The NA61/SHINE experiment at the CERN SPS is performing a uniqe study of the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter by varying collision energy and nuclear mass number of colliding nuclei. In central Pb+Pb collisions the NA49 experiment found structures in the energy dependence of several observables in the CERN SPS energy range that had been predicted for the transition to a deconfined phase. New measurements of NA61/SHINE find intriguing similarities in p+p interactions for which no deconfinement transition is expected at SPS energies. Possible implications will be discussed.
Measurements of inclusive charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions are presented for proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 0.9 and 2.36 TeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector during the LHC commissioning in December 2009. For non-single-diffractive interactions, the average charged-hadron transverse momentum is measured to be 0.46 +/- 0.01 (stat.) +/- 0.01 (syst.) GeV/c at 0.9 TeV and 0.50 +/- 0.01 (stat.) +/- 0.01 (syst.) GeV/c at 2.36 TeV, for pseudorapidities between -2.4 and +2.4. At these energies, the measured pseudorapidity densities in the central region, dN(charged)/d(eta) for |eta| < 0.5, are 3.48 +/- 0.02 (stat.) +/- 0.13 (syst.) and 4.47 +/- 0.04 (stat.) +/- 0.16 (syst.), respectively. The results at 0.9 TeV are in agreement with previous measurements and confirm the expectation of near equal hadron production in p-pbar and pp collisions. The results at 2.36 TeV represent the highest-energy measurements at a particle collider to date.
We study charged particle production in proton-antiproton collisions at 300 GeV, 900 GeV, and 1.96 TeV. We use the direction of the charged particle with the largest transverse momentum in each event to define three regions of eta-phi space; toward, away, and transverse. The average number and the average scalar pT sum of charged particles in the transverse region are sensitive to the modeling of the underlying event. The transverse region is divided into a MAX and MIN transverse region, which helps separate the hard component (initial and final-state radiation) from the beam-beam remnant and multiple parton interaction components of the scattering. The center-of-mass energy dependence of the various components of the event are studied in detail. The data presented here can be used to constrain and improve QCD Monte Carlo models, resulting in more precise predictions at the LHC energies of 13 and 14 TeV.
The yields and average transverse momenta of pions, kaons, and antiprotons produced at the Fermilab p¯p collider at s=300, 540, 1000, and 1800 GeV are presented and compared with data from the energies reached at the CERN collider. We also present data on the dependence of average transverse momentum 〈pt〉 and particle ratios as a function of charged particle density dNcdη; data for particle densities as high as six times the average value, corresponding to a Bjorken energy density 6 GeV/fm3, are reported. These data are relevant to the search for quark-gluon phase of QCD.
We report a measurement of the rate of prompt diphoton production in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96 ~\hbox{TeV}$ using a data sample of 207 pb$^{-1}$ collected with the upgraded Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF II). The background from non-prompt sources is determined using a statistical method based on differences in the electromagnetic showers. The cross section is measured as a function of the diphoton mass, the transverse momentum of the diphoton system, and the azimuthal angle between the two photons and is found to be consistent with perturbative QCD predictions.
The inclusive cross section for production of isolated photons has been measured in \pbarp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 630$ GeV with the \D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The photons span a transverse energy ($E_T$) range from 7-49 GeV and have pseudorapidity $|\eta| < 2.5$. This measurement is combined with to previous \D0 result at $\sqrt{s} = 1800$ GeV to form a ratio of the cross sections. Comparison of next-to-leading order QCD with the measured cross section at 630 GeV and ratio of cross sections show satisfactory agreement in most of the $E_T$ range.
Evidence of anomalous WW and WZ production was sought in pbar{p} collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV. The final states $WW (WZ) to mu-nu-jet-jet + X, WZ to mu-nu-e-e + X and WZ to e-nu-e-e + X were studied using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 90 pb-1. No evidence of anomalous diboson production was found. Limits were set on anomalous WWgamma and WWZ couplings and were combined with our previous results. The combined 95% confidence level anomalous coupling limits for Lambda=2 TeV are -0.25 LE Delta-kappa LE 0.39 (lambda=0) and -0.18 LE lambda LE 0.19 (Delta \kappa = 0), assuming the WWgamma couplings are equal to the WWZ couplings.
We present the results of a search for neutral Higgs bosons produced in association with $b$ quarks in $p\bar{p}\to b\bar{b} \phi\to b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$ final states with $91 \pm 7$ pb$^{-1}$ of $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.8$ TeV recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We find no evidence of such a signal and the data is interpreted in the context of the neutral Higgs sector of the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model. With basic parameter choices for the supersymmetric scale and the stop quark mixing, we derive 95% C.L. lower mass limits for neutral Higgs bosons for $\tb$ values in excess of 35.
We have measured the pT distribution of top quarks that are pair produced in pp¯ collisions at s=1.8TeV using a sample of tt¯ decays in which we observe a single high- pT charged lepton, a neutrino, and four or more jets. We use a likelihood technique that corrects for the experimental bias introduced due to event reconstruction and detector resolution effects. The observed distribution is consistent with the standard model prediction. We use these data to place limits on the production of high- pT top quarks suggested in some models of anomalous top quark pair production.
We report on measurements of inclusive cross sections times branching fractions into electrons for W and Z bosons produced in ppbar collisions at sqrts=1.8 TeV.From an integrated luminosity of 84.5 inverse pb recorded in 1994--1995 using the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron, we determine sigma(ppbar->W+X)B(W->e nu) = 2310 +- 10(stat) +- 50(syst) +- 100(lum) pb and sigma(ppbar->Z+X)B(Z->e e) = 221 +- 3(stat) +- 4(syst) +- 10(lum) pb. From these, we derive their Ratio R = 10.43 +- 0.15(stat) +- 0.20(syst) +- 0.10(NLO), B(W->e nu) = 0.1066 +- 0.0015(stat) +- 0.0021(syst) +- 0.0011(theory)+- 0.0011(NLO), and Gamma_W = 2.130 +- 0.030(stat) +- 0.041(syst) +- 0.022(theory) +- 0.021(NLO) GeV. We use the latter to set a 95% confidence level upper limit on the partial decay width of the W boson into non-standard model final states, Gamma_W^{inv}, of 0.168 GeV. Combining these results with those from the 1992--1993 data gives R = 10.54 +- 0.24, Gamma_W = 2.107 +- 0.054 GeV, and a 95% C.L. upper limit on Gamma_W^{inv} of 0.132 GeV. Using a sample with a luminosity of 505 inverse nb taken at sqrts=630 GeV, we measure sigma(ppbar->W+X)B(W->e nu) = 658 +- 67 pb.
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