We present the multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions of photons produced in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at \sqrt{s_NN} = 62.4 and 200 GeV. The photons are measured in the region -3.7 < \eta < -2.3 using the photon multiplicity detector in the STAR experiment at RHIC. The number of photons produced per average number of participating nucleon pairs increases with the beam energy and is independent of the collision centrality. For collisions with similar average numbers of participating nucleons the photon multiplicities are observed to be similar for Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at a given beam energy. The ratios of the number of charged particles to photons in the measured pseudorapidity range are found to be 1.4 +/- 0.1 and 1.2 +/- 0.1 for \sqrt{s_NN} = 62.4 GeV and 200 GeV, respectively. The energy dependence of this ratio could reflect varying contributions from baryons to charged particles, while mesons are the dominant contributors to photon production in the given kinematic region. The photon pseudorapidity distributions normalized by average number of participating nucleon pairs, when plotted as a function of \eta - ybeam, are found to follow a longitudinal scaling independent of centrality and colliding ion species at both beam energies.
Fig. 1. (Color online.) Top panel: Photon reconstruction efficiency $\left(\epsilon_{\gamma}\right)$ (solid symbols) and purity of photon sample $\left(f_{\mathrm{p}}\right)$ (open symbols) for PMD as a function of pseudorapidity $(\eta)$ for minimum bias $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ and $\mathrm{Cu}+\mathrm{Cu}$ at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=$ $200 \mathrm{GeV}$. Bottom panel: Comparison between estimated $\epsilon_{\gamma}$ and $f_{\mathrm{p}}$ for PMD as a function of $\eta$ for minimum bias $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=62.4 \mathrm{GeV}$ using HIJING and AMPT models. The error bars on the AMPT data are statistical and those for HIJING are within the symbol size. NOTE: For points with invisible error bars, the point size was considered as an absolute upper limit for the uncertainty.
Fig. 1. (Color online.) Top panel: Photon reconstruction efficiency $\left(\epsilon_{\gamma}\right)$ (solid symbols) and purity of photon sample $\left(f_{\mathrm{p}}\right)$ (open symbols) for PMD as a function of pseudorapidity $(\eta)$ for minimum bias $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ and $\mathrm{Cu}+\mathrm{Cu}$ at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=$ $200 \mathrm{GeV}$. Bottom panel: Comparison between estimated $\epsilon_{\gamma}$ and $f_{\mathrm{p}}$ for PMD as a function of $\eta$ for minimum bias $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=62.4 \mathrm{GeV}$ using HIJING and AMPT models. The error bars on the AMPT data are statistical and those for HIJING are within the symbol size. NOTE: For points with invisible error bars, the point size was considered as an absolute upper limit for the uncertainty.
Fig. 2. (Color online.) Event-by-event photon multiplicity distributions (solid circles) for $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ and $\mathrm{Cu}+\mathrm{Cu}$ at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=62.4$ and $200 \mathrm{GeV} .$ The distributions for top $0-5 \%$ central $\mathrm{Au}+$ Au collisions and top $0-10 \%$ central $\mathrm{Cu}+\mathrm{Cu}$ collisions are also shown (open circles). The photon multiplicity distributions for central collisions are observed to be Gaussian (solid line). Only statistical errors are shown. NOTE: For points with invisible error bars, the point size was considered as an absolute upper limit for the uncertainty.
A study of the particle multiplicity between jets with large rapidity separation has been performed using the D\O\ detector at the Fermilab Tevatron $p\bar{p}$ Collider operating at $\sqrt{s}=1.8$\,TeV. A significant excess of low-multiplicity events is observed above the expectation for color-exchange processes. The measured fractional excess is $1.07 \pm 0.10({\rm stat})~{ + 0.25}_{- 0.13}({\rm syst})\%$, which is consistent with a strongly-interacting color-singlet (colorless) exchange process and cannot be explained by electroweak exchange alone. A lower limit of $0.80\%$ (95\% C.L.) is obtained on the fraction of dijet events with color-singlet exchange, independent of the rapidity gap survival probability.
'Opposite-side' jets with a large pseudorapidity separation. A cone algorithm with radius R = sqrt(d(etarap)**2+d(phi)**2)=0.7 is used for jet funding. Double negative binomial distribution (NBD) is used to parametrize the color-exchange component of the opposite-side multiplicity distribution betweeb jets. A result of extrapolation to the zero multiplicity point. Quoted systematic error is a result of combining in quadrature of the systematic errors described above.