J/psi production has been measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)= 200 GeV over a wide rapidity and transverse momentum range by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC. Distributions of the rapidity and transverse momentum, along with measurements of the mean transverse momentum and total production cross section are presented and compared to available theoretical calculations. The total J/psi cross section is 3.99 +/- 0.61(stat) +/- 0.58(sys) +/- 0.40(abs) micro barns. The mean transverse momentum is 1.80 +/- 0.23(stat) +/- 0.16(sys) GeV/c.

J/Psi production in p+p collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV has been Measured in the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) over a rapidity range of -2.2 < y < 2.2 and a transverse momentum range of 0 < pT < 9 GeV/c. The statistics available allow a detailed measurement of both the pT and rapidity distributions and are sufficient to constrain production models. The total cross section times branching ratio determined for J/Psi production is B_{ll} sigma_pp^J/psi = 178 +/- 3(stat) +/- 53(syst) +/- 18(norm) nb.

The PHENIX experiement has measured the electron-positron pair mass spectrum from 0 to 8 GeV/c^2 in p+p collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV. The contributions from light meson decays to e^+e^- pairs have been determined based on measurements of hadron production cross sections by PHENIX. They account for nearly all e^+e^- pairs in the mass region below 1 GeV/c^2. The e^+e^- pair yield remaining after subtracting these contributions is dominated by semileptonic decays of charmed hadrons correlated through flavor conservation. Using the spectral shape predicted by PYTHIA, we estimate the charm production cross section to be 544 +/- 39(stat) +/- 142(syst) +/- 200(model) \mu b, which is consistent with QCD calculations and measurements of single leptons by PHENIX.

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.

Results are presented from data recorded in 2009 by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider for the double-longitudinal spin asymmetry, $A_{LL}$, for $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ production in $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV polarized $p$$+$$p$ collisions. Comparison of the $\pi^0$ results with different theory expectations based on fits of other published data showed a preference for small positive values of gluon polarization, $\Delta G$, in the proton in the probed Bjorken $x$ range. The effect of adding the new 2009 \pz data to a recent global analysis of polarized scattering data is also shown, resulting in a best fit value $\Delta G^{[0.05,0.2]}_{\mbox{DSSV}} = 0.06^{+0.11}_{-0.15}$ in the range $0.05<x<0.2$, with the uncertainty at $\Delta \chi^2 = 9$ when considering only statistical experimental uncertainties. Shifting the PHENIX data points by their systematic uncertainty leads to a variation of the best-fit value of $\Delta G^{[0.05,0.2]}_{\mbox{DSSV}}$ between $0.02$ and $0.12$, demonstrating the need for full treatment of the experimental systematic uncertainties in future global analyses.

We present a measurement of the cross section and transverse single-spin asymmetry ($A_N$) for $\eta$ mesons at large pseudorapidity from $\sqrt{s}=200$~GeV $p^{\uparrow}+p$ collisions. The measured cross section for $0.5<p_T<5.0$~GeV/$c$ and $3.0<|\eta|<3.8$ is well described by a next-to-leading-order perturbative-quantum-chromodynamics calculation. The asymmetries $A_N$ have been measured as a function of Feynman-$x$ ($x_F$) from $0.2<|x_{F}|<0.7$, as well as transverse momentum ($p_T$) from $1.0<p_T<4.5$~GeV/$c$. The asymmetry averaged over positive $x_F$ is $\langle{A_{N}}\rangle=0.061{\pm}0.014$. The results are consistent with prior transverse single-spin measurements of forward $\eta$ and $\pi^{0}$ mesons at various energies in overlapping $x_F$ ranges. Comparison of different particle species can help to determine the origin of the large observed asymmetries in $p^{\uparrow}+p$ collisions.

The momentum distribution of electrons from semi-leptonic decays of charm and bottom for mid-rapidity |y|<0.35 in p+p collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV is measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) over the transverse momentum range 2 < p_T < 7 GeV/c. The ratio of the yield of electrons from bottom to that from charm is presented. The ratio is determined using partial D/D^bar --> e^{+/-} K^{-/+} X (K unidentified) reconstruction. It is found that the yield of electrons from bottom becomes significant above 4 GeV/c in p_T. A fixed-order-plus-next-to-leading-log (FONLL) perturbative quantum chromodynamics (pQCD) calculation agrees with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties. The extracted total bottom production cross section at this energy is \sigma_{b\b^bar}= 3.2 ^{+1.2}_{-1.1}(stat) ^{+1.4}_{-1.3}(syst) micro b.

Polarized proton-proton collisions provide leading-order access to gluons, presenting an opportunity to constrain gluon spin-momentum correlations within transversely polarized protons and enhance our understanding of the three-dimensional structure of the proton. Midrapidity open-heavy-flavor production at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV is dominated by gluon-gluon fusion, providing heightened sensitivity to gluon dynamics relative to other production channels. Transverse single-spin asymmetries of positrons and electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays are measured at midrapidity using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. These charge-separated measurements are sensitive to gluon correlators that can in principle be related to gluon orbital angular momentum via model calculations. Explicit constraints on gluon correlators are extracted for two separate models, one of which had not been constrained previously.

The TPC/Two-Gamma Collaboration has measured the inclusive cross section for production of charmed D ∗± mesons in photon-photon collisions. The reaction utilized was e + e - →e + e - D ∗± X, with D ∗± →D O π +- , D O →K -+ π ± , and either zero or one outgoing e ± detected. The result, σ(e + e - → e + e - D ∗± X) = 74±26±19 pb , is in agreement with the quark parton mo del prediction for e + e - → e + e - c c , combined with a Lund model for the hadronization of the charmed quarks.

The two-photon production of the η meson has been observed, and a value has been determined for the two-photon η decay width by a measurement of the cross section σ(e+e−→e+e−η) where η→γγ. The measurement was made with the TPC/Two-Gamma facility at the SLAC e+e− collider PEP, with an accumulated data sample of 64.5 pb−1. The η→γγ events were both triggered and detected by the pole-tip calorimeter. The measured two-photon η decay width is Γη→γγ=0.64±0.14 (statistical) ±0.13 (systematic) keV, in agreement with earlier similarly determined values.