We have measured the differential cross section d2σdΩdTπ and the polarization parameter P for the production of π+ and π− in various target nuclei (H1, H2, Be, C, O, Al, Ni, Cu, Mo, and Pb) by protons with a kinetic energy of 585 MeV, for production angles θπ=22.5°, 45°, 60°, 90°, and 135°, and for pion kinetic energies Tπ of 24, 35, 46, 88, 151, 192, and 254 MeV (all quantities in the laboratory system). Our data disagree strongly with recent data for 580-MeV protons. On the other hand, for pion energies up to 150 MeV, our cross sections differ little from those measured for a proton energy of 730 MeV. For nuclei with A>20, the total production cross sections σ(π+) and σ(π−) show the Z13 and N23 proportionality expected from theoretical arguments. There is evidence in our data of a shift of the π+ energy distributions compared to the π− distributions due to the effects of the Coulomb field of the nuclear protons on the emitted pions. NUCLEAR REACTIONS H1, H2, Be, C, O, Al, Ni, Cu, Mo, Pb p, π±, Tp=585 MeV; measured σ(Tπ, θπ) and asymmetry parameter P(Tπ, θπ).

We present STAR measurements of the azimuthal anisotropy parameter $v_2$ and the binary-collision scaled centrality ratio $R_{CP}$ for kaons and lambdas ($\Lambda+\bar{\Lambda}$) at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. In combination, the $v_2$ and $R_{CP}$ particle-type dependencies contradict expectations from partonic energy loss followed by standard fragmentation in vacuum. We establish $p_T \approx 5$ GeV/c as the value where the centrality dependent baryon enhancement ends. The $K_S^0$ and $\Lambda+\bar{\Lambda}$ $v_2$ values are consistent with expectations of constituent-quark-number scaling from models of hadron fromation by parton coalescence or recombination.

We present the first measurements of femtoscopic correlations between the K$^0_{\rm S}$ and K$^{\rm \pm}$ particles in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV measured by the ALICE experiment. The observed femtoscopic correlations are consistent with final-state interactions proceeding solely via the $a_0(980)$ resonance. The extracted kaon source radius and correlation strength parameters for K$^0_{\rm S}$K$^{\rm -}$ are found to be equal within the experimental uncertainties to those for K$^0_{\rm S}$K$^{\rm +}$. Results of the present study are compared with those from identical-kaon femtoscopic studies also performed with pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV by ALICE and with a K$^0_{\rm S}$K$^{\rm \pm}$ measurement in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV. Combined with the Pb-Pb results, our pp analysis is found to be compatible with the interpretation of the $a_0(980)$ having a tetraquark structure instead of that of a diquark.

We have found 122 charmed-particle decays among 3855 neutrino interactions located in the fiducial volume of a hybrid emulsion spectrometer installed in the Fermilab wide-band neutrino beam. We obtain an average relative charmed-particle production cross section of σ(ν μ → c μ − ) σ(ν μ →μ − ) =4.9 −0.6 +0.7 % , at an average neutrino energy of 22 GeV. We also obtain a production rate of σ(ν μ → c c ν μ ) σ(ν μ →ν μ ) =0.13 −0.11 +0.31 % , if we assume that there was an undetected muon, a limit of σ(ν μ → c c μ − ) σ(ν μ → c μ − )<3% (90% CL ) can be obtained. Other cross section ratios and limits are also presented.

The production of prompt $\rm \Lambda_{\rm c}^{+}$ baryons at midrapidity ($|y|<0.5$) was measured in central (0-10%) and mid-central (30-50%) Pb-Pb collisions at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector. The results are more precise, more differential in centrality, and reach much lower transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}=1$ GeV/$c$) with respect to previous measurements performed by the ALICE, STAR, and CMS Collaborations in nucleus-nucleus collisions, allowing for an extrapolation down to $p_{\rm T}=0$. The $p_{\rm T}$-differential $\rm \Lambda_{\rm c}^{+}$/D$^0$ production ratio is enhanced with respect to the pp measurement for $4<p_{\rm T}<8$ GeV/$c$ by 3.7 standard deviations ($\sigma$), while the $p_{\rm T}$-integrated ratios are compatible within 1$\sigma$. The observed trend is similar to that observed in the strange sector for the $\Lambda/$K$^0_{\rm S}$ ratio. Model calculations including coalescence or statistical hadronization for charm-hadron formation are compared with the data.

We report the direct virtual photon invariant yields in the transverse momentum ranges $1\!<\!p_{T}\!<\!3$ GeV/$c$ and $5\!<\!p_T\!<\!10$ GeV/$c$ at mid-rapidity derived from the dielectron invariant mass continuum region $0.10<M_{ee}<0.28$ GeV/$c^{2}$ for 0-80\% minimum-bias Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV. A clear excess in the invariant yield compared to the number-of-binary-collisions ($N_{bin}$) scaled $p+p$ reference is observed in the $p_T$ range $1\!<\!p_{T}\!<\!3$ GeV/$c$. For $p_T\!>6$ GeV/$c$ the production follows $N_{bin}$ scaling. Model calculations with contributions from thermal radiation and initial hard parton scattering are consistent within uncertainties with the direct virtual photon invariant yield.

We present measurements of $\Omega$ and $\phi$ production at mid-rapidity from Au+Au collisions at nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27 and 39 GeV by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Motivated by the coalescence formation mechanism for these strange hadrons, we study the ratios of $N(\Omega^{-}+\Omega^{+})/(2N(\phi))$. These ratios as a function of transverse momentum ($p_T$) fall on a consistent trend at high collision energies, but start to show deviations in peripheral collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 19.6, 27 and 39 GeV, and in central collisions at 11.5 GeV in the intermediate $p_T$ region of 2.4-3.6 GeV/c. We further evaluate empirically the strange quark $p_T$ distributions at hadronization by studying the $\Omega/\phi$ ratios scaled by the number of constituent quarks. The NCQ-scaled $\Omega/\phi$ ratios show a suppression of strange quark production in central collisions at 11.5 GeV compared to $\sqrt{s_{NN}} >= 19.6$ GeV. The shapes of the presumably thermal strange quark distributions in 0-60% most central collisions at 7.7 GeV show significant deviations from those in 0-10% most central collisions at higher energies. These features suggest that there is likely a change of the underlying strange quark dynamics in the transition from quark-matter to hadronic matter at collision energies below 19.6 GeV.

Dihadron angular correlations in $d$+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=200$ GeV are reported as a function of the measured zero-degree calorimeter neutral energy and the forward charged hadron multiplicity in the Au-beam direction. A finite correlated yield is observed at large relative pseudorapidity ($\Delta\eta$) on the near side (i.e. relative azimuth $\Delta\phi\sim0$). This correlated yield as a function of $\Delta\eta$ appears to scale with the dominant, primarily jet-related, away-side ($\Delta\phi\sim\pi$) yield. The Fourier coefficients of the $\Delta\phi$ correlation, $V_{n}=\langle\cos n\Delta\phi\rangle$, have a strong $\Delta\eta$ dependence. In addition, it is found that $V_{1}$ is approximately inversely proportional to the mid-rapidity event multiplicity, while $V_{2}$ is independent of it with similar magnitude in the forward ($d$-going) and backward (Au-going) directions.

Two-particle azimuthal ($\Delta\phi$) and pseudorapidity ($\Delta\eta$) correlations using a trigger particle with large transverse momentum ($p_T$) in $d$+Au, Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ =\xspace 62.4 GeV and 200~GeV from the STAR experiment at RHIC are presented. The \ns correlation is separated into a jet-like component, narrow in both $\Delta\phi$ and $\Delta\eta$, and the ridge, narrow in $\Delta\phi$ but broad in $\Delta\eta$. Both components are studied as a function of collision centrality, and the jet-like correlation is studied as a function of the trigger and associated $p_T$. The behavior of the jet-like component is remarkably consistent for different collision systems, suggesting it is produced by fragmentation. The width of the jet-like correlation is found to increase with the system size. The ridge, previously observed in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV, is also found in Cu+Cu collisions and in collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ =\xspace 62.4 GeV, but is found to be substantially smaller at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ =\xspace 62.4 GeV than at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV for the same average number of participants ($ \langle N_{\mathrm{part}}\rangle$). Measurements of the ridge are compared to models.

In high-energy heavy-ion collisions, partonic collectivity is evidenced by the constituent quark number scaling of elliptic flow anisotropy for identified hadrons. A breaking of this scaling and dominance of baryonic interactions is found for identified hadron collective flow measurements in $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 3 GeV Au+Au collisions. In this paper, we report measurements of the first- and second-order azimuthal anisotropic parameters, $v_1$ and $v_2$, of light nuclei ($d$, $t$, $^{3}$He, $^{4}$He) produced in $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 3 GeV Au+Au collisions at the STAR experiment. An atomic mass number scaling is found in the measured $v_1$ slopes of light nuclei at mid-rapidity. For the measured $v_2$ magnitude, a strong rapidity dependence is observed. Unlike $v_2$ at higher collision energies, the $v_2$ values at mid-rapidity for all light nuclei are negative and no scaling is observed with the atomic mass number. Calculations by the Jet AA Microscopic Transport Model (JAM), with baryonic mean-field plus nucleon coalescence, are in good agreement with our observations, implying baryonic interactions dominate the collective dynamics in 3 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC.