Small nuclear collisions are mainly sensitive to cold-nuclear-matter effects; however, the collective behavior observed in these collisions shows a hint of hot-nuclear-matter effects. The identified-particle spectra, especially the $\phi$ mesons which contain strange and antistrange quarks and have a relatively small hadronic-interaction cross section, are a good tool to study these effects. The PHENIX experiment has measured $\phi$ mesons in a specific set of small collision systems $p$$+$Al, $p$$+$Au, and $^3$He$+$Au, as well as $d$$+$Au [Phys. Rev. C {\bf 83}, 024909 (2011)], at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. The transverse-momentum spectra and nuclear-modification factors are presented and compared to theoretical-model predictions. The comparisons with different calculations suggest that quark-gluon plasma may be formed in these small collision systems at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. However, the volume and the lifetime of the produced medium may be insufficient for observing strangeness-enhancement and jet-quenching effects. Comparison with calculations suggests that the main production mechanisms of $\phi$ mesons at midrapidity may be different in $p$$+$Al versus $p/d/$$^3$He$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. While thermal quark recombination seems to dominate in $p/d/$$^3$He$+$Au collisions, fragmentation seems to be the main production mechanism in $p$$+$Al collisions.
Invariant transverse momentum spectra measured for $\phi$ mesons in (a) $p$+Al, (b) $p$+Au, and (c) $^{3}$He+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV at midrapidity.
Comparison of $\phi$-meson nuclear-modification factors in $p$+Al, $p$+Au, $d$+Au [2], and $^{3}$He+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV at midrapidity. The normalization uncertainty from $p$+$p$ of about $9.7 \%$ is not shown [28].
We present measurements of the cross section and double-helicity asymmetry $A_{LL}$ of direct-photon production in $\vec{p}+\vec{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV. The measurements have been performed at midrapidity ($|\eta|<0.25$) with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. At relativistic energies, direct photons are dominantly produced from the initial quark-gluon hard scattering and do not interact via the strong force at leading order. Therefore, at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV, where leading-order-effects dominate, these measurements provide clean and direct access to the gluon helicity in the polarized proton in the gluon-momentum-fraction range $0.02<x<0.08$, with direct sensitivity to the sign of the gluon contribution.
Cross sections for inclusive and isolated direct photons as a function of $p_T$. Not shown are 10% absolute luminosity uncertainties.
Double helicity asymmetry $A_{LL}$ $vs$ $p_{T}$ for isolated direct-photon production in polarized $\vec{p}+\vec{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV at midrapidity. Not shown are $3.9 \times 10^{-4}$ shift uncertainty from relative luminosity and 6.6% scale uncertainty from polarization.
Suppression of the $J/\psi$ nuclear-modification factor has been seen as a trademark signature of final-state effects in large collision systems for decades. In small systems, the nuclear modification was attributed to cold-nuclear-matter effects until the observation of strong differential suppression of the $\psi(2S)$ state in $p/d$ $+$ $A$ collisions suggested the presence of final-state effects. Results of $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ measurements in the dimuon decay channel are presented here for $p$ $+$ $p$, $p$ $+$Al, and $p$ $+$Au collision systems at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. The results are predominantly shown in the form of the nuclear-modification factor, $R_{pA}$, the ratio of the $\psi(2S)$ invariant yield per nucleon-nucleon collision in collisions of proton on target nucleus to that in $p$ $+$ $p$ collisions. Measurements of the $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ nuclear-modification factor are compared with shadowing and transport-model predictions, as well as to complementary measurements at Large-Hadron-Collider energies.
PSI(2S)-->MU+MU- invariant yields in p+p, p+Al, and p+Au collisions as a function of rapidity. The statistical and systematic uncertainties vary point-to-point and are listed for each measured value. An additional global systematic uncertainty is provided in each column heading, which applies to all data points per column.
J/PSI(1S)-->MU+MU- invariant yields in p+p, p+Al, and p+Au collisions as a function of rapidity. The statistical and systematic uncertainties vary point-to-point and are listed for each measured value. An additional global systematic uncertainty is provided in each column heading, which applies to all data points per column.
PSI(2S)-->MU+MU- nuclear modification in p+Al collisions as a function of rapidity. The statistical and systematic uncertainties vary point-to-point and are listed for each measured value. An additional global systematic uncertainty is provided in each column heading, which applies to all data points per column.
In 2015, the PHENIX collaboration has measured single-spin asymmetries for charged pions in transversely polarized proton-proton collisions at the center of mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV. The pions were detected at central rapidities of $|\eta|<0.35$. The single-spin asymmetries are consistent with zero for each charge individually, as well as consistent with the previously published neutral-pion asymmetries in the same rapidity range. However, they show a slight indication of charge-dependent differences which may suggest a flavor dependence in the underlying mechanisms that create these asymmetries.
Measured charged pion single spin asymmetries in p+p collisions as a function of pT
The PHENIX collaboration presents a systematic study of $\pi^0$ production from $p$ $+$ $p$, $p$ $+$Al, $p$ $+$Au, $d$ $+$Au, and $^{3}$He$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. Measurements were performed with different centrality selections as well as the total inelastic, 0%--100%, selection for all collision systems. For 0%--100% collisions, the nuclear modification factors, $R_{xA}$, are consistent with unity for $p_T$ above 8 GeV/$c$, but exhibit an enhancement in peripheral collisions and a suppression in central collisions. The enhancement and suppression characteristics are similar for all systems for the same centrality class. It is shown that for high-$p_T$-$\pi^0$ production, the nucleons in the $d$ and $^3$He interact mostly independently with the Au nucleus and that the counter intuitive centrality dependence is likely due to a physical correlation between multiplicity and the presence of a hard scattering process. These observations disfavor models where parton energy loss has a significant contribution to nuclear modifications in small systems. Nuclear modifications at lower $p_T$ resemble the Cronin effect -- an increase followed by a peak in central or inelastic collisions and a plateau in peripheral collisions. The peak height has a characteristic ordering by system size as $p$ $+$Au $>$ $d$ $+$Au $>$ $^{3}$He$+$Au $>$ $p$ $+$Al. For collisions with Au ions, current calculations based on initial state cold nuclear matter effects result in the opposite order, suggesting the presence of other contributions to nuclear modifications, in particular at lower $p_T$.
Differential cross section of $\pi^0$ in p+p collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV
Invariant yield of $\pi^0$ from (a) p+Al, (b) p+Au, (c) d+Au, and (d) $^{3}$HeAu in different centrality selections at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV
Nuclear modification factors from inelastic (a) p+Al, (b) p+Au, (c) d+Au, and (d) $^{3}$HeAu collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV. The right boxes are the $N_{coll}$ uncertainties from the Glauber model, while the left box represents the overall normalization uncertainty from p+p collisions
In 2015 the PHENIX collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider recorded $p+p$, $p+$Al, and $p+$Au collision data at center of mass energies of $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV with the proton beam(s) transversely polarized. At very forward rapidities $\eta>6.8$ relative to the polarized proton beam, neutrons were detected either inclusively or in (anti)correlation with detector activity related to hard collisions. The resulting single spin asymmetries, that were previously reported, have now been extracted as a function of the transverse momentum of the neutron as well as its longitudinal momentum fraction $x_F$. The explicit kinematic dependence, combined with the correlation information allows for a closer look at the interplay of different mechanisms suggested to describe these asymmetries, such as hadronic interactions or electromagnetic interactions in ultra-peripheral collisions, UPC. Events that are correlated with a hard collision indeed display a mostly negative asymmetry that increases in magnitude as a function of transverse momentum with only little dependence on $x_F$. In contrast, events that are not likely to have emerged from a hard collision display positive asymmetries for the nuclear collisions with a kinematic dependence that resembles that of a UPC based model. Because the UPC interaction depends strongly on the charge of the nucleus, those effects are very small for $p+p$ collisions, moderate for $p+$Al collisions, and large for $p+$Au collisions.
Measured forward neutron single spin asymmetries in p+p collisions as a function of pT in bins of xF
Measured forward neutron single spin asymmetries in p+Al collisions as a function of pT in bins of xF
Measured forward neutron single spin asymmetries in p+Au collisions as a function of pT in bins of xF
There is strong evidence for the formation of small droplets of quark-gluon plasma in $p/d/^{3}$He+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and in $p$+$p$/Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. In particular, the analysis of data at RHIC for different geometries obtained by varying the projectile size and shape has proven insightful. In the present analysis, we find excellent agreement with the previously published PHENIX at RHIC results on elliptical and triangular flow with an independent analysis via the two-particle correlation method, which has quite different systematic uncertainties and an independent code base. In addition, the results are extended to other detector combinations with different kinematic (pseudorapidity) coverage. These results provide additional constraints on contributions from nonflow and longitudinal decorrelations.
$v_2$ vs $p_T$, p+Au at 200 GeV, 0-5% central, BBCS-FVTXS-CNT detector combination
$v_2$ vs $p_T$, d+Au at 200 GeV, 0-5% central, BBCS-FVTXS-CNT detector combination
$v_2$ vs $p_T$, 3He+Au at 200 GeV, 0-5% central, BBCS-FVTXS-CNT detector combination
In particle collider experiments, elementary particle interactions with large momentum transfer produce quarks and gluons (known as partons) whose evolution is governed by the strong force, as described by the theory of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). These partons subsequently emit further partons in a process that can be described as a parton shower which culminates in the formation of detectable hadrons. Studying the pattern of the parton shower is one of the key experimental tools for testing QCD. This pattern is expected to depend on the mass of the initiating parton, through a phenomenon known as the dead-cone effect, which predicts a suppression of the gluon spectrum emitted by a heavy quark of mass $m_{\rm{Q}}$ and energy $E$, within a cone of angular size $m_{\rm{Q}}$/$E$ around the emitter. Previously, a direct observation of the dead-cone effect in QCD had not been possible, owing to the challenge of reconstructing the cascading quarks and gluons from the experimentally accessible hadrons. We report the direct observation of the QCD dead cone by using new iterative declustering techniques to reconstruct the parton shower of charm quarks. This result confirms a fundamental feature of QCD. Furthermore, the measurement of a dead-cone angle constitutes a direct experimental observation of the non-zero mass of the charm quark, which is a fundamental constant in the standard model of particle physics.
The $R(\theta)$ variable for charm/inclusive emissions in three bins of $E_{Rad}$: 5-10, 10-20 and 20-35 GeV.
Studying spin-momentum correlations in hadronic collisions offers a glimpse into a three-dimensional picture of proton structure. The transverse single-spin asymmetry for midrapidity isolated direct photons in $p^\uparrow+p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV is measured with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Because direct photons in particular are produced from the hard scattering and do not interact via the strong force, this measurement is a clean probe of initial-state spin-momentum correlations inside the proton and is in particular sensitive to gluon interference effects within the proton. This is the first time direct photons have been used as a probe of spin-momentum correlations at RHIC. The uncertainties on the results are a fifty-fold improvement with respect to those of the one prior measurement for the same observable, from the Fermilab E704 experiment. These results constrain gluon spin-momentum correlations in transversely polarized protons.
The direct photon background fraction from Figure 1. This is the estimated fraction of photons in the isolated direct photon sample that came from either $\pi^0 \rightarrow \gamma \gamma$ or $\eta \rightarrow \gamma \gamma$ decays but the second decay photon is not measured and so these background photons are not eliminated by the tagging cut. These fractions are calculated for the PHENIX EMCal during the 2015 $p$+$p$ run
The transverse single-spin asymmetry of isolated direct photons for $|\eta|<0.35$ in $p^\uparrow$$+$$p$ collisions with $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV. This data appears in both Figure 2 and Table I. An additional scale uncertainty of 3.4% due to the polarization uncertainty is not included.
The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider measured $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ mesons at midrapidity in U$+$U collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=192$ GeV in a wide transverse momentum range. Measurements were performed in the $\pi^0(\eta)\rightarrow\gamma\gamma$ decay modes. A strong suppression of $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ meson production at high transverse momentum was observed in central U$+$U collisions relative to binary scaled $p$$+$$p$ results. Yields of $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ mesons measured in U$+$U collisions show similar suppression pattern to the ones measured in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV for similar numbers of participant nucleons. The $\eta$/$\pi^0$ ratios do not show dependence on centrality or transverse momentum, and are consistent with previously measured values in hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, nucleus-nucleus, and $e^+e^-$ collisions.
$\pi^0$ spectra from figure 2a from minimum bias U+U collisions. Type A uncertainties are uncorrelated point-to-point. Type B uncertainties are correlated point-to-point. Type C uncertainties affect the scale of the data.
$\pi^0$ spectra from figure 2a from 0-20% U+U collisions. Type A uncertainties are uncorrelated point-to-point. Type B uncertainties are correlated point-to-point. Type C uncertainties affect the scale of the data.
$\pi^0$ spectra from figure 2a from 20-40% U+U collisions. Type A uncertainties are uncorrelated point-to-point. Type B uncertainties are correlated point-to-point. Type C uncertainties affect the scale of the data.
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