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).
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 measurements of charmed-hadron ($D^{0}$, $D^{*}$) production cross sections at mid-rapidity in $p$ + $p$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 200 GeV by the STAR experiment. Charmed hadrons were reconstructed via the hadronic decays $D^{0}\rightarrow K^{-}\pi^{+}$, $D^{*+}\rightarrow D^{0}\pi^{+}\rightarrow K^{-}\pi^{+}\pi^{+}$ and their charge conjugates, covering the $p_T$ range of 0.6$-$2.0 GeV/$c$ and 2.0$-$6.0 GeV/$c$ for $D^{0}$ and $D^{*+}$, respectively. From this analysis, the charm-pair production cross section at mid-rapidity is $d\sigma/dy|_{y=0}^{c\bar{c}}$ = 170 $\pm$ 45 (stat.) $^{+38}_{-59}$ (sys.) $\mu$b. The extracted charm-pair cross section is compared to perturbative QCD calculations. The transverse momentum differential cross section is found to be consistent with the upper bound of a Fixed-Order Next-to-Leading Logarithm calculation.
$c\bar{c}$ production cross section as inferred from D$^0$ and D$^\star$ production in p+p collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV at $|\eta| < 1$ compared with FONLL calculations. The D$^0$ and D$^\star$ data points were divided by the charm quark fragmentation ratios 0.565 ($c \rightarrow$ D$^0$) and 0.224 ($c \rightarrow$ D$^{\star +}$) [34], respectively, to convert to the $c\bar{c}$ production cross section.
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.
$\rho^0$ production cross section determined with the data set collected with trigger B, as a function of momentum transfer $t$, fitted with a double exponential fit function in the range $t < 0.1$. The statistical errors are shown. The ratio of incoherent to coherent cross sections is measured to be $0.20 \pm 0.8$. The fit parameters are shown in Table I.
We determine rapidity asymmetry in the production of charged pions, protons and anti-protons for large transverse momentum (pT) for d+Au collisions at \sqrt s_NN = 200 GeV. The identified hadrons are measured in the rapidity regions |y| < 0.5 and 0.5 < |y| < 1.0 for the pT range 2.5 < pT < 10 GeV/c. We observe significant rapidity asymmetry for charged pion and proton+anti-proton production in both rapidity regions. The asymmetry is larger for 0.5 < |y| < 1.0 than for |y|< 0.5 and is almost independent of particle type. The measurements are compared to various model predictions employing multiple scattering, energy loss, nuclear shadowing, saturation effects, and recombination, and also to a phenomenological parton model. We find that asymmetries are sensitive to model parameters and show model-preference. The rapidity dependence of \pi^{-}/\pi^{+} and \bar{p}/p ratios in peripheral d+Au and forward neutron-tagged events are used to study the contributions of valence quarks and gluons to particle production at high pT. The results are compared to calculations based on NLO pQCD and other measurements of quark fragmentation functions.
Centrality dependence of high transverse-momentum rapidity asymmetry factor ($Y_{\scriptsize{\mbox{Asym}}}$) for $\pi^{+}+\pi^{-}$ and $p+\bar{p}$ for $|y| < 0.5$ (left panels) and $0.5 < |y| < 1.0$ (right panels) for $d+Au$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV.
We report measurements of Upsilon meson production in p+p, d+Au, and Au+Au collisions using the STAR detector at RHIC. We compare the Upsilon yield to the measured cross section in p+p collisions in order to quantify any modifications of the yield in cold nuclear matter using d+Au data and in hot nuclear matter using Au+Au data separated into three centrality classes. Our p+p measurement is based on three times the statistics of our previous result. We obtain a nuclear modification factor for Upsilon(1S+2S+3S) in the rapidity range |y|<1 in d+Au collisions of R_dAu = 0.79 +/- 0.24 (stat.) +/- 0.03 (sys.) +/- 0.10 (pp sys.). A comparison with models including shadowing and initial state parton energy loss indicates the presence of additional cold-nuclear matter suppression. Similarly, in the top 10% most-central Au+Au collisions, we measure a nuclear modification factor of R_AA=0.49 +/- 0.1 (stat.) +/- 0.02 (sys.) +/- 0.06 (pp sys.), which is a larger suppression factor than that seen in cold nuclear matter. Our results are consistent with complete suppression of excited-state Upsilon mesons in Au+Au collisions. The additional suppression in Au+Au is consistent with the level expected in model calculations that include the presence of a hot, deconfined Quark-Gluon Plasma. However, understanding the suppression seen in d+Au is still needed before any definitive statements about the nature of the suppression in Au+Au can be made.
Comparison of our d+Au measurements to the pA measurements from E772. Ratio of $\Upsilon$ production in pA to pp scaled by mass number as a function of mass number. Shown are the 1S and 2S+3S $\Upsilon$ measurements from E772 and our 1S measurement.
We present the measurement of non-photonic electron production at high transverse momentum ($p_T > $ 2.5 GeV/$c$) in $p$ + $p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV using data recorded during 2005 and 2008 by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The measured cross-sections from the two runs are consistent with each other despite a large difference in photonic background levels due to different detector configurations. We compare the measured non-photonic electron cross-sections with previously published RHIC data and pQCD calculations. Using the relative contributions of B and D mesons to non-photonic electrons, we determine the integrated cross sections of electrons ($\frac{e^++e^-}{2}$) at 3 GeV/$c < p_T <~$10 GeV/$c$ from bottom and charm meson decays to be ${d\sigma_{(B\to e)+(B\to D \to e)} \over dy_e}|_{y_e=0}$ = 4.0$\pm0.5$({\rm stat.})$\pm1.1$({\rm syst.}) nb and ${d\sigma_{D\to e} \over dy_e}|_{y_e=0}$ = 6.2$\pm0.7$({\rm stat.})$\pm1.5$({\rm syst.}) nb, respectively.
Invariant cross section for non-photonic electron production $(e^+ + e^-)/2$ in p+p collisions from the Run2008 analysis.
Invariant cross section for non-photonic electron production $(e^+ + e^-)/2$ in p+p collisions from the Run2005 analysis.
Invariant cross section for non-photonic electron production $(e^+ + e^-)/2$ in p+p collisions from the combined Run2005 and 2008 analyses.
We study the beam-energy and system-size dependence of \phi meson production (using the hadronic decay mode \phi -- K+K-) by comparing the new results from Cu+Cu collisions and previously reported Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_NN} = 62.4 and 200 GeV measured in the STAR experiment at RHIC. Data presented are from mid-rapidity (|y|<0.5) for 0.4 < pT < 5 GeV/c. At a given beam energy, the transverse momentum distributions for \phi mesons are observed to be similar in yield and shape for Cu+Cu and Au+Au colliding systems with similar average numbers of participating nucleons. The \phi meson yields in nucleus-nucleus collisions, normalised by the average number of participating nucleons, are found to be enhanced relative to those from p+p collisions with a different trend compared to strange baryons. The enhancement for \phi mesons is observed to be higher at \sqrt{s_NN} = 200 GeV compared to 62.4 GeV. These observations for the produced \phi(s\bar{s}) mesons clearly suggest that, at these collision energies, the source of enhancement of strange hadrons is related to the formation of a dense partonic medium in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions and cannot be alone due to canonical suppression of their production in smaller systems.
Midrapidity $(|y| < 0.5)$ transverse momentum spectra of $\phi$ mesons for various collision centrality classes for $Cu+Cu$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=62.4$ and 200 GeV. To study the system size dependence, comparison of $40-50\%$ $Au+Au$ spectra to $10-20\%$ $Cu+Cu$ spectra at 200 GeV, and $40-60\%$ $Au+Au$ spectra to $20-30\%$ $Cu+Cu$ spectra at 62.4 GeV are shown. These centralities for the two colliding systems have similar $\langle N_{\scriptsize{\mbox{part}}}\rangle$ values as outlined in Table 2. The errors represent the statistical and systematic errors added in quadrature. They are found to be within the symbol size. The spectra are fitted to a Levy function discussed in the text.
Midrapidity $(|y| < 0.5)$ transverse momentum spectra of $\phi$ mesons for various collision centrality classes for $Cu+Cu$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=62.4$ and 200 GeV. To study the system size dependence, comparison of $40-50\%$ $Au+Au$ spectra to $10-20\%$ $Cu+Cu$ spectra at 200 GeV, and $40-60\%$ $Au+Au$ spectra to $20-30\%$ $Cu+Cu$ spectra at 62.4 GeV are shown. These centralities for the two colliding systems have similar $\langle N_{\scriptsize{\mbox{part}}}\rangle$ values as outlined in Table 2. The errors represent the statistical and systematic errors added in quadrature. They are found to be within the symbol size. The spectra are fitted to a Levy function discussed in the text.
Upper panels. $N_{\scriptsize{\mbox{part}}}$ scaled ($R^{N_{\scriptsize{\mbox{part}}}}_{AA}$) nuclear modification factors as a function of $p_{T}$ of $\phi$ mesons for $0-10\%$ and $20-30\%$ $Cu+Cu$ and $Au+Au$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV. Lower panel. Same as above for $N_{\scriptsize{\mbox{bin}}}$ scaled ($R^{N_{\scriptsize{\mbox{bin}}}}_{AA}$) nuclear modification factor. The error bars represent the statistical and systematic errors added in quadrature. The shaded band in upper panel around 1 at $p_{T}=4.5-5.5$ GeV/$c$ in the right side reflects the uncertainty in $N_{\scriptsize{\mbox{part}}}$ and that on the lower panel for $N_{\scriptsize{\mbox{bin}}}$ calculation for central $Au+Au$ collisions. The respective uncertainties for central $Cu+Cu$ collisions are of similar order.
The contribution of $B$ meson decays to non-photonic electrons, which are mainly produced by the semi-leptonic decays of heavy flavor mesons, in $p+p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 200 GeV has been measured using azimuthal correlations between non-photonic electrons and hadrons. The extracted $B$ decay contribution is approximately 50% at a transverse momentum of $p_{T} \geq 5$ GeV/$c$. These measurements constrain the nuclear modification factor for electrons from $B$ and $D$ meson decays. The result indicates that $B$ meson production in heavy ion collisions is also suppressed at high $p_{T}$.
Distributions of the azimuthal angle between nonphotonic electrons and charged hadrons normalized per nonphotonic electron trigger. The trigger electron has (top) $2.5 < p_{T} < 3.5$ GeV/$c$ and (bottom) $5.5 < p_{T} < 6.5$ GeV/$c$. The curves represent PYTHIA calculations for $D$ (dotted curve) and $B$ (dashed curve) decays. The fit result is shown as the black solid curve.
(a) Background-subtracted invariant mass distribution of $K$ pairs requiring at least one nonphotonic electron trigger in the event. The solid line is a Gaussian fit to the data near the peak region. (b) Distribution of the azimuthal angle between nonphotonic electron (positron) trigger particles and $D^{0}$ ($\bar{D}^{0}$). The solid (dashed) line is a fit of the correlation function from PYTHIA (MC$@$NLO) simulations to the data points.
Transverse momentum dependence of the relative contribution from $B$ mesons ($r_{B}$) to the nonphotonic electron yields. Error bars are statistical and brackets are systematic uncertainties. The solid curve is the FONLL calculation [14]. Theoretical uncertainties are indicated by the dashed curves.
We report new STAR measurements of the single-spin asymmetries $A_L$ for $W^+$ and $W^-$ bosons produced in polarized proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 510 GeV as a function of the decay-positron and decay-electron pseudorapidity. The data were obtained in 2013 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 250 pb$^{-1}$. The results are combined with previous results obtained with 86 pb$^{-1}$. A comparison with theoretical expectations based on polarized lepton-nucleon deep-inelastic scattering and prior polarized proton--proton data suggests a difference between the $\bar{u}$ and $\bar{d}$ quark helicity distributions for $0.05 < x < 0.25$. In addition, we report new results for the double-spin asymmetries $A_{LL}$ for $W^\pm$, as well as $A_L$ for $Z/\gamma^*$ production and subsequent decay into electron--positron pairs.
Longitudinal single-spin asymmetries, $A_L$, for $W^+$ production as a function of the positron pseudorapidity, $\eta_e$ for the STAR 2011+2012 data samples for 25 $< E_T^e <$ 50 GeV.
Longitudinal single-spin asymmetries, $A_L$, for $W^-$ production as a function of the electron pseudorapidity, $\eta_e$ for the STAR 2011+2012 data samples for 25 $< E_T^e <$ 50 GeV.
Longitudinal single-spin asymmetries, $A_L$, for $W^+$ production as a function of the positron pseudorapidity, $\eta_e$ for the STAR 2013 data samples for 25 $< E_T^e <$ 50 GeV.
Measurements of the production of forward high-energy pi0 mesons from transversely polarized proton collisions at \sqrt{s}=200 GeV are reported. The cross section is generally consistent with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations. The analyzing power is small at x_F below about 0.3, and becomes positive and large at higher x_F, similar to the trend in data at \sqrt{s}<=20 GeV. The analyzing power is in qualitative agreement with perturbative QCD model expectations. This is the first significant spin result seen for particles produced with p_T>1 GeV/c at a polarized proton collider.
Inclusive $\pi^{0}$ production cross section versus leading $\pi^{0}$ energy ($E_{\pi}$). The average transverse momentum ($\langle p_{T}\rangle$) is correlated with $E_{\pi}$, as the PFPD was at a fixed pseudorapidity ($\eta$). The inner error bars are statistical, and are smaller than the symbols for most points. The outer error bars combine these with the $E_{\pi}$-dependent systematic errors. The curves are NLO pQCD calculations evaluated at $\eta=3.8$ [29-31].
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