A systematic study of the spectra and yields of K+ and K− is reported by experiment E866 as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at 11.6A GeV/c. The invariant transverse spectra for both kaon species are well described by exponentials in mt, with inverse slope parameters that are largest at midrapidity and which increase with centrality. The inverse slopes of the K+ spectra are slightly larger than the inverse slopes of the K− spectra. The kaon rapidity density peaks at midrapidity with the K+ distribution wider in rapidity than K−. The integrated total yields of K+ and K− increase nonlinearly and steadily with the number of projectile participants. The yield per participant for kaons is two to three times larger than the yield from N−N collisions. This enhancement suggests that the majority of kaons in central Au+Au reactions are produced in secondary hadronic collisions. There is no evidence for an onset of additional kaon production from a possible small volume of baryon-rich quark-gluon plasma. The differences between K+ and K− rapidity distributions and transverse spectra are consistent with a lower phase space for K− production due to a higher energy threshold. These differences also exclude simple thermal models that assume emission from a common equilibrated system.

The production of π±,K±,p has been measured in p+Be and p+Au collisions for comparison with central Si+Au collisions. The inverse slope parameters T0 obtained by an exponential fit to the invariant cross sections in transverse mass are found to be, T0p,K+,ππ∼140–160 MeV in p+A collisions, whereas in central Si+Au collisions, T0p,K+∼200–220 MeV >T0ππ∼140–160 MeV at midrapidity. The π± and K+ distributions are shifted backwards in p+Au compared with p+Be. A gradual increase of (dn/dy)K+ per projectile nucleon is observed from p+Be to p+Au to central Si+Au collisions, while pions show no significant increase.

In this paper Au+Au collisions at 11.6A GeV/c are characterized by two global observables: the energy measured near zero degrees (EZCAL) and the total event multiplicity. Particle spectra are measured for different event classes that are defined in a two-dimensional grid of both global observables. For moderately central events (σ/σint<12%) the proton dN/dy distributions do not depend on EZCAL but only on the event multiplicity. In contrast the shape of the proton transverse spectra shows little dependence on the event multiplicity. The change in the proton dN/dy distributions suggests that different conditions are formed in the collision for different event classes. These event classes are studied for signals of new physics by measuring pion and kaon spectra and yields. In the event classes doubly selected on EZCAL and multiplicity there is no indication of any unusual pion or kaon yields, spectra, or K/π ratio even in the events with extreme multiplicity.

Antiproton production cross sections have been measured for minimum bias and central Si+Al and Si+Au collisions at 14.6 A GeV c . The data presented cover the range of transverse momentum from 0.3 to 1.2 GeV c and lab rapidities from 1.1 to 1.7 units. The relative p π − and p K − yields are found to be the smallest for the heaviest system measured, central Si+Au collisions. For these collisions, the p π − ratio, determined from integrated yields for 1.1⩽ y ⩽1.7, is (0.84±0.07)×10 −3 . In the same rapidity interval, the average antiproton inverse m ⊥ slope is 141±14 MeV for central Si+Al and central Si+Au collisions.

A systematic set of measurements of the global transverse energy distributions, dσ/dET and dET/dη, from beams of protons, O16 and Si28 at 14.6A GeV/c, incident on targets ranging from Be to Au is presented. The detector was a semicircular array of lead-glass blocks, covering polar angles 9°<θ<32°, whose total response provides a good measure of the produced particle yield in the central rapidity region of these reactions. Proton-nucleus spectra exhibit a similar shape on the high-energy tail, independent of target, suggesting that produced particles in such events arise mostly from the first collision of the projectile proton. For targets heavier than Cu, the high-energy edges of the oxygen-nucleus spectra, and of the silicon-nucleus spectra, reach ratios consistent with the geometry of central collisions. Angular distributions, dET/dη, are characterized by Gaussian fits, and an acceptance-independent form of the differential cross section is found, based on the maximum value of dET/dη. The projectile dependence of nucleus-nucleus spectra is studied in terms of two very different models: simple energy scaling and the wounded projectile nucleon model of p+A convolutions.

We present particle spectra for charged hadrons $\pi^\pm, K^\pm, p$ and $\bar{p}$ from pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV measured for the first time at forward rapidities (2.95 and 3.3). The kinematics of these measurements are skewed in a way that probes the small momentum fraction in one of the protons and large fractions in the other. Large proton to pion ratios are observed at values of transverse momentum that extend up to 4 GeV/c, where protons have momenta up to 35 GeV. Next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations describe the production of pions and kaons well at these rapidities, but fail to account for the large proton yields and small $\bar{p}/p$ ratios.

We present charged particle densities as a function of pseudorapidity and collision centrality for the 197Au+197Au reaction at sqrt{s_{NN}}=130 GeV. An integral charged particle multiplicity of 3860+/-300 is found for the 5% most central events within the pseudorapidity range -4.7 <= eta <= 4.7. At mid-rapidity an enhancement in the particle yields per participant nucleon pair is observed for central events. Near to the beam rapidity, a scaling of the particle yields consistent with the ``limiting fragmentation'' picture is observed. Our results are compared to other recent experimental and theoretical discussions of charged particle densities in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

Invariant pT spectra and rapidity densities covering a large rapidity range(-0.1 < y < 3.5) are presented for $\pi^{\pm}$ and $K^{\pm}$ mesons from central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 62.4 GeV. The mid-rapidity yields of meson particles relative to their anti-particles are found to be close to unity ($\pi^-/\pi^+ \sim 1$, $K^-/K^+ \sim 0.85$) while the anti-proton to proton ratio is $\bar{p}/p \sim 0.49$. The rapidity dependence of the $\pi^-/\pi^+$ ratio is consistent with a small increase towards forward rapidities while the $K^-/K^+$ and $\bar{p}/p$ ratios show a steep decrease to $\sim$ 0.3 for kaons and 0.022 for protons at $y\sim 3$. It is observed that the kaon production relative to its own anti-particle as well as to pion production in wide rapidity and energy ranges shows an apparent universal behavior consistent with the baryo-chemical potential, as deduced from the $\bar{p}/p$ ratio, being the driving parameter.

Transverse momentum spectra of protons and anti-protons measured in the rapidity range 0<y<3.1 from 0-10% central Au+Au collisions at sqrt{s_{NN}}=62.4 GeV are presented. The rapidity densities, dN/dy, of protons, anti-protons and net-protons N()p-N(pbar) have been deduced from the spectra over a rapidity range wide enough to observe the expected maximum net-baryon density. From mid-rapidity to y=1 the net-proton yield is roughly constant (dN/dy ~ 10),but rises to dN/dy ~25 at 2.3<y<3.1. The mean rapidity loss is 2.01 +-0.16 units from beam rapidity. The measured rapidity distributions are compared to model predictions. Systematics of net-baryon distributions and rapidity loss vs. collision energy are discussed.

Measurements, with the BRAHMS detector, of the antiproton to proton ratio at central and forward rapidities are presented for Au+Au reactions at sqrt{s_{NN}}=130 GeV, and for three different collision centralities. For collisions in the 0-40% centrality range we find $N(\bar{{\rm p}})/N({\rm p}) = 0.64 +- 0.04 (stat.) +- 0.06 (syst.) at y ~0, 0.66 +- 0.03 +- 0.06 at y ~ 0.7, and 0.41 +- 0.04 +- 0.06 at y ~ 2. The ratios are found to be nearly independent of collision centrality and transverse momentum. The measurements demonstrate that the antiproton and proton rapidity densities vary differently with rapidity, and indicate that a net-baryon free midrapidity plateau (Bjorken limit) is not reached at this RHIC energy.

Measurements of the A dependence and pseudorapidity interval (δη) dependence of midrapidity ET distributions in a half-azimuth (Δφ=π) electromagnetic calorimeter are presented for p+Be, p+Au, O+Cu, Si+Au, and Au+Au collisions at the BNL-AGS (Alternating-Gradient Synchrotron). The shapes of the upper edges of midrapidity ET distributions as a function of the pseudorapidity interval δη in the range 0.3 to 1.3, roughly centered at midrapidity, are observed to vary with δη, like multiplicity—the upper edges of the distributions flatten as δη is reduced. At the typical fixed upper percentiles of ET distributions used for nuclear geometry characterization by centrality definition—7 percentile, 4 percentile, 2 percentile, 1 percentile, 0.5 percentile—the effect of this variation in shape on the measured projectile Ap dependence for 16O, 28Si, 197Au projectiles on an Au target is small for the ranges of δη and percentile examined. The ET distributions for p+Au and p+Be change in shape with δη; but in each δη interval the shapes of the p+Au and p+Be distributions remain indentical with each other—a striking confirmation of the absence of multiple-collision effects at midrapidity at AGS energies. The validity of the nuclear geometry characterization versus δη is illustrated by plots of the ET(δη) distribution in each δη interval in units of the measured 〈ET(δη)〉p+Au in the same δη interval for p+Au collisions. These plots, in the physically meaningful units of “number of average p+Au collisions,” are nearly universal as a function of δη, confirming that the reaction dynamics for ET production at midrapidity at AGS energies is governed by the number of projectile participants and can be well characterized by measurements in apertures as small as Δφ=π, δη=0.3.

The BRAHMS collaboration has measured transverse momentum spectra of pions, kaons, protons and antiprotons at rapidities 0 and 3 for Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV. As the collisions become more central the collective radial flow increases while the temperature of kinetic freeze-out decreases. The temperature is lower and the radial flow weaker at forward rapidity. Pion and kaon yields with transverse momenta between 1.5 and 2.5 GeV/c are suppressed for central collisions relative to scaled $p+p$ collisions. This suppression, which increases as the collisions become more central is consistent with jet quenching models and is also present with comparable magnitude at forward rapidity. At such rapidities initial state effects may also be present and persistence of the meson suppression to high rapidity may reflect a combination of jet quenching and nuclear shadowing. The ratio of protons to mesons increases as the collisions become more central and is largest at forward rapidities.

The proton-to-pion ratios measured in the BRAHMS experiment for Au+Au and p+p collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 62.4 and 200 GeV are presented as a function of transverse momentum and collision centrality at selected pseudorapidities in the range of 0 to 3.8. A strong pseudorapidity dependence of these ratios is observed. We also compare the magnitude and p_T-dependence of the p/pi ratios measured in Au+Au collisions at \rootsnn{200} and $\eta \approx 2.2$ with the same ratio measured at \rootsnn{62.4} and $\eta = 0$. The great similarity found between these ratios throughout the whole p_T range (up to 2.2 GeV/$c$) is consistent with particle ratios in A+A collisions being described with grand-canonical distributions characterized by the baryo-chemical potential \mibn. At the collision energy of 62.4 GeV, we have observed a unique point in pseudorapidity, $\eta = 3.2$, where the p/pi+ ratio is independent of the collision system size in a wide p_T-range of $0.3 \le p_{T} \le 1.8$ GeV/$c$.

Transverse momentum spectra and rapidity densities, dN/dy, of protons, anti-protons, and net--protons (p-pbar) from central (0-5%) Au+Au collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 200 GeV were measured with the BRAHMS experiment within the rapidity range 0 < y < 3. The proton and anti-proton dN/dy decrease from mid-rapidity to y=3. The net-proton yield is roughly constant for y<1 at dN/dy~7, and increases to dN/dy~12 at y~3. The data show that collisions at this energy exhibit a high degree of transparency and that the linear scaling of rapidity loss with rapidity observed at lower energies is broken. The energy loss per participant nucleon is estimated to be 73 +- 6 GeV.

We present charged particle densities as a function of pseudorapidity and collision centrality for the 197Au+197Au reaction at Sqrt{s_NN}=200 GeV. For the 5% most central events we obtain dN_ch/deta(eta=0) = 625 +/- 55 and N_ch(-4.7&lt;= eta &lt;= 4.7) = 4630+-370, i.e. 14% and 21% increases, respectively, relative to Sqrt{s_NN}=130 GeV collisions. Charged-particle production per pair of participant nucleons is found to increase from peripheral to central collisions around mid-rapidity. These results constrain current models of particle production at the highest RHIC energy.

Charged kaon production has been measured in Si+Al and Si+Au collisions at 14.6 A GeV/c, and Au+Au collisions at 11.1 A GeV/c by Experiments 859 and 866 (the E--802 Collaboration) at the BNL AGS. Invariant transverse mass spectra and rapidity distributions for both K+ and K- are presented. The centrality dependence of rapidity-integrated kaon yields is studied. Strangeness enhancement is observed as an increase in the slope of the kaon yield with the total number of participants as well as the yield per participant. The enhancement starts with peripheral Si+Al and Si+Au collisions (relative to N+N) and appears to saturate for a moderate number of participating nucleons in Si+Au collisions. It is also observed to increase slowly with centrality in Au+Au collisions, to a level in the most central Au+Au collisions that is greater than that found in central Si+A collisions. The enhancement factor for $K^+$ production are 3.0 +-0.2(stat.) +-0.4(syst.) and 4.0 +-0.3(stat.) +-0.5(syst.), respectively, for the most central 7% Si+Au collisions and the most central 4% Au+Au collisions relative to N+N at the correponding beam energy.

We have measured the distributions of protons and deuterons produced in high energy heavy ion Au+Au collisions at RHIC over a very wide range of transverse and longitudinal momentum. Near mid-rapidity we have also measured the distribution of anti-protons and anti-deuterons. We present our results in the context of coalescence models. In particular we extract the "volume of homogeneity" and the average phase-space density for protons and anti-protons. Near central rapidity the coalescence parameter $B_2(p_T)$ and the space averaged phase-space density $<f> (p_T)$ are very similar for both protons and anti-protons. For protons we see little variation of either $B_2(p_T)$ or the space averaged phase-space density as the rapidity increases from 0 to 3. However both these quantities depend strongly on $p_T$ at all rapidities. These results are in contrast to lower energy data where the proton and anti-proton phase-space densities are different at $y$=0 and both $B_2$ and $f$ depend strongly on rapidity.

We have measured rapidity densities dN/dy of pions and kaons over a broad rapidity range (-0.1 < y < 3.5) for central Au+Au collisions at sqrt(snn) = 200 GeV. These data have significant implications for the chemistry and dynamics of the dense system that is initially created in the collisions. The full phase-space yields are 1660 +/- 15 +/- 133 (pi+), 1683 +/- 16 +/- 135 (pi-), 286 +/- 5 +/- 23 (K+) and 242 +/- 4 +/- 19 (K-). The systematics of the strange to non--strange meson ratios are found to track the variation of the baryo-chemical potential with rapidity and energy. Landau--Carruthers hydrodynamic is found to describe the bulk transport of the pions in the longitudinal direction.

Charged-particle pseudorapidity densities are presented for the d+Au reaction at sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV with -4.2 <= eta <= 4.2$. The results, from the BRAHMS experiment at RHIC, are shown for minimum-bias events and 0-30%, 30-60%, and 60-80% centrality classes. Models incorporating both soft physics and hard, perturbative QCD-based scattering physics agree well with the experimental results. The data do not support predictions based on strong-coupling, semi-classical QCD. In the deuteron-fragmentation region the central 200 GeV data show behavior similar to full-overlap d+Au results at sqrt{s_{NN}}=19.4 GeV.

We present ratios of the numbers of charged antiparticles to particles (pions, kaons and protons) in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV as a function of rapidity in the range $y$=0-3. While the particle ratios at midrapidity are approaching unity, the $K^-/K^+$ and $\bar{p}/p$ ratios decrease significantly at forward rapidities. An interpretation of the results within the statistical model indicates a reduction of the baryon chemical potential from $\mu_B \approx 130$MeV at $y$=3 to $\mu_B \approx 25$MeV at $y$=0.

We present spectra of charged pions and protons in 0-10% central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV at mid-rapidity ($y=0$) and forward pseudorapidity ($\eta=2.2$) measured with the BRAHMS experiment at RHIC. The spectra are compared to spectra from p+p collisions at the same energy scaled by the number of binary collisions. The resulting nuclear modification factors for central Au+Au collisions at both $y=0$ and $\eta=2.2$ exhibit suppression for charged pions but not for (anti-)protons at intermediate $p_T$. The $\bar{p}/\pi^-$ ratios have been measured up to $p_T\sim 3$ GeV/$c$ at the two rapidities and the results indicate that a significant fraction of the charged hadrons produced at intermediate $p_T$ range are (anti-)protons at both mid-rapidity and $\eta = 2.2$.

Particle production of identified charged hadrons, $\pi^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, $p$, and $\bar{p}$ in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt(snn) =$ 200 GeV has been studied as a function of transverse momentum and collision centrality at $y=0$ and $y\sim1$ by the BRAHMS experiment at RHIC. Significant collective transverse flow at kinetic freeze-out has been observed in the collisions. The magnitude of the flow rises with the collision centrality. Proton and kaon yields relative to the pion production increase strongly as the transverse momentum increases and also increase with centrality. Particle yields per participant nucleon show a weak dependence on the centrality for all particle species. Hadron production remains relatively constant within one unit around midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt(snn) =$ 200 GeV.

We report on a study of the transverse momentum dependence of nuclear modification factors $R_{dAu}$ for charged hadrons produced in deuteron + gold collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}=\unit[200]{GeV}$, as a function of collision centrality and of the pseudorapidity ($\eta = 0,1,2.2,3.2 $) of the produced hadrons. We find significant and systematic decrease of $R_{dAu}$ with increasing rapidity. The midrapidity enhancement and the forward rapidity suppression are more pronounced in central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. These results are relevant to the study of the possible onset of gluon saturation at RHIC energies.

We present spectra of charged hadrons from Au+Au and d+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV measured with the BRAHMS experiment at RHIC. The spectra for different collision centralities are compared to spectra from ${\rm p}+\bar{{\rm p}}$ collisions at the same energy scaled by the number of binary collisions. The resulting ratios (nuclear modification factors) for central Au+Au collisions at $\eta=0$ and $\eta=2.2$ evidence a strong suppression in the high $p_{T}$ region ($>$2 GeV/c). In contrast, the d+Au nuclear modification factor (at $\eta=0$) exhibits an enhancement of the high $p_T$ yields. These measurements indicate a high energy loss of the high $p_T$ particles in the medium created in the central Au+Au collisions. The lack of suppression in d+Au collisions makes it unlikely that initial state effects can explain the suppression in the central Au+Au collisions.

Data on the mean multiplicity ofπ- produced in minimum bias proton-proton, proton-neutron and proton-nucleus interactions as well as central nucleus-nucleus collisions at momenta of 1.4–400 GeV/c per nucleon have been compiled and studied. The results for neutron-neutron and nucleon-nucleon interactions were then constructed. The dependence of the mean pion multiplicity in proton-nucleus interactions and central collisions of identical nuclei are studied as a function of the collision energy and the nucleus mass number. The number of produced pions per participant nucleon in central collisions of identical nuclei is found to be independent of the number of participants at a fixed incident momentum per nucleon. The mean multiplicity of negatively charged hadrons per participant nucleon for central nucleus-nucleus collisions is lower by about 0.12 than the corresponding multiplicity for nucleon-nucleon interactions atpLAB≲15 A·GeV/c, whereas the result at 200 A·GeV/c is above the corresponding nucleon-nucleon multiplicity. This may indicate change of the collision dynamics at high energy.