+U, 0-0.5% Centrality, 0.2<p_{T}<3 GeV/c, systematics include non-flow difference in the two systems, but correlated non-flow systematics with the value of $\delta \left\langle v_{2}^{2}\right\rangle$ =+-3.2e-5 included
Data from Figure 2, panel b, Au+Au, 0-0.5% Centrality, 0.2<p_{T}<3 GeV/c
At the origin of the Universe, asymmetry between the amount of created matter and antimatter led to the matter-dominated Universe as we know today. The origins of this asymmetry remain not completely understood yet. High-energy nuclear collisions create conditions similar to the Universe microseconds after the Big Bang, with comparable amounts of matter and antimatter. Much of the created antimatter escapes the rapidly expanding fireball without annihilating, making such collisions an effective experimental tool to create heavy antimatter nuclear objects and study their properties, hoping to shed some light on existing questions on the asymmetry between matter and antimatter. Here we report the first observation of the antimatter hypernucleus \hbox{$^4_{\bar{\Lambda}}\overline{\hbox{H}}$}, composed of a $\bar{\Lambda}$ , an antiproton and two antineutrons. The discovery was made through its two-body decay after production in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. In total, 15.6 candidate \hbox{$^4_{\bar{\Lambda}}\overline{\hbox{H}}$} antimatter hypernuclei are obtained with an estimated background count of 6.4. The lifetimes of the antihypernuclei \hbox{$^3_{\bar{\Lambda}}\overline{\hbox{H}}$} and \hbox{$^4_{\bar{\Lambda}}\overline{\hbox{H}}$} are measured and compared with the lifetimes of their corresponding hypernuclei, testing the symmetry between matter and antimatter. Various production yield ratios among (anti)hypernuclei and (anti)nuclei are also measured and compared with theoretical model predictions, shedding light on their production mechanisms.
Invariant mass distributions of $^3\hbox{He}+\pi^-$ (A), $^3\overline{\hbox{He}}+\pi^+$ (B), $^4\hbox{He}+\pi^-$ (C) and $^4\overline{\hbox{He}}+\pi^+$ (D). The solid bands mark the signal invariant mass regions. The obtained signal count ($N_{\rm Sig}$), background count ($N_{\rm Bg}$), and signal significance are listed in each panel.
Invariant mass distributions of $^3\hbox{He}+\pi^-$ (A), $^3\overline{\hbox{He}}+\pi^+$ (B), $^4\hbox{He}+\pi^-$ (C) and $^4\overline{\hbox{He}}+\pi^+$ (D). The solid bands mark the signal invariant mass regions. The obtained signal count ($N_{\rm Sig}$), background count ($N_{\rm Bg}$), and signal significance are listed in each panel.
Invariant mass distributions of $^3\hbox{He}+\pi^-$ (A), $^3\overline{\hbox{He}}+\pi^+$ (B), $^4\hbox{He}+\pi^-$ (C) and $^4\overline{\hbox{He}}+\pi^+$ (D). The solid bands mark the signal invariant mass regions. The obtained signal count ($N_{\rm Sig}$), background count ($N_{\rm Bg}$), and signal significance are listed in each panel.
The jet fragmentation function is measured with direct photon-hadron correlations in p+p and Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. The p_T of the photon is an excellent approximation to the initial p_T of the jet and the ratio z_T=p_T^h/p_T^\gamma is used as a proxy for the jet fragmentation function. A statistical subtraction is used to extract the direct photon-hadron yields in Au+Au collisions while a photon isolation cut is applied in p+p. I_ AA, the ratio of jet fragment yield in Au+Au to that in p+p, indicates modification of the jet fragmentation function. Suppression, most likely due to energy loss in the medium, is seen at high z_T. The fragment yield at low z_T is enhanced at large angles. Such a trend is expected from redistribution of the lost energy into increased production of low-momentum particles.
Direct photon-hadron pair per-trigger yields vs Delta-phi (Au+Au and p+p)
Integrated per-trigger yields and I_AA vs xi
Integrated per-trigger yields and I_AA vs xi
The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than those measured at RHIC.
Projections of the correlation function C.
Projections of the correlation function C.
Projections of the correlation function C.
Pair correlations between large transverse momentum neutral pion triggers (p_T=4--7 GeV/c) and charged hadron partners (p_T=3--7 GeV/c) in central (0--20%) and midcentral (20--60%) Au+Au collisions are presented as a function of trigger orientation with respect to the reaction plane. The particles are at larger momentum than where jet shape modifications have been observed, and the correlations are sensitive to the energy loss of partons traveling through hot dense matter. An out-of-plane trigger particle produces only 26+/-20% of the away-side pairs that are observed opposite of an in-plane trigger particle. In contrast, near-side jet fragments are consistent with no suppression or dependence on trigger orientation with respect to the reaction plane. These observations are qualitatively consistent with a picture of little near-side parton energy loss either due to surface bias or fluctuations and increased away-side parton energy loss due to a long path through the medium. The away-side suppression as a function of reaction-plane angle is shown to be sensitive to both the energy loss mechanism in and the space-time evolution of heavy-ion collisions.
Delta phi / Correlation Function 3-4 GeV/c partners
Delta phi / Correlation Function 3-4 GeV/c partners
$p^{a}_{T} = 3-4$ GeV/$c$
The ratio of the yields of antiprotons to protons in pp collisions has been measured by the ALICE experiment at $\sqrt{s} = 0.9$ and $7$ TeV during the initial running periods of the Large Hadron Collider(LHC). The measurement covers the transverse momentum interval $0.45 < p_{\rm{t}} < 1.05$ GeV/$c$ and rapidity $|y| < 0.5$. The ratio is measured to be $R_{|y| < 0.5} = 0.957 \pm 0.006 (stat.) \pm 0.014 (syst.)$ at $0.9$ TeV and $R_{|y| < 0.5} = 0.991 \pm 0.005 (stat.) \pm 0.014 (syst.)$ at $7$ TeV and it is independent of both rapidity and transverse momentum. The results are consistent with the conventional model of baryon-number transport and set stringent limits on any additional contributions to baryon-number transfer over very large rapidity intervals in pp collisions.
The PT dependence of the pbar/p ratio for the central rapidity region ABS(YRAP)<0.5.
The central rapidity pbar/p ratio as a function of the rapidity interval Ybeam-Ybaryon and centre-of-mass energy. As well as the present ALICE measurements this table also lists the values from other experiments (see the text of the paper for details).
The dissociation of virtual photons, $\gamma^{\star} p \to X p$, in events with a large rapidity gap between $X$ and the outgoing proton, as well as in events in which the leading proton was directly measured, has been studied with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The data cover photon virtualities $Q^2>2$ GeV$^2$ and $\gamma^{\star} p$ centre-of-mass energies $40<W<240$ GeV, with $M_X>2$ GeV, where $M_X$ is the mass of the hadronic final state, $X$. Leading protons were detected in the ZEUS leading proton spectrometer. The cross section is presented as a function of $t$, the squared four-momentum transfer at the proton vertex and $\Phi$, the azimuthal angle between the positron scattering plane and the proton scattering plane. It is also shown as a function of $Q^2$ and $\xpom$, the fraction of the proton's momentum carried by the diffractive exchange, as well as $\beta$, the Bjorken variable defined with respect to the diffractive exchange.
The differential cross section DSIG/DT for the LRG and the LPS data samples.
The fitted exponential slope of the T distribution as a function of X(NAME=POMERON).
The fitted exponential slope of the T distribution as a function of X(NAME=POMERON).
Diffractive photoproduction of D*+/-(2010) mesons was measured with the ZEUS detector at the ep collider HERA, using an integrated luminosity of 78.6 pb^{-1}. The D* mesons were reconstructed in the kinematic range: transverse momentum p_T(D*) > 1.9 GeV and pseudorapidity |eta(D*)| < 1.6, using the decay D*+ -> D0 pi+_s followed by D0 -> K- pi+ (+c.c.). Diffractive events were identified by a large gap in pseudorapidity between the produced hadronic state and the outgoing proton. Cross sections are reported for photon-proton centre-of-mass energies in the range 130 < W < 300 GeV and for photon virtualities Q^2 < 1 GeV^2, in two ranges of the Pomeron fractional momentum x_pom < 0.035 and x_pom < 0.01. The relative contribution of diffractive events to the inclusive D*+/-(2010) photoproduction cross section is about 6%. The data are in agreement with perturbative QCD calculations based on various parameterisations of diffractive parton distribution functions. The results are consistent with diffractive QCD factorisation.
Total cross section integrated over the given kinematic range.
Ratio of diffractive to inclusive D* cross section.
Differential cross sections for diffractive photoproduction of D*+- mesons as a function of X(NAME=POMERON).
The production of energetic neutrons in $ep$ collisions has been studied with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The neutron energy and $p_T^2$ distributions were measured with a forward neutron calorimeter and tracker in a $40 \pb^{-1}$ sample of inclusive deep inelastic scattering (DIS) data and a $6 \pb^{-1}$ sample of photoproduction data. The neutron yield in photoproduction is suppressed relative to DIS for the lower neutron energies and the neutrons have a steeper $p_T^2$ distribution, consistent with the expectation from absorption models. The distributions are compared to HERA measurements of leading protons. The neutron energy and transverse-momentum distributions in DIS are compared to Monte Carlo simulations and to the predictions of particle exchange models. Models of pion exchange incorporating absorption and additional secondary meson exchanges give a good description of the data.
Ratio of leading neutron to inclusive cross sections integrated to the full PT range.
Normalized double differential cross sections for leading neutron production for the full DIS sample. Statistical errors only are given.
Normalized double differential cross sections for leading neutron production for the full DIS sample. Statistical errors only are given.
Deep inelastic scattering and its diffractive component, ep -> e'gamma*p ->e'XN, have been studied at HERA with the ZEUS detector using an integrated luminosity of 4.2 pb-1. The measurement covers a wide range in the gamma*p c.m. energy W (37 - 245 GeV), photon virtuality Q2 (2.2 - 80 GeV2) and mass Mx. The diffractive cross section for Mx > 2 GeV rises strongly with W: the rise is steeper with increasing Q2. The latter observation excludes the description of diffractive deep inelastic scattering in terms of the exchange of a single Pomeron. The ratio of diffractive to total cross section is constant as a function of W, in contradiction to the expectation of Regge phenomenology combined with a naive extension of the optical theorem to gamma*p scattering. Above Mx of 8 GeV, the ratio is flat with Q2, indicating a leading-twist behaviour of the diffractive cross section. The data are also presented in terms of the diffractive structure function, F2D(3)(beta,xpom,Q2), of the proton. For fixed beta, the Q2 dependence of xpom F2D(3) changes with xpom in violation of Regge factorisation. For fixed xpom, xpom F2D(3) rises as beta -> 0, the rise accelerating with increasing Q2. These positive scaling violations suggest substantial contributions of perturbative effects in the diffractive DIS cross section.
Measurement of the proton structure function F2 at Q**2 = 2.7 GeV**2.
Measurement of the proton structure function F2 at Q**2 = 4.0 GeV**2.
Measurement of the proton structure function F2 at Q**2 = 6.0 GeV**2.
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