None
We present measurements of $e^+e^-$ production at midrapidity in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV. The invariant yield is studied within the PHENIX detector acceptance over a wide range of mass ($m_{ee} <$ 5 GeV/$c^2$) and pair transverse momentum ($p_T$ $<$ 5 GeV/$c$), for minimum bias and for five centrality classes. The \ee yield is compared to the expectations from known sources. In the low-mass region ($m_{ee}=0.30$--0.76 GeV/$c^2$) there is an enhancement that increases with centrality and is distributed over the entire pair \pt range measured. It is significantly smaller than previously reported by the PHENIX experiment and amounts to $2.3\pm0.4({\rm stat})\pm0.4({\rm syst})\pm0.2^{\rm model}$ or to $1.7\pm0.3({\rm stat})\pm0.3({\rm syst})\pm0.2^{\rm model}$ for minimum bias collisions when the open-heavy-flavor contribution is calculated with {\sc pythia} or {\sc mc@nlo}, respectively. The inclusive mass and $p_T$ distributions as well as the centrality dependence are well reproduced by model calculations where the enhancement mainly originates from the melting of the $\rho$ meson resonance as the system approaches chiral symmetry restoration. In the intermediate-mass region ($m_{ee}$ = 1.2--2.8 GeV/$c^2$), the data hint at a significant contribution in addition to the yield from the semileptonic decays of heavy-flavor mesons.
The second-order azimuthal anisotropy Fourier harmonics, v2, are obtained in pPb and PbPb collisions over a wide pseudorapidity (eta) range based on correlations among six or more charged particles. The pPb data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 inverse nanobarns, were collected during the 2013 LHC pPb run at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV by the CMS experiment. A sample of semi-peripheral PbPb collision data at sqrt(s[NN])= 2.76 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.5 inverse microbarns and covering a similar range of particle multiplicities as the pPb data, is also analyzed for comparison. The six- and eight-particle cumulant and the Lee-Yang zeros methods are used to extract the v2 coefficients, extending previous studies of two- and four-particle correlations. For both the pPb and PbPb systems, the v2 values obtained with correlations among more than four particles are consistent with previously published four-particle results. These data support the interpretation of a collective origin for the previously observed long-range (large Delta[eta]) correlations in both systems. The ratios of v2 values corresponding to correlations including different numbers of particles are compared to theoretical predictions that assume a hydrodynamic behavior of a pPb system dominated by fluctuations in the positions of participant nucleons. These results provide new insights into the multi-particle dynamics of collision systems with a very small overlapping region.
The first observation of top quark production in proton-nucleus collisions is reported using proton-lead data collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s[NN]) = 8.16 TeV. The measurement is performed using events with exactly one isolated electron or muon and at least four jets. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 174 inverse nanobarns. The significance of the tt-bar signal against the background-only hypothesis is above five standard deviations. The measured cross section is sigma[tt-bar] = 45 +/- 8 nb, consistent with predictions from perturbative quantum chromodynamics.
Recently, multiparticle-correlation measurements of relativistic $p/d/^3$He$+$Au, $p$$+$Pb, and even $p$$+$$p$ collisions have shown surprising collective signatures. Here we present beam-energy-scan measurements of 2-, 4-, and 6-particle angular correlations in $d$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=200, 62.4, 39, and 19.6 GeV. We also present measurements of 2- and 4-particle angular correlations in $p$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=200 GeV. We find the 4-particle cumulant to be real-valued for $d$$+$Au collisions at all four energies. We also find that the 4-particle cumulant in $p$$+$Au has the opposite sign as that in $d$$+$Au, indicating that the correlations are geometrical and therefore collective in origin. Further we find that the 6-particle cumulant agrees with the 4-particle cumulant in $d$$+$Au collisions at 200 GeV, which indicates that nonflow effects are subdominant and provides strong evidence of collectivity.
The PHENIX experiment has measured $\phi$ meson production in $d$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV using the dimuon and dielectron decay channels. The $\phi$ meson is measured in the forward (backward) $d$-going (Au-going) direction, $1.2
The measurement of the direct-photon spectrum from Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV is presented by the PHENIX collaboration using the external-photon-conversion technique for 0%--93% central collisions in a transverse-momentum ($p_T$) range of 0.8--10 GeV/$c$. An excess of direct photons, above prompt-photon production from hard-scattering processes, is observed for $p_T<6$ GeV/$c$. Nonprompt direct photons are measured by subtracting the prompt component, which is estimated as $N_{\rm coll}$-scaled direct photons from $p$ $+$ $p$ collisions at 200 GeV, from the direct-photon spectrum. Results are obtained for $0.8
The invariant yields for $J/\psi$ production at forward rapidity $(1.2<|y|<2.2)$ in U$+$U collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=193 GeV have been measured as a function of collision centrality. The invariant yields and nuclear-modification factor $R_{AA}$ are presented and compared with those from Au$+$Au collisions in the same rapidity range. Additionally, the direct ratio of the invariant yields from U$+$U and Au$+$Au collisions within the same centrality class is presented, and used to investigate the role of $c\bar{c}$ coalescence. Two different parameterizations of the deformed Woods-Saxon distribution were used in Glauber calculations to determine the values of the number of nucleon-nucleon collisions in each centrality class, $N_{\rm coll}$, and these were found to give significantly different $N_{\rm coll}$ values. Results using $N_{\rm coll}$ values from both deformed Woods-Saxon distributions are presented. The measured ratios show that the $J/\psi$ suppression, relative to binary collision scaling, is similar in U$+$U and Au$+$Au for peripheral and midcentral collisions, but that $J/\psi$ show less suppression for the most central U$+$U collisions. The results are consistent with a picture in which, for central collisions, increase in the $J/\psi$ yield due to $c\bar{c}$ coalescence becomes more important than the decrease in yield due to increased energy density. For midcentral collisions, the conclusions about the balance between $c\bar{c}$ coalescence and suppression depend on which deformed Woods-Saxon distribution is used to determine $N_{\rm coll}$.
The PHENIX collaboration presents first measurements of low-momentum ($0.4
We have measured direct photons for $p_T<5~$GeV/$c$ in minimum bias and 0\%--40\% most central events at midrapidity for Cu$+$Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. The $e^{+}e^{-}$ contribution from quasi-real direct virtual photons has been determined as an excess over the known hadronic contributions in the $e^{+}e^{-}$ mass distribution. A clear enhancement of photons over the binary scaled $p$$+$$p$ fit is observed for $p_T<4$ GeV/$c$ in Cu$+$Cu data. The $p_T$ spectra are consistent with the Au$+$Au data covering a similar number of participants. The inverse slopes of the exponential fits to the excess after subtraction of the $p$$+$$p$ baseline are 285$\pm$53(stat)$\pm$57(syst)~MeV/$c$ and 333$\pm$72(stat)$\pm$45(syst)~MeV/$c$ for minimum bias and 0\%--40\% most central events, respectively. The rapidity density, $dN/dy$, of photons demonstrates the same power law as a function of $dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta$ observed in Au$+$Au at the same collision energy.