Rapidity-odd directed flow($v_1$) measurements for charged pions, protons and antiprotons near mid-rapidity ($y=0$) are reported in $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =$ 7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4 and 200 GeV Au + Au collisions as recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). At intermediate impact parameters, the proton and net-proton slope parameter $dv_1/dy|_{y=0}$ shows a minimum between 11.5 and 19.6 GeV. In addition, the net-proton $dv_1/dy|_{y=0}$ changes sign twice between 7.7 and 39 GeV. The proton and net-proton results qualitatively resemble predictions of a hydrodynamic model with a first-order phase transition from hadronic matter to deconfined matter, and differ from hadronic transport calculations.
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 report measurements of the third harmonic coefficient of the azimuthal anisotropy, v_3, known as triangular flow. The analysis is for charged particles in Au+Au collisions at sqrtsNN = 200 GeV, based on data from the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Two-particle correlations as a function of their pseudorapidity separation are fit with narrow and wide Gaussians. Measurements of triangular flow are extracted from the wide Gaussian, from two-particle cumulants with a pseudorapidity gap, and also from event plane analysis methods with a large pseudorapidity gap between the particles and the event plane. These results are reported as a function of transverse momentum and centrality. A large dependence on the pseudorapidity gap is found. Results are compared with other experiments and model calculations.
Gaussian Width (W) as a function of transverse momentum for most central (0-5%) and mid-central (30-40%) Au+Au collision at sqrt(snn)=200 GEV.
Amplitude (A) as a function of transverse momentum for most central (0-5%) and mid-central (30-40%) Au+Au collision at sqrt(snn)=200 GEV.
Gaussian Width (W) as a function of centrality for Like Sign (LS) and Charge Independent (CI) particles for Au+Au collision at sqrt(snn)=200 GEV.
We report STAR measurements of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A_LL, the transverse single-spin asymmetry A_N, and the transverse double-spin asymmetries A_Sigma and A_TT for inclusive jet production at mid-rapidity in polarized p+p collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt{s} = 200 GeV. The data represent integrated luminosities of 7.6 /pb with longitudinal polarization and 1.8 /pb with transverse polarization, with 50-55% beam polarization, and were recorded in 2005 and 2006. No evidence is found for the existence of statistically significant jet A_N, A_Sigma, or A_TT at mid-rapidity. Recent model calculations indicate the A_N results may provide new limits on the gluon Sivers distribution in the proton. The asymmetry A_LL significantly improves the knowledge of gluon polarization in the nucleon.
(color online) $A_{N}$ as a function of the corrected mean $p_{T}$ for 2006 transverse data. The panels present $A_{N}$ for four different $\eta$ bins. $A_{N}$ is the left-right single-spin asymmetry for a transversely polarized beam. The errors shown combine the statistical uncertainties, which dominate, with all systematic uncertainties except trigger and reconstruction bias. See Sect. V A for a discussion of the latter.
(color online) $A_{N}$ as a function of the corrected mean $p_{T}$ for 2006 transverse data. The panels present $A_{N}$ for four different $\eta$ bins. $A_{N}$ is the left-right single-spin asymmetry for a transversely polarized beam. The errors shown combine the statistical uncertainties, which dominate, with all systematic uncertainties except trigger and reconstruction bias. See Sect. V A for a discussion of the latter.
(color online) $A_{N}$ as a function of the corrected mean $p_{T}$ for 2006 transverse data. The panels present $A_{N}$ for four different $\eta$ bins. $A_{N}$ is the left-right single-spin asymmetry for a transversely polarized beam. The errors shown combine the statistical uncertainties, which dominate, with all systematic uncertainties except trigger and reconstruction bias. See Sect. V A for a discussion of the latter.
Measurements of the differential cross-section and the transverse single-spin asymmetry, A_N, vs. x_F for pi0 and eta mesons are reported for 0.4 < x_F < 0.75 at an average pseudorapidity of 3.68. A data sample of approximately 6.3 pb^{-1} was analyzed, which was recorded during p+p collisions at sqrt{s} = 200 GeV by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The average transverse beam polarization was 56%. The cross-section for pi0 is consistent with a perturbative QCD prediction, and the eta/pi0 cross-section ratio agrees with previous mid-rapidity measurements. For 0.55 < x_F < 0.75, A_N for eta (0.210 +- 0.056) is 2.2 standard deviations larger than A_N for pi0 (0.081 +- 0.016).
(c) $A_N$ vs. $M_{\gamma\gamma}$ for the above mass distribution. The error bars are statistical uncertainties only.
Differential production cross-sections for $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ at average pseudorapidity of 3.68. Also shown are the previously published STAR results for similar kinematics [21] and a NLO pQCD calculation of the π0 cross-section [32]. The error band represents the uncertainty in the calculation due to scale variations.
The $\eta$ to $\pi^0$ cross-section ratio is shown in the bottom panel. The error bars indicate the total statistical and systematic uncertainties.
We report precision measurements of the Feynman-x dependence, and first measurements of the transverse momentum dependence, of transverse single spin asymmetries for the production of \pi^0 mesons from polarized proton collisions at \sqrt{s}=200 GeV. The x_F dependence of the results are in fair agreement with perturbative QCD model calculations that identify orbital motion of quarks and gluons within the proton as the origin of the spin effects. Results for the p_T dependence at fixed x_F are not consistent with pQCD-based calculations.
Analyzing powers A_N(x_F) in x_F bins at < eta > =3.7 and x_F > 0.
Analyzing powers A_N(x_F) in x_F bins at < eta > =3.3 and x_F > 0.
Analyzing powers A_N(-x_F) in x_F bins at < eta > =3.7 and x_F < 0.
Identified charged particle spectra of $\pi^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, $p$ and $\pbar$ at mid-rapidity ($|y|<0.1$) measured by the $\dedx$ method in the STAR-TPC are reported for $pp$ and d+Au collisions at $\snn = 200$ GeV and for Au+Au collisions at 62.4 GeV, 130 GeV, and 200 GeV. ... [Shortened for arXiv list. Full abstract in manuscript.]
Uncorrected charged particle multiplicity distribution measured in the TPC in $|\eta| < 0.5$ for Au+Au collisions at 62.4 GeV and 200 GeV. The shaded regions indicate the centrality bins used in the analysis. The 200 GeV data are scaled by a factor 5 for clarity.
Uncorrected charged particle multiplicity distribution measured in the TPC in $|\eta| < 0.5$ for Au+Au collisions at 62.4 GeV and 200 GeV. The shaded regions indicate the centrality bins used in the analysis. The 200 GeV data are scaled by a factor 5 for clarity.
Uncorrected charged particle multiplicity distribution measured in the E-FTPC (Au-direction) within $−3.8 < |\eta| < −2.8$ in d+Au collisions at 200 GeV. The shaded regions indicate the centrality bins used in the analysis.
We report new STAR measurements of mid-rapidity yields for the $\Lambda$, $\bar{\Lambda}$, $K^{0}_{S}$, $\Xi^{-}$, $\bar{\Xi}^{+}$, $\Omega^{-}$, $\bar{\Omega}^{+}$ particles in Cu+Cu collisions at \sNN{200}, and mid-rapidity yields for the $\Lambda$, $\bar{\Lambda}$, $K^{0}_{S}$ particles in Au+Au at \sNN{200}. We show that at a given number of participating nucleons, the production of strange hadrons is higher in Cu+Cu collisions than in Au+Au collisions at the same center-of-mass energy. We find that aspects of the enhancement factors for all particles can be described by a parameterization based on the fraction of participants that undergo multiple collisions.
$K^0_S$ invariant mass spectra from Cu+Cu $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV collisions, where $|y| < 0.5$. The uncertainties on the spectra points are statistical and systematic combined.
$\Lambda$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ invariant mass spectra from Cu+Cu $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV collisions, where $|y| < 0.5$. The $\Lambda$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ yields have not been feed down subtracted from weak decays. The uncertainties on the spectra points are statistical and systematic combined.
$\Xi$ and $\bar{\Xi}$ invariant mass spectra from Cu+Cu $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV collisions, where $|y| < 0.5$. The uncertainties on the spectra points are statistical and systematic combined.
Vector mesons may be photoproduced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions when a virtual photon emitted by one nucleus scatters from the other nucleus, emerging as a vector meson. The STAR Collaboration has previously presented measurements of coherent $\rho^0$ photoproduction at center of mass energies of 130 GeV and 200 GeV in AuAu collisions. Here, we present a measurement of the cross section at 62.4 GeV; we find that the cross section for coherent $\rho^0$ photoproduction with nuclear breakup is $10.5\pm1.5\pm 1.6$ mb at 62.4 GeV. The cross-section ratio between 200 GeV and 62.4 GeV is $2.8\pm0.6$, less than is predicted by most theoretical models. It is, however, proportionally much larger than the previously observed $15\pm 55$% increase between 130 GeV and 200 GeV.
Acceptance corrected invariant mass distributions for the coherently produced $\rho^0$ candidates collected with trigger A (left) and B (right). The fit function (solid) encompasses the Breit-Wigner (dashed), the mass independent contribution from direct $\pi^+\pi^-$ production (dash-dotted), and the interference term (dotted). The hatched area is the contribution from the combinatorial background. The statistical errors are shown.
Acceptance corrected invariant mass distributions for the coherently produced $\rho^0$ candidates collected with trigger A (left) and B (right). The fit function (solid) encompasses the Breit-Wigner (dashed), the mass independent contribution from direct $\pi^+\pi^-$ production (dash-dotted), and the interference term (dotted). The hatched area is the contribution from the combinatorial background. The statistical errors are shown.
Transverse momentum distribution of the $\rho^0$ candidates (open distribution) overlaid by the combinatorial background estimated with like-sign pairs (not corrected to the acceptance and reconstruction efficiency) and scaled to match in the high transverse momentum region, $p_T$ ≥ 250 MeV/$c$ (hatched distribution). The plot is based on the dataset collected with trigger B.
We report the first measurement of the parity violating single-spin asymmetries for midrapidity decay positrons and electrons from $W^{+}$ and $W^{-}$ boson production in longitudinally polarized proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=500 $GeV by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The measured asymmetries, $A^{W^+}_{L}=-0.27\pm 0.10\/({\rm stat.})\pm 0.02\/({\rm syst.}) \pm 0.03\/({\rm norm.})$ and $A^{W^-}_{L}=0.14\pm 0.19\/({\rm stat.})\pm 0.02 \/({\rm syst.})\pm 0.01\/({\rm norm.})$, are consistent with theory predictions, which are large and of opposite sign. These predictions are based on polarized quark and antiquark distribution functions constrained by polarized DIS measurements.
$E^e_T$ for W+ (bottom) and W− (top) events showing the candidate histograms in black, the full background estimates in blue and the signal distributions in yellow.
$E^e_T$ for W+ (bottom) and W− (top) events showing the candidate histograms in black, the full background estimates in blue and the signal distributions in yellow.
Longitudinal single-spin asymmetry, AL, for W± events as a function of the leptonic pseudorapidity, $\eta_e$, for 25 < $E^e_T$ < 50 GeV in comparison to theory predictions
Forum