Measurements of neutral pion production at midrapidity in sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions as a function of transverse momentum, p_T, collision centrality, and angle with respect to reaction plane are presented. The data represent the final pi^0 results from the PHENIX experiment for the first RHIC Au+Au run at design center-of-mass-energy. They include additional data obtained using the PHENIX Level-2 trigger with more than a factor of three increase in statistics over previously published results for p_T > 6 GeV/c. We evaluate the suppression in the yield of high-p_T pi^0's relative to point-like scaling expectations using the nuclear modification factor R_AA. We present the p_T dependence of R_AA for nine bins in collision centrality. We separately integrate R_AA over larger p_T bins to show more precisely the centrality dependence of the high-p_T suppression. We then evaluate the dependence of the high-p_T suppression on the emission angle \Delta\phi of the pions with respect to event reaction plane for 7 bins in collision centrality. We show that the yields of high-p_T pi^0's vary strongly with \Delta\phi, consistent with prior measurements. We show that this variation persists in the most peripheral bin accessible in this analysis. For the peripheral bins we observe no suppression for neutral pions produced aligned with the reaction plane while the yield of pi^0's produced perpendicular to the reaction plane is suppressed by more than a factor of 2. We analyze the combined centrality and \Delta\phi dependence of the pi^0 suppression in different p_T bins using different possible descriptions of parton energy loss dependence on jet path-length averages to determine whether a single geometric picture can explain the observed suppression pattern.
Neutral pion invariant yields as a function of $p_T$ measured in minimum bias and 9 centrality classes in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV.
Neutral pion invariant yields as a function of $p_T$ measured in minimum bias and 9 centrality classes in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV.
Neutral pion invariant yields as a function of $p_T$ measured in minimum bias and 9 centrality classes in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV.
The dependence of transverse momentum spectra of neutral pions and eta mesons with p_T <16 GeV/c and p_T < 12 GeV/c, respectively, on the centrality of the collision has been measured at mid-rapidity by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC in d+Au collisions at sqrt(s_(NN)) = 200 GeV. The measured yields are compared to those in p + p collisions at the same sqrt(s_(NN)) scaled by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions in d+Au. At all centralities the yield ratios show no suppression, in contrast to the strong suppression seen for central Au+Au collisions at RHIC. Only a weak p_T and centrality dependence can be observed.
Invariant yields at mid-rapidity for $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ in $d$+Au collisions as a function of $p_T$ for different centrality selections.
Invariant yields at mid-rapidity for $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ in $d$+Au collisions as a function of $p_T$ for different centrality selections.
Invariant yields at mid-rapidity for $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ in $d$+Au collisions as a function of $p_T$ for different centrality selections.
The momentum distribution of electrons from decays of heavy flavor (charm and beauty) for midrapidity |y| < 0.35 in p+p collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV has been measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) over the transverse momentum range 0.3 < p_T < 9 GeV/c. Two independent methods have been used to determine the heavy flavor yields, and the results are in good agreement with each other. A fixed-order-plus-next-to-leading-log pQCD calculation agrees with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties, with the data/theory ratio of 1.72 +/- 0.02^stat +/- 0.19^sys for 0.3 < p_T < 9 GeV/c. The total charm production cross section at this energy has also been deduced to be sigma_(c c^bar) = 567 +/- 57^stat +/- 224^sys micro barns.
Heavy-flavor decay electrons invariant differential cross-section An additional 10% normalization uncertainty is to add.
Differential charm cross section To obtain this value, the differential "charm-decay" electrons cross-section, integrated over PT>0.4 GeV/c, has been extrapolated down to PT=0 using the spectrum shape predicted by a fixed-order-plus-next-to-leading-log (FONLL)calculation. The contribution from beauty and beauty cascades, estimated to be 0.1 microbarn, has been substracted, and the c->e branching ratio used was 9.5 +- 1.0%.
Total charm cross section To obtain the total charm cross section, the differential charm cross section has been extrapolated to the whole rapidity range, using a HVQMNR rapidity distribution with aCTEQ5M PDF.
Muon production at forward rapidity (1.5 < |\eta| < 1.8) has been measured by the PHENIX experiment over the transverse momentum range 1 < p_T \le 3 GeV/c in sqrt(s) = 200 GeV p+p collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. After statistically subtracting contributions from light hadron decays an excess remains which is attributed to the semileptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy flavor, i.e. charm quarks or, at high p_T, bottom quarks. The resulting muon spectrum from heavy flavor decays is compared to PYTHIA and a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation. PYTHIA is used to determine the charm quark spectrum that would produce the observed muon excess. The corresponding differential cross section for charm quark production at forward rapidity is determined to be d\sigmac c^bar)/dy|_(y=1.6)=0.243 +/- 0.013 (stat.) +/- 0.105 (data syst.) ^(+0.049(-0.087) (PYTHIA syst.) mb.
Differential charm cross section at forward rapidity of 1.6 An additional +0.049 -0.087 systematic uncertainty associated with the PYTHIA normalization is not included in the values given.
Cross sections for mid-rapidity production of direct photons in p+p collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) are reported for 3 < p_T < 16 GeV/c. Next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD (pQCD) describes the data well for p_T > 5 GeV/c, where the uncertainties of the measurement and theory are comparable. We also report on the effect of requiring the photons to be isolated from parton jet energy. The observed fraction of isolated photons is well described by pQCD for p_T > 7 GeV/c.
Direct photon spectra with NLO pQCD calculations for three theory scales, $\mu$ and a comparison to the NLO pQCD calculations for $\mu$ = $p_T$.
Ratio of isolated direct photons to all direct photons from the $\pi^0$-tagging method.
Ratio of isolated direct photons to all direct photons from the $\pi^0$-tagging method.
Detailed differential measurements of the elliptic flow for particles produced in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV are presented. Predictions from perfect fluid hydrodynamics for the scaling of the elliptic flow coefficient v_2 with eccentricity, system size and transverse energy are tested and validated. For transverse kinetic energies KE_T ~ m_T-m up to ~1 GeV, scaling compatible with the hydrodynamic expansion of a thermalized fluid is observed for all produced particles. For large values of KE_T, the mesons and baryons scale separately. A universal scaling for the flow of both mesons and baryons is observed for the full transverse kinetic energy range of the data when quark number scaling is employed. In both cases the scaling is more pronounced in terms of KE_T rather than transverse momentum.
$v_2$ vs. $p_T$ for charged hadrons for Au+Au collisions.
$v_2$ vs. $p_T$ for charged hadrons for Cu+Cu collisions.
$v_2$ vs. $p_T$ for charged hadrons. divided by $k$ times ($k = 3.1$) the $p_T$-integrated $v_2$ (centrality) for Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions.
Emission source functions are extracted from correlation functions constructed from charged pions produced at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. The source parameters extracted from these functions at low k_T, give first indications of a long tail for the pion emission source. The source extension cannot be explained solely by simple kinematic considerations. The possible role of a halo of secondary pions from resonance emissions is explored.
Correlation function, C(q) for $\pi^+\pi^+$ and $\pi^-\pi^-$ pairs.
Correlation function, C(q) for $\pi^+\pi^+$ and $\pi^-\pi^-$ pairs.
Correlation function, C(q) for $\pi^+\pi^+$ and $\pi^-\pi^-$ pairs.
The properties of jets produced in p+p collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV are measured using the method of two particle correlations. The trigger particle is a leading particle from a large transverse momentum jet while the associated particle comes from either the same jet or the away-side jet. Analysis of the angular width of the near-side peak in the correlation function determines the jet fragmentation transverse momentum j_T . The extracted value, sqrt(<j_T^2>)= 585 +/- 6(stat) +/- 15(sys) MeV/c, is constant with respect to the trigger particle transverse momentum, and comparable to the previous lower sqrt(s) measurements. The width of the away-side peak is shown to be a convolution of j_T with the fragmentation variable, z, and the partonic transverse momentum, k_T . The <z> is determined through a combined analysis of the measured pi^0 inclusive and associated spectra using jet fragmentation functions measured in e^+e^-. collisions. The final extracted values of k_T are then determined to also be independent of the trigger particle transverse momentum, over the range measured, with value of sqrt(<k_T^2>) = 2.68 +/- 0.07(stat) +/- 0.34(sys) GeV/c.
The $\chi^2(DOF)$ $\sigma_N$ and $\sqrt{<p^2_{out}>}$ values extracted for the correlation function in GeV/$c$.
The $\chi^2(DOF)$ $\sigma_N$ and $\sqrt{<p^2_{out}>}$ values extracted for the correlation function in GeV/$c$.
Measured widths of the near- and away-angle $\pi^0$ - $h^{\pm}$ correlation peaks for various trigger momenta.
PHENIX has measured the centrality dependence of mid-rapidity pion, kaon and proton transverse momentum distributions in d+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. The p+p data provide a reference for nuclear effects in d+Au and previously measured Au+Au collisions. Hadron production is enhanced in d+Au, relative to independent nucleon-nucleon scattering, as was observed in lower energy collisions. The nuclear modification factor for (anti) protons is larger than that for pions. The difference increases with centrality, but is not sufficient to account for the abundance of baryon production observed in central Au+Au collisions at RHIC. The centrality dependence in d+Au shows that the nuclear modification factor increases gradually with the number of collisions suffered by each participant nucleon. We also present comparisons with lower energy data as well as with parton recombination and other theoretical models of nuclear effects on particle production.
Mean number of binary collisions, particpating nucleons from the Au nucleus, number of collisions per participating deuteron nucleon, and trigger bias corrections for the $d$+Au centrality bins.
Transverse momentum in GeV/$c$ for $\pi^{\pm}$.
Transverse momentum in GeV/$c$ for $\pi^{\pm}$.
We report on two-particle azimuthal angle correlations between charged hadrons at forward/backward (deuteron/gold going direction) rapidity and charged hadrons at mid-rapidity in deuteron-gold (d+Au) and proton-proton (p+p) collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. Jet structures are observed in the correlations which we quantify in terms of the conditional yield and angular width of away side partners. The kinematic region studied here samples partons in the gold nucleus carrying nucleon momentum fraction x~0.1 to x~0.01. Within this range, we find no x dependence of the jet structure in d+Au collisions.
Azimuthal angle correlation functions. Note that the y-axis is zero-suppressed on the middle and bottom panels. In the additonal resource, the Gaussian widths from the fits and the signal to background ration integrated over $\pi$ - 1 < $\Delta\phi$ < $\pi$ + 1 are shown.
Conditional yields (CY) shown as a function of trigger particle pseudorapitidy for trigger particle $p_T$ from 2.5 to 4.0 and associated particle $p_T$ from 1.0 to 2.5 GeV/$c$. The additional $\pm$0.037 systematic error on the mid-rapidity $p+p$ point is from jet yield extraction. There is a 1% point-by-point systematical error on all points except central arm triggers. There is also a 10% systematic error for all data points due to the determination of associated particle efficiency. For $p + p$ point, forward and backward trigger are combined, so the results are identical.
$I_{dAu}$ vs. $p_T^{assoc}$ for different centrality, $p_T^{trig}$ and $\eta^{trig}$ bins.
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