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.


psi' production in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV/nucleon

The NA50 collaboration Alessandro, B. ; Alexa, C. ; Arnaldi, R. ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.C 49 (2007) 559-567, 2007.
Inspire Record 733917 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.57420

psi' production is studied in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV/c per nucleon incident momentum. Absolute cross-sections are measured and production rates are investigated as a function of the centrality of the collision. The results are compared with those obtained for lighter colliding systems and also for the J/psi meson produced under identical conditions.

7 data tables

Inclusive cross sections for PSI(3685) and J/PSI, multiplied by their Branching ratios into MU+MU-,.

Inclusive cross sections for Drell Yan in the 4.2-7 GeV/c** mass range.

Inclusive cross sections for PSI(3685) and J/PSI, multiplied by theirBransching ratios into MU+MU-, and for Drell Yan in the 4.2-7 GeV/c** massrange.

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J/psi and psi' production and their normal nuclear absorption in proton nucleus collisions at 400-GeV.

The NA50 collaboration Alessandro, B. ; Alexa, C. ; Arnaldi, R. ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.C 48 (2006) 329, 2006.
Inspire Record 733916 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.57412

We report a new measurement of J/psi, psi' and Drell-Yan cross-sections, in the kinematical domain $-0.425&lt;y_{\rm cm}&lt;0.575$ and $-0.5&lt;\cos\theta_{\rm CS}&lt;0.5$, performed at the CERN-SPS using 400 GeV/c incident protons on Be, Al, Cu, Ag, W and Pb targets. The dependence of the charmonia production cross-sections on the size of the target nucleus allows to quantify the so-called normal nuclear absorption. In the framework of the Glauber model, this new measurement is combined with results previously obtained with the same apparatus, under different experimental conditions, and leads to a precise determination of the J/psi and psi' absorption cross-sections in the surrounding nuclear matter.

4 data tables

Production cross sections, per taregt nucleon for J/PSI and PSI(3685) and for Drell-Yann dimuon in the mass range of 2.9-4.5 GeV/c**, integrated in the phase space windows of the measurement.

Ratios of J/PSI, PSI(3685) and Drel Yann production cross sections, and for Drell-Yann dimuon in the mass range of 2.9-4.5 GeV/c**, integrated in the phase space windows of the measurement.

Absorption cross-section obtained with Glauber fits results only from this analysis.

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Bottomonium and Drell-Yan production in p-A collisions at 450 GeV

The NA50 collaboration Alessandro, B. ; Alexa, C. ; Arnaldi, R. ; et al.
Phys.Lett.B 635 (2006) 260-269, 2006.
Inspire Record 712992 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.57411

The NA50 Collaboration has measured heavy-quarkonium production in p-A collisions at 450 GeV incident energy (sqrt(s) = 29.1 GeV). We report here results on the production of the Upsilon states and of high-mass Drell-Yan muon pairs (m > 6 GeV). The cross-section at midrapidity and the A-dependence of the measured yields are determined and compared with the results of other fixed-target experiments and with the available theoretical estimates. Finally, we also address some issues concerning the transverse momentum distributions of the measured dimuons.

3 data tables

Drell-Yann (for the mass region MMUMU>6GeV/c**2) and bottomonium cross sections, and their ratio.

Mean pT and Mean PT**2 for Drell-Yann (4.5<MMUMU<8 GeV/c**2) Errors for Drell-Yann are purely statistical, error value for Upsilon includes a systematical error due to uncertianty in the extrapolation of the drell-yann yield into the upsilon region. The total error is anyway dominated by the statistical contribution.

ALPHA parameter.


Charmonium production and nuclear absorption in p A interactions at 450-GeV.

The NA50 collaboration Alessandro, B. ; Alexa, C. ; Arnaldi, R. ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.C 33 (2004) 31-40, 2004.
Inspire Record 629957 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.30011

The production of ${\rm J}/\psi$ and

13 data tables

The J/PSI production cross sections, per target nucleon, times the di-muon branching ratio for the two data samples.

The PSI(3685) production cross sections, per target nucleon, times the di-muon branching ratio for the two data samples.

J/PSI production cross section times the di-muon branching ratio for the BEtarget as a function of the Feynman X bin.

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Charmonia and Drell-Yan production in proton-nucleus collisions at the CERN SPS

The NA50 collaboration Alessandro, B ; Alexa, C ; Arnaldi, R ; et al.
Phys.Lett.B 553 (2003) 167-178, 2003.
Inspire Record 612573 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.29487

Charmonium production in p – A collisions is a unique tool for the study of the interaction of bound c c states in nuclear matter. It can provide details on the basic features of the resonance formation mechanism and, in particular, on its non-perturbative aspects. In this Letter, we present an experimental study of charmonia and Drell–Yan production in proton–nucleus collisions at 450 GeV/ c . The results are analyzed in the framework of the Glauber model and lead to the values of the nuclear absorption cross-section σ abs pA for J / ψ and ψ ′. Then, we compare the J / ψ absorption in proton–nucleus and sulphur–uranium interactions, using NA38 data. We obtain that, for the J / ψ , σ abs pA and σ abs SU are compatible, showing that no sizeable additional suppression mechanism is present in S–U collisions, and confirming that the anomalous J / ψ suppression only sets in for Pb–Pb interactions.

5 data tables

The J/PSI production cross section times the branching ratio to MU+ MU- pernucleon-nucleon collision for the differential nuclear targets.

The PSI(3685) production cross section times the branching ratio to MU+ MU-per nucleon-nucleon collision for the differential nuclear targets.

The Drell Yan cross section, divided by the mass number A, and multiplied by the isospin correction factors in the mass interval 2.9 to 4.5 GeV.

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Dimuon and charm production in nucleus nucleus collisions at the CERN-SPS.

The NA38 & NA50 collaborations Abreu, M.C. ; Alessandro, B. ; Alexa, C. ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.C 14 (2000) 443-455, 2000.
Inspire Record 524686 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.57421

Muon pair production in p-A, S-U and Pb-Pb collisions has been studied by the NA38 and NA50 collaborations at the CERN SPS. In this paper we present an analysis of the dimuon invariant mass region bet

1 data table

CHARM-CHARMBAR cross section Need to divide by 2 to consider only the XF>0 hemisphere.


J/psi and psi' production in p, O and S induced reactions at SPS energies.

Abreu, M.C. ; Astruc, J. ; Baglin, C. ; et al.
Phys.Lett.B 466 (1999) 408-414, 1999.
Inspire Record 507044 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.42673

The production of the J/ ψ and ψ ′ charmonia states has been studied, through their dimuon decay, in proton, Oxygen and Sulphur induced reactions, by the NA38 experiment at the CERN SPS. The proton data was collected with beams of 200 and 450 GeV, while the ion beams had an energy of 200 GeV per incident nucleon. The J/ ψ production cross-section per nucleon-nucleon collision exhibits a remarkably continuous pattern, as a function of the product of the mass numbers of the interacting nuclei, from pp up to S-U reactions. The same pattern is observed within S-U collisions, as a function of the collision centrality. While in p-A interactions both charmonia states exhibit the same A-dependence, in S-U collisions the ψ ′ production is very strongly suppressed.

6 data tables

Results of fitting the 200 and 450 GeV J/PSI data separately with a power law parametrization SIG=SIG0*(A*B)**POWER, where A and B are the beam and targetmass numbers. The value obtained from a combined fit is also given, as well as the ratio between the values of SIG0 for the 200 and 450 GeV data sets.

The J/PSI cross sections per nucleon (times the BR to di-muons) rescaled to 200 GeV/nucleon, using the SIG0 ratio detemined in the previous table, and to the cm rapidity window 0 to 1. The errors are combined statistical and systematic.

The ratio between the PSI(3685) and the J/PSI production cross section, times their BR into di-muons, at an incident beam energy of 450 GeV per nucleon. The errors are combined statistical and systematic.

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Observation of a threshold effect in the anomalous J/psi suppression.

The NA50 collaboration Abreu, M.C ; Alessandro, B ; Alexa, C ; et al.
Phys.Lett.B 450 (1999) 456-466, 1999.
Inspire Record 499915 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.49189

We report on a search for a phase transition from ordinary nuclear matter to a state of deconfined quarks and gluons as predicted by lattice QCD calculations. A new measurement of charmonium production in Pb-Pb interactions at 158 GeV/ c per nucleon agrees with our previous results and confirms the anomalous J/ ψ suppression we had already observed on a significantly smaller data sample. New event selection and analysis techniques show that, for peripheral collisions, the J/ ψ cross-section per nucleon-nucleon collision agrees with the precise suppression pattern inferred from a wide range of measurements extending from p-p up to S-U collisions. As the collisions become more central, the Pb-Pb cross-section exhibits a clear departure from this normal behaviour. The onset of the anomalous J/ ψ suppression reported here is the first clear observation of a threshold effect in heavy ion collisions and can be considered as a strong indication of the production of a deconfined quark-gluon phase in central Pb-Pb collisions.

2 data tables

The J/PSI cross section is the cross section for decay to muon pairs.

The J/PSI cross section is the cross section for decay to muon pairs. The ratios in this taBLE Are obtained from the minimum bias sample of events. See text if article for details.


J/psi, psi' and Drell-Yan production in S U interactions at 200-GeV per nucleon.

The NA38 collaboration Abreu, M.C. ; Astruc, J. ; Baglin, C. ; et al.
Phys.Lett.B 449 (1999) 128-136, 1999.
Inspire Record 482405 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.49239

A detailed study of J/ ψ , ψ ′ and Drell-Yan production in S-U collisions has been performed by experiment NA38 at the CERN SPS. This paper presents production cross sections and their centrality dependence, based on the largest sample of S-U events collected by the experiment.

2 data tables

Cross sections (times decay BR into di-muons) and ratios.

Centrality dependence of the rations of J/PSI/DY and PSI(3685)/J/PSI production.