We report on a search for a phase transition from ordinary nuclear matter to a state of deconfined quarks and gluons as predicted by lattice QCD calculations. A new measurement of charmonium production in Pb-Pb interactions at 158 GeV/ c per nucleon agrees with our previous results and confirms the anomalous J/ ψ suppression we had already observed on a significantly smaller data sample. New event selection and analysis techniques show that, for peripheral collisions, the J/ ψ cross-section per nucleon-nucleon collision agrees with the precise suppression pattern inferred from a wide range of measurements extending from p-p up to S-U collisions. As the collisions become more central, the Pb-Pb cross-section exhibits a clear departure from this normal behaviour. The onset of the anomalous J/ ψ suppression reported here is the first clear observation of a threshold effect in heavy ion collisions and can be considered as a strong indication of the production of a deconfined quark-gluon phase in central Pb-Pb collisions.
The J/PSI cross section is the cross section for decay to muon pairs.
The J/PSI cross section is the cross section for decay to muon pairs. The ratios in this taBLE Are obtained from the minimum bias sample of events. See text if article for details.
The NA50 collaboration has measured J/ψ , ψ′ and Drell Yan pair production in Pb Pb interactions at 158 GeV/ c per nucleon at the CERN SPS. Final results from the 1995 run and preliminary ones from the higher statistics 1996 run are presented. A anomalous J/ψ suppression (relative to the Drell-Yan process) has been observed with respect to the suppression pattern established in experiments NA38 and NA51 with proton, oxygen and sulfur beams. The 1996 data allow a detailed study of the suppression pattern in the Pb Pb sample itself, showing a discontinuity around an E T value (the neutral transverse electromagnetic energy) of 50 GeV. The ψ′ is also suppressed relative to Drell-Yan, with a pattern very similar to the one observed in S U collisions. Finally, the p T distributions of dimuons are presented. The average p T 2 of the J/ψ in Pb Pb collisions does not increase any more with E T above 100 GeV.
ET - neutral transverse energy in the electromagnetic calorimeter, etarap=1.1-2.3.
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