Evidence for the production of thermal-like muon pairs with masses above 1 GeV/$c^2$ in 158A GeV Indium-Indium Collisions

The NA60 collaboration Arnaldi, R ; Banicz, K ; Borer, K ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.C 59 (2009) 607-623, 2009.
Inspire Record 799832 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.57245

The yield of muon pairs in the invariant mass region 1<M<2.5 GeV/c^2 produced in heavy-ion collisions significantly exceeds the sum of the two expected contributions, Drell-Yan dimuons and muon pairs from the decays of D meson pairs. These sources properly account for the dimuons produced in proton-nucleus collisions. In this paper, we show that dimuons are also produced in excess in 158 A GeV In-In collisions. We furthermore observe, by tagging the dimuon vertices, that this excess is not due to enhanced D meson production, but made of {\em prompt} muon pairs, as expected from a source of thermal dimuons specific to high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. The yield of this excess increases significantly from peripheral to central collisions, both with respect to the Drell-Yan yield and to the number of nucleons participating in the collisions. Furthermore, the transverse mass distributions of the excess dimuons are well described by an exponential function, with inverse slope values around 190 MeV. The values are independent of mass and significantly lower than those found at masses below 1 GeV/c^2, rising there up to 250 MeV due to radial flow. This suggests the emission source of thermal dimuons above 1 GeV/c^2 to be of largely partonic origin, when radial flow has not yet built up.

1 data table

Charm production cross section, calculated from the yield of muons pairs coming from D meson decays.


Cold Nuclear Matter Effects on J/Psi as Constrained by Deuteron-Gold Measurements at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV

The PHENIX collaboration Adare, A. ; Adler, S.S. ; Afanasiev, S. ; et al.
Phys.Rev.C 77 (2008) 024912, 2008.
Inspire Record 768530 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.57373

All of the experimental data points presented in the original paper are correct and unchanged (including statistical and systematic uncertainties). However, herein we correct a comparison between the experimental data and a theoretical picture, because we discovered a mistake in the code used. All of the most probable sigma_breakup values differ by less than 0.4 mb from those originally presented. However, the one standard deviation uncertainties (that include contributions from both the statistical and systematic uncertainties on the experimental data points) are approximately 30-60% larger than originally reported. We give a table of the new comparison results and corrected versions of Figs. 8-11 of the original paper and we note that no correction is needed for results from the data-driven method in Fig. 13.

22 data tables

J/PSI invariant (1/(2PI*PT))*D2(N)/DPT/DYRAP versus rapidity in D+AU collisions, over 3 bins of rapidity.

J/PSI invariant (1/(2PI*PT))*D2(N)/DPT/DYRAP versus rapidity in D+AU collisions, over 5 bins of rapidity.

J/PSI invariant (1/(2PI*PT))*D2(N)/DPT/DYRAP versus PT at backward rapidity (-2.2<y<-1.2) in D+AU collisions.

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J/psi production and nuclear effects for d + Au and p + p collisions at s(NN)**(1/2) = 200-GeV.

The PHENIX collaboration Adler, Stephen Scott ; Afanasiev, S. ; Aidala, C. ; et al.
Phys.Rev.Lett. 96 (2006) 012304, 2006.
Inspire Record 688457 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.57513

J/psi production in d+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV has been measured by the PHENIX experiment at rapidities -2.2 < y < +2.4. The cross sections and nuclear dependence of J/\psi production versus rapidity, transverse momentum, and centrality are obtained and compared to lower energy p+A results and to theoretical models. The observed nuclear dependence in d+Au collisions is found to be modest, suggesting that the absorption in the final state is weak and the shadowing of the gluon distributions is small and consistent with Dokshitzer-Gribov-Lipatov-Altarelli-Parisi-based parameterizations that fit deep-inelastic scattering and Drell-Yan data at lower energies.

11 data tables

J/PSI differential cross section in P+P reactions( times di-lepton branching ratio B=5.9%) as a function of rapidity.

J/PSI nuclear modification factor RDA,as a function of rapidity.

Total cross-section for J/PSI production in P P reactions. The total cross section is estimated using a pythia calculation, normalized to our data. The di-lepton branching ratio used is 5.9%.The systematic error given is due to the fit. The choice of the PDF and model was estimated to have little impact in the value of the total cross section.

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