We report on event structure and double helicity asymmetry ($A_LL$) of jet production in longitudinally polarized p+p collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=200 GeV. Photons and charged particles were measured at midrapidity $|\eta| < 0.35$ with the requirement of a high-momentum ($>2$ GeV/$c$) photon in each event. Measured event structure is compared with {\sc pythia} and {\sc geant} simulations. The shape of jets and the underlying event were well reproduced at this collision energy. For the measurement of jet $A_{LL}$, photons and charged particles were clustered with a seed-cone algorithm to obtain the cluster $p_T$ sum ($p_T^{\rm reco}$). The effect of detector response and the underlying events on $p_T^{\rm reco}$ was evaluated with the simulation. The production rate of reconstructed jets is satisfactorily reproduced with the NLO pQCD jet production cross section. For $4 < p_T^{\rm reco} < 12$ GeV/$c$ with an average beam polarization of $< P > = 49%$ we measured $A_{LL} = -0.0014 \pm 0.0037^{\rm stat}$ at the lowest $p_T^{\rm reco}$ bin (4-5 GeV/$c$) and $-0.0181 \pm 0.0282^{\rm stat}$ at the highest $p_T^{\rm reco}$ bin (10-12 GeV/$c$) with a beam polarization scale error of 9.4% and a $\pT$ scale error of 10%. Jets in the measured $p_T^{\rm reco}$ range arise primarily from hard-scattered gluons with momentum fraction $0.02 < x < 0.3$ according to {\sc pythia}. The measured $A_{LL}$ is compared with predictions that assume various $\Delta G(x)$ distributions based on the GRSV parameterization. The present result imposes the limit $-1.1 < \int_{0.02}^{0.3}dx \Delta G(x, \mu^2 = 1 {\rm GeV}^2) < 0.4$ at 95% confidence level or $\int_{0.02}^{0.3}dx \Delta G(x, \mu^2 = 1 {\rm GeV}^2) < 0.5$ at 99% confidence level.
The relative yields of $q$+$q$, $q$+$g$, and $g$+$g$ subprocesses in the PYTHIA+GEANT simulation.
The correction factor $\epsilon^j_{trig+acc}$ for high-$p_T$ photon trigger efficiency and acceptance effect.
Reconstructed-jet $A_{LL}$ as a function of $p_T^{reco}$.
Measurements of double-helicity asymmetries for inclusive hadron production in polarized p+p collisions are sensitive to helicity--dependent parton distribution functions, in particular to the gluon helicity distribution, Delta(g). This study focuses on the extraction of the double-helicity asymmetry in eta production: polarized p+p --> eta + X, the eta cross section, and the eta/pi^0 cross section ratio. The cross section and ratio measurements provide essential input for the extraction of fragmentation functions that are needed to access the helicity-dependent parton distribution functions.
Cross section for midrapidity inclusive of $\eta$ productions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV as a function of $p_T$ and its comparison to NLO pQCD calculations at three different scales $\mu$. The error bars shown are the statistical and systematic uncertainties added in quadrature. Note that the fragmentation functions used in the calculations are partially constrained by this data.
Cross section ratio for the midrapidity production of inclusive $\eta$ to $\pi^0$ mesons at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV as a function of $p_T$. The error bars show the statistical and systematic uncertainties added in quadrature. The solid curve shows the ratio of the NLO pQCD calculations shown in Fig. 3 and the corresponding one for the $\pi^0$. The dashed curve shows the result of a PYTHIA Monte-Carlo simulation.
Double helicity asymmetry for midrapidity inclusive $\eta$ production from the combined 2005 and 2006 data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV as a function of $p_T$. An additional 4.8% systematic uncertainty in the beam polarizations is not shown.
The contribution of $B$ meson decays to non-photonic electrons, which are mainly produced by the semi-leptonic decays of heavy flavor mesons, in $p+p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 200 GeV has been measured using azimuthal correlations between non-photonic electrons and hadrons. The extracted $B$ decay contribution is approximately 50% at a transverse momentum of $p_{T} \geq 5$ GeV/$c$. These measurements constrain the nuclear modification factor for electrons from $B$ and $D$ meson decays. The result indicates that $B$ meson production in heavy ion collisions is also suppressed at high $p_{T}$.
Distributions of the azimuthal angle between nonphotonic electrons and charged hadrons normalized per nonphotonic electron trigger. The trigger electron has (top) $2.5 < p_{T} < 3.5$ GeV/$c$ and (bottom) $5.5 < p_{T} < 6.5$ GeV/$c$. The curves represent PYTHIA calculations for $D$ (dotted curve) and $B$ (dashed curve) decays. The fit result is shown as the black solid curve.
(a) Background-subtracted invariant mass distribution of $K$ pairs requiring at least one nonphotonic electron trigger in the event. The solid line is a Gaussian fit to the data near the peak region. (b) Distribution of the azimuthal angle between nonphotonic electron (positron) trigger particles and $D^{0}$ ($\bar{D}^{0}$). The solid (dashed) line is a fit of the correlation function from PYTHIA (MC$@$NLO) simulations to the data points.
Transverse momentum dependence of the relative contribution from $B$ mesons ($r_{B}$) to the nonphotonic electron yields. Error bars are statistical and brackets are systematic uncertainties. The solid curve is the FONLL calculation [14]. Theoretical uncertainties are indicated by the dashed curves.
We report on K*0 production at mid-rapidity in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 62.4 and 200 GeV collected by the Solenoid Tracker at RHIC (STAR) detector. The K*0 is reconstructed via the hadronic decays K*0 \to K+ pi- and \bar{K*0} \to K-pi+. Transverse momentum, pT, spectra are measured over a range of pT extending from 0.2 GeV/c to 5 GeV/c. The center of mass energy and system size dependence of the rapidity density, dN/dy, and the average transverse momentum, <pT>, are presented. The measured N(K*0)/N(K) and N(\phi)/N(K*0) ratios favor the dominance of re-scattering of decay daughters of K*0 over the hadronic regeneration for the K*0 production. In the intermediate pT region (2.0 < pT < 4.0 GeV/c), the elliptic flow parameter, v2, and the nuclear modification factor, RCP, agree with the expectations from the quark coalescence model of particle production.
The K$\pi$ pair invariant mass distribution integrated over the $K^{*0}$ $p_T$ for minimum bias Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =200 GeV after mixed-event background subtraction.
The K$\pi$ pair invariant mass distribution integrated over the $K^{*0}$ $p_T$ for minimum bias Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =62.4 GeV after mixed-event background subtraction.
The K$\pi$ pair invariant mass distribution integrated over the $K^{*0}$ $p_T$ for minimum bias Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =200 GeV after mixed-event background subtraction.
Correlations of charged hadrons of 1 < pT < 10 GeV/c with high pT direct photons and pi^ 0 mesons in the range 5 <pT < 15 GeV/c are used to study jet fragmentation in the photon+jet and di-jet channels, respectively. The magnitude of the partonic transverse momentum, kT, is obtained by comparing to a model incorporating a Gaussian kT smearing. The sensitivity of the associated charged hadron spectra to the underlying fragmentation function is tested and the data are compared to calculations using recent global fit results. The shape of the direct photon-associated hadron spectrum as well as its charge asymmetry are found to be consistent with a sample dominated by quark-gluon Compton scattering. No significant evidence of fragmentation photon correlated production is observed within experimental uncertainties.
Away-side charged hadron yield per π 0 trigger as a function of xE, which is equivalent to zT in the collinear limit cos(∆φ) = 1 & Away-side isolated direct photon trigger as a function of xE, which is equivalent to zT in the collinear limit cos(∆φ) = 1.
Away-side charged hadron yield per π 0 trigger as a function of xE, which is equivalent to zT in the collinear limit cos(∆φ) = 1 & Away-side isolated direct photon trigger as a function of xE, which is equivalent to zT in the collinear limit cos(∆φ) = 1.
Away-side charged hadron yield per π 0 trigger as a function of xE, which is equivalent to zT in the collinear limit cos(∆φ) = 1 & Away-side isolated direct photon trigger as a function of xE, which is equivalent to zT in the collinear limit cos(∆φ) = 1.
Balance functions have been measured for charged particle pairs, identified charged pion pairs, and identified charged kaon pairs in Au+Au, d+Au, and p+p collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider using the STAR detector. These balance functions are presented in terms of relative pseudorapidity, $\Delta \eta$, relative rapidity, $\Delta y$, relative azimuthal angle, $\Delta \phi$, and invariant relative momentum, $q_{\rm inv}$. In addition, balance functions are shown in terms of the three components of $q_{\rm inv}$: $q_{\rm long}$, $q_{\rm out}$, and $q_{\rm side}$. For charged particle pairs, the width of the balance function in terms of $\Delta \eta$ scales smoothly with the number of participating nucleons, while HIJING and UrQMD model calculations show no dependence on centrality or system size. For charged particle and charged pion pairs, the balance functions widths in terms of $\Delta \eta$ and $\Delta y$ are narrower in central Au+Au collisions than in peripheral collisions. The width for central collisions is consistent with thermal blast-wave models where the balancing charges are highly correlated in coordinate space at breakup. This strong correlation might be explained either by delayed hadronization or by limited diffusion during the reaction. Furthermore, the narrowing trend is consistent with the lower kinetic temperatures inherent to more central collisions. In contrast, the width of the balance function for charged kaon pairs in terms of $\Delta y$ shows little centrality dependence, which may signal a different production mechanism for kaons. The widths of the balance functions for charged pions and kaons in terms of $q_{\rm inv}$ narrow in central collisions compared to peripheral collisions, which may be driven by the change in the kinetic temperature.
The distribution of the reconstructed position of the event vertex along the beam direction for events from Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV. The solid curve is a Gaussian fit with a mean of -0.27 cm and a standard deviation of 6.81 cm.
Calculated balance functions for all charged particles from central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV using HIJING. The open circles depict HIJING events passed through GEANT and event reconstruction. The open squares show HIJING events filtered with the acceptance and efficiency cuts described in the text. The open triangles show HIJING events filtered with the acceptance cuts only. When not shown, the statistical errors are smaller than the symbol size.
The balance function in terms of $\Delta \eta$ for all charged particle pairs from Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV for nine centrality bins.
Transverse momentum (p^e_T) spectra of electrons from semileptonic weak decays of heavy flavor mesons in the range of 0.3 < p^e_T < 9.0 GeV/c have been measured at mid-rapidity (|eta| < 0.35) by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in p+p and Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. The nuclear modification factor R_AA with respect to p+p collisions indicates substantial energy loss of heavy quarks in the produced medium. In addition, the azimuthal anisotropy parameter v_2 has been measured for 0.3 < p^e_T < 5.0 GeV/c in Au+Au collisions. Comparisons of R_AA and v_2 are made to various model calculations.
Charm cross section per $N$+$N$ collision in centrality bins in Au+Au and $p$+$p$. $T_{AA}$ is the nuclear overlap integral of the centrality.
Charm cross section per $N$+$N$ collision in centrality bins in Au+Au and $p$+$p$. $T_{AA}$ is the nuclear overlap integral of the centrality.
Heavy-flavor $e^{\pm}$ $v_2$ from Au+Au collisions, for the centralities indicated.
The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has measured the invariant differential cross section for production of K^0_S , \omega, \eta prime, and \phi mesons in p + p collisions at = 200 GeV. Measurements \omega and \phi production in different decay channels give consistent results. New results for the \phi are in agreement with previously published data and extend the measured pT coverage. The spectral shapes of all hadron transverse momentum distributions measured by PHENIX are well described by a Tsallis distribution functional form with only two parameters, n and T, determining the high-pT and characterizing the low-pT regions of the spectra, respectively. The values of these parameters are very similar for all analyzed meson spectra, but with a lower parameter T extracted for protons. The integrated invariant cross sections calculated from the fitted distributions are found to be consistent with existing measurements and with statistical model predictions.
Parameters of the Tsallis fit with Eq. 8 in the paper with all parameters free to vary. Cross sections are in $\mu$b for $J/\psi$ and $\psi^{\prime}$ and in mb for all other particles.
Parameters of the power law fit with Eq. 3 in the paper. Units of $A$ are mb(GeV/$c$)$^{\upsilon + 2}$.
Constant and linear fits to the power law and Tsallis fit parameters. The last column (Prob.) gives the probability estimated by the $\chi^2$/$n.d.f.$ of the fit.
We report the first measurements of the kurtosis (\kappa), skewness (S) and variance (\sigma^2) of net-proton multiplicity (N_p - N_pbar) distributions at midrapidity for Au+Au collisions at \sqrt(s_NN) = 19.6, 62.4, and 200 GeV corresponding to baryon chemical potentials (\mu_B) between 200 - 20 MeV. Our measurements of the products \kappa \sigma^2 and S \sigma, which can be related to theoretical calculations sensitive to baryon number susceptibilities and long range correlations, are constant as functions of collision centrality. We compare these products with results from lattice QCD and various models without a critical point and study the \sqrt(s_NN) dependence of \kappa \sigma^2. From the measurements at the three beam energies, we find no evidence for a critical point in the QCD phase diagram for \mu_B below 200 MeV.
$\Delta N_p$ multiplicity distribution in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV for 0-5 percent central collisions at midrapidity (| y |< 0.5).
$\Delta N_p$ multiplicity distribution in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV for 30-40 percent central collisions at midrapidity (| y |< 0.5).
$\Delta N_p$ multiplicity distribution in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV for 70-80 percent central collisions at midrapidity (| y |< 0.5).
Yields, correlation shapes, and mean transverse momenta \pt{} of charged particles associated with intermediate to high-\pt{} trigger particles ($2.5 < \pt < 10$ \GeVc) in d+Au and Au+Au collisions at $\snn=200$ GeV are presented. For associated particles at higher $\pt \gtrsim 2.5$ \GeVc, narrow correlation peaks are seen in d+Au and Au+Au, indicating that the main production mechanism is jet fragmentation. At lower associated particle $\pt < 2$ \GeVc, a large enhancement of the near- ($\dphi \sim 0$) and away-side ($\dphi \sim \pi$) associated yields is found, together with a strong broadening of the away-side azimuthal distributions in Au+Au collisions compared to d+Au measurements, suggesting that other particle production mechanisms play a role. This is further supported by the observed significant softening of the away-side associated particle yield distribution at $\dphi \sim \pi$ in central Au+Au collisions.
Background-subtracted azimuthal angle difference distributions for associated particles with pT between 1.0 and 2.5 GeV/c and for different ranges of trigger particle pT , ranging from 2.5 − 3.0 GeV/c to 3.0 − 4.0 GeV/c. Results are shown for Au+Au collisions with different centrality and d+Au reference results. The rapidity range is |eta| < 1 and as a result the rapidity-difference |deta| < 2. Results are shown for a restricted acceptance of |deta| < 0.7, using tracks within |eta| < 1. The upper and lower range of the systematic uncertainty due to the v2 modulation of the subtracted background is indicated as well.
Background-subtracted azimuthal angle difference distributions for associated particles with pT between 1.0 and 2.5 GeV/c and for different ranges of trigger particle pT , ranging from 4.0 − 6.0 GeV/c to 6.0 − 10.0 GeV/c. Results are shown for Au+Au collisions with different centrality and d+Au reference results. The rapidity range is |eta| < 1 and as a result the rapidity-difference |deta| < 2. Results are shown for a restricted acceptance of |deta| < 0.7, using tracks within |eta| < 1. The upper and lower range of the systematic uncertainty due to the v2 modulation of the subtracted background is indicated as well.
Background-subtracted azimuthal angle difference distributions for different trigger particle pT and associated pT in 0-12% central Au+Au collisions and d+Au reference results. The rapidity range is |eta| < 1 and as a result the rapidity-difference |deta| < 2. Results are shown for a restricted acceptance of |deta| < 0.7, using tracks within |eta| < 1. The upper and lower range of the systematic uncertainty due to the v2 modulation of the subtracted background is indicated as well.