We present a systematic study of charged pion and kaon interferometry in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=200 GeV. The kaon mean source radii are found to be larger than pion radii in the outward and longitudinal directions for the same transverse mass; this difference increases for more central collisions. The azimuthal-angle dependence of the radii was measured with respect to the second-order event plane and similar oscillations of the source radii were found for pions and kaons. Hydrodynamic models qualitatively describe the similar oscillations of the mean source radii for pions and kaons, but they do not fully describe the transverse-mass dependence of the oscillations.
HBT parameters of positive pion pairs, shown as value $\pm$ statistical uncertainty [absolute value] $\pm$ systematic uncertainty [%] for the centrality bins shown in Fig. 3.
HBT parameters of negative pion pairs, shown as value $\pm$ statistical uncertainty [absolute value] $\pm$ systematic uncertainty [%] for the centrality bins shown in Fig. 3.
HBT parameters of charge-combined kaon pairs, shown as value $\pm$ statistical uncertainty [absolute value] $\pm$ systematic uncertainty [%] for the centrality bins shown in Fig. 3.
Charged-pion-interferometry measurements were made with respect to the 2$^{\rm nd}$- and 3$^{\rm rd}$-order event plane for Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. A strong azimuthal-angle dependence of the extracted Gaussian-source radii was observed with respect to both the 2$^{\rm nd}$- and 3$^{\rm rd}$-order event planes. The results for the 2$^{\rm nd}$-order dependence indicate that the initial eccentricity is reduced during the medium evolution, but not reversed in the final state, which is consistent with previous results. In contrast, the results for the 3$^{\rm rd}$-order dependence indicate that the initial triangular shape is significantly reduced and potentially reversed by the end of the medium evolution, and that the 3$^{\rm rd}$-order oscillations are largely dominated by the dynamical effects from triangular flow.
The azimuthal dependence of $R^2_s$, $R^2_o$, $R^2_l$, and $R^2_{os}$ for charged pions in 0.2 < $k_T$ < 2.0 GeV/$c$ with respect to second-(a)-(d) and third-order (e)-(h) event plane in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{S_{NN}}$ 200 GeV.
The azimuthal dependence of $R^2_s$, $R^2_o$, $R^2_l$, and $R^2_{os}$ for charged pions in 0.2 < $k_T$ < 2.0 GeV/$c$ with respect to second-(a)-(d) and third-order (e)-(h) event plane in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{S_{NN}}$ 200 GeV.
The solid points are the oscillation amplitudes relative to the average of HBT radii for four different combinations (a) $2R^{2}_{s,n}/R^{2}_{s,0}$, (b) $2R^{2}_{os,n}/R^{2}_{s,0}$, (c) $2R^{2}_{o,n}/R^{2}_{o,0}$, and (d) $2R^{2}_{o,n}/R^{2}_{s,0}$ as a function of initial spatial anisotropy ($\varepsilon_{n}$), which are calculated using the Glauber model.
Two-pion correlation functions in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 130$ GeV have been measured by the STAR (Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC) detector. The source size extracted by fitting the correlations grows with event multiplicity and decreases with transverse momentum. Anomalously large sizes or emission durations, which have been suggested as signals of quark-gluon plasma formation and rehadronization, are not observed. The HBT parameters display a weak energy dependence over a broad range in $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$.
Multiplicity dependence of HBT parameters for low-pT (0.125-0.225 GeV/c) pi- pi- channel. They are Coulomb corrected (5 fm Gaussian source assumed), corrected for merging effects ("bad systematic" for STAR-HBT insiders), and corrected for finite-momentum-resolution effects. Systematic errors are estimated by the size of the merging correction and the effect of varying source size used in the Coulomb correction by +/- 1 fm.
Multiplicity dependence of HBT parameters for low-pT (0.125-0.225 GeV/c) pi+ pi+ channel. They are Coulomb corrected (5 fm Gaussian source assumed), corrected for merging effects ("bad systematic" for STAR-HBT insiders), and corrected for finite-momentum-resolution effects. Systematic errors are estimated by the size of the merging correction and the effect of varying source size used in the Coulomb correction by +/- 1 fm.
mT dependence of HBT parameters for high multiplicity (0-12%) collisions in pi- pi- channel. They are Coulomb corrected (5 fm Gaussian source assumed), corrected for merging effects ("bad systematic" for STAR-HBT insiders), and corrected for finite-momentum-resolution effects. Systematic errors are estimated by the size of the merging correction and the effect of varying source size used in the Coulomb correction by +/- 1 fm.