A measurement of continuum dimuon production in proton-copper collisions at 800-GeV incident energy is presented. The dimuons observed in this experiment cover the mass range from 6.5 to 18 GeV near y=0 in the proton-nucleon center-of-momentum frame. Scaling forms of the cross section for the continuum are compared with the results of other experiments in the context of the parton model and quantum chromodynamics. The present limitations of such scaling comparisons are discussed.
The mass spectrum of muon pairs in the range 5 to 15 GeV is studied in the inclusive reaction p+nucleus→μ++μ−+anything. The ϒ and continuum distribution are presented as is the A dependence of the continuum. Comparison with a parton-annihilation model yields a sea-quark distribution.
Dimuon production is studied in 400-GeV proton-nucleus collisions. A strong enhancement is observed at 9.5 GeV mass in a sample of 9000 dimuon events with a mass $m_{\mu^+\mu^-} \to$ 5 GeV.
We report preliminary results on the production of electron-positron pairs in the mass range 2.5 to 4 GeV in 400-GeV p-Be interactions. Production cross sections of the ψ(3100) near x=0 as a function of pt, x, and the decay angle are presented and implications of these new data for single direct leptons are discussed. A ψ′(3700) signal is observed at a level corresponding to σ(ψ′)σ(ψ)=(10±3)%.
Measurements of the suppression of the yield per nucleon of J/Psi and Psi' production for 800 GeV/c protons incident on heavy relative to light nuclear targets have been made with very broad coverage in xF and pT. The observed suppression is smallest at xF values of 0.25 and below and increases at larger values of xF. It is also strongest at small pT. Substantial differences between the Psi' and J/Psi are observed for the first time in p-A collisions. The suppression for the Psi' is stronger than that for the J/Psi for xF near zero, but becomes comparable to that for the J/Psi for xF > 0.6.
Using a silicon-microstrip detector array to identify secondary vertices, we have observed b→J/ψ→μ+μ− decays in 800GeV/c proton-gold interactions. The doubly differential cross section for J/ψ mesons originating from b-quark decays, assuming linear dependence on nucleon number, is d2σ/dxFdpT2=107±28±19[pb/(GeV/c)2]/nucleon at xF=0.05 and pT=1GeV/c. This measurement is compared to next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. The integrated b-quark production cross section, obtained by extrapolation over all xF and pT, is σ(pN→bb¯+X)=5.7±1.5±1.3 nb/nucleon.
The differential cross sections dσ/dxF for J/ψ produced inclusively in 800 GeV/c p-Cu and p-Be collisions have been measured in the kinematic range 0.30≤xF≤0.95 through the decay mode J/ψ→μ+μ−. They are compared with the predictions of the semilocal duality model for several sets of parton density functions. No evidence for a suggested intrinsic charm contribution to the cross section is observed. The ratio of the differential cross sections for Cu and Be targets confirms the suppression of J/ψ production in heavy nuclei at large xF.
Azimuthal angle (Delta phi) correlations are presented for a broad range of transverse momentum (0.4 < pT < 10 GeV/c) and centrality (0-92%) selections for charged hadrons from di-jets in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. With increasing pT, the away-side Delta phi distribution evolves from a broad and relatively flat shape to a concave shape, then to a convex shape. Comparisons to p+p data suggest that the away-side distribution can be divided into a partially suppressed head region centered at Delta phi ~ \pi, and an enhanced shoulder region centered at Delta phi ~ \pi \pm 1:1. The pT spectrum for the associated hadrons in the head region softens toward central collisions. The spectral slope for the shoulder region is independent of centrality and trigger pT . The properties of the near-side distributions are also modified relative to those in p + p collisions, reflected by the broadening of the jet shape in Delta phi and Delta eta, and an enhancement of the per-trigger yield. However, these modifications seem to be limited to pT < 4 GeV/c, above which both the dihadron pair shape and per-trigger yield become similar to p + p collisions. These observations suggest that both the away- and near-side distributions contain a jet fragmentation component which dominates for pT \ge 5GeV and a medium-induced component which is important for pT \le 4 GeV/c. We also quantify the role of jets at intermediate and low pT through the yield of jet-induced pairs in comparison to binary scaled p + p pair yield. The yield of jet-induced pairs is suppressed at high pair proxy energy (sum of the pT magnitudes of the two hadrons) and is enhanced at low pair proxy energy. The former is consistent with jet quenching/ the latter is consistent with the enhancement of soft hadron pairs due to transport of lost energy to lower pT.
RHS versus $p^b_T$ for p + p collisions for four trigger selections.
RHS versus $p^b_T$ for Au + Au collisions for four trigger selections.
RHS versus $p^b_T$ for p + p collisions for four trigger selections.
The system created in non-central relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions possesses large orbital angular momentum. Due to spin-orbit coupling, particles produced in such a system could become globally polarized along the direction of the system angular momentum. We present the results of Lambda and anti-Lambda hyperon global polarization measurements in Au+Au collisions at sqrt{s_NN}=62.4 GeV and 200 GeV performed with the STAR detector at RHIC. The observed global polarization of Lambda and anti-Lambda hyperons in the STAR acceptance is consistent with zero within the precision of the measurements. The obtained upper limit, |P_{Lambda,anti-Lambda}| <= 0.02, is compared to the theoretical values discussed recently in the literature.
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.
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