Neutral pion transverse momentum (pT) spectra at mid-rapidity (|y| < 0.35) were measured in Cu+Cu collisions at \sqrt s_NN = 22.4, 62.4, and 200 GeV. Relative to pi -zero yields in p+p collisions scaled by the number of inelastic nucleon-nucleon collisions (Ncoll) at the respective energies, the pi-zero yields for pT \ge 2 GeV/c in central Cu+Cu collisions at 62.4 and 200 GeV are suppressed, whereas an enhancement is observed at 22.4 GeV. A comparison with a jet quenching model suggests that final state parton energy loss dominates in central Cu+Cu collisions at 62.4 GeV and 200 GeV, while the enhancement at 22.4 GeV is consistent with nuclear modifications in the initial state alone.
Invariant $\pi^0$ yields in central Cu+Cu collisions and invariant $\pi^0$ cross sections in $p$+$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 22.4 GeV. The error (tot.) includes the quadratic sum of the statistical and total systematic uncertainties.
Invariant $\pi^0$ yields in central Cu+Cu collisions and invariant $\pi^0$ cross sections in $p$+$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 62.4 GeV. The error (tot.) includes the quadratic sum of the statistical and total systematic uncertainties.
Invariant $\pi^0$ yields in central Cu+Cu collisions and invariant $\pi^0$ cross sections in $p$+$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV. The error (tot.) includes the quadratic sum of the statistical and total systematic uncertainties.
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 PHENIX experiment at RHIC has measured charged hadron yields at mid-rapidity over a wide range of transverse momentum (0.5 < p_T < 10 GeV/c) in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. The data are compared to pi^zero measurements from the same experiment. For both charged hadrons and neutral pions, the yields per nucleon-nucleon collision are significantly suppressed in central compared to peripheral and nucleon-nucleon collisions. The suppression sets in gradually and increases with increasing centrality of the collisions. Above 4-5 GeV/c in p_T, a constant and almost identical suppression of charged hadrons and pi^zeroes is observed. The p_T spectra are compared to published spectra from Au+Au at sqrt(s_NN)=130 in terms of x_t scaling. Central and peripheral pi^zero as well as peripheral charged spectra exhibit the same x_t scaling as observed in p+p data.
$p_T$ spectra of charged hadrons for minimum bias collisions along with spectra for 9 centrality classes derived from the pseudo-rapidity region $|\eta|$ < 0.18. Stat. stands for statistical error, syst. stands for the systematic errors and occ. stands for occupancy error.
$p_T$ spectra of charged hadrons for minimum bias collisions along with spectra for 9 centrality classes derived from the pseudo-rapidity region $|\eta|$ < 0.18. Stat. stands for statistical error, syst. stands for the systematic errors and occ. stands for occupancy error.
$p_T$ spectra of charged hadrons for minimum bias collisions along with spectra for 9 centrality classes derived from the pseudo-rapidity region $|\eta|$ < 0.18. Stat. stands for statistical error, syst. stands for the systematic errors and occ. stands for occupancy error.