The NA44 Collaboration has measured yields and differential distributions of K+, K-, pi+, pi- in transverse kinetic energy and rapidity, around the center-of-mass rapidity in 158 A GeV/c Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. A considerable enhancement of K+ production per pi is observed, as compared to p+p collisions at this energy. To illustrate the importance of secondary hadron rescattering as an enhancement mechanism, we compare strangeness production at the SPS and AGS with predictions of the transport model RQMD.
Transverse mass spectra of pions, kaons, and protons from the symmetric heavy-ion collisions 200 A GeV S+S and 158 A GeV Pb+Pb, measured in the NA44 focusing spectrometer at CERN, are presented. The mass dependence of the slope parameters provides evidence of collective transverse flow from expansion of the system in heavy-ion induced central collisions.
The production of the $\Lambda$(1520) baryonic resonance has been measured at midrapidity in inelastic pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV and in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV for non-single diffractive events and in multiplicity classes. The resonance is reconstructed through its hadronic decay channel $\Lambda$(1520) $\rightarrow$ pK$^{-}$ and the charge conjugate with the ALICE detector. The integrated yields and mean transverse momenta are calculated from the measured transverse momentum distributions in pp and p-Pb collisions. The mean transverse momenta follow mass ordering as previously observed for other hyperons in the same collision systems. A Blast-Wave function constrained by other light hadrons ($\pi$, K, K$_{\rm{S}}^0$, p, $\Lambda$) describes the shape of the $\Lambda$(1520) transverse momentum distribution up to 3.5 GeV/$c$ in p-Pb collisions. In the framework of this model, this observation suggests that the $\Lambda(1520)$ resonance participates in the same collective radial flow as other light hadrons. The ratio of the yield of $\Lambda(1520)$ to the yield of the ground state particle $\Lambda$ remains constant as a function of charged-particle multiplicity, suggesting that there is no net effect of the hadronic phase in p-Pb collisions on the $\Lambda$(1520) yield.
The ALICE experiment has measured low-mass dimuon production in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV in the dimuon rapidity region 2.5<y<4. The observed dimuon mass spectrum is described as a superposition of resonance decays ($\eta$, $\rho$, $\omega$, $\eta^{'}$, $\phi$) into muons and semi-leptonic decays of charmed mesons. The measured production cross sections for $\omega$ and $\phi$ are $\sigma_\omega$ (1<$p_{\rm T}$<5 GeV/$c$,2.5<y<4) = 5.28 $\pm$ 0.54 (stat) $\pm$ 0.50 (syst) mb and $\sigma_\phi$(1<$p_{\rm T}$<5 GeV/$c$,2.5<y<4)=0.940 $\pm$ 0.084 (stat) $\pm$ 0.078 (syst) mb. The differential cross sections $d^2\sigma/dy dp_{\rm T}$ are extracted as a function of $p_{\rm T}$ for $\omega$ and $\phi$. The ratio between the $\rho$ and $\omega$ cross section is obtained. Results for the $\phi$ are compared with other measurements at the same energy and with predictions by models.
K − /K + and p ¯ / p ratios measured in 158 A·GeV Pb+Pb collisions are shown as a function of transverse momentum P T and centrality in top 8.5% central region. Little centrality dependence of the K − / K + and p ¯ / p ratios is observed. The transverse mass m T distribution and dN/dy of K + , K − , p and p ¯ around mid-rapidity are obtained. The temperature T ch and the chemical potentials for both light and strange quarks (μ q , μ s ) at chemical freeze-out are determined by applying simple thermodynamical model to the present data. The resultant μ q , μ s and T ch are compared with those obtained from similar analysis of SPS S+A and AGS Si+A data. The chemical freeze-out temperature T ch at CERN energies is higher than thermal freeze-out temperature T fo which is extracted from m T distribution of charged hadrons. At AGS energies T ch is close to T fo .
A measurement of the transverse momentum spectra of jets in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV is reported. Jets are reconstructed from charged particles using the anti-$k_{\rm T}$ jet algorithm with jet resolution parameters $R$ of $0.2$ and $0.3$ in pseudo-rapidity $|\eta|<0.5$. The transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$ of charged particles is measured down to $0.15$ GeV/$c$ which gives access to the low $p_{\rm T}$ fragments of the jet. Jets found in heavy-ion collisions are corrected event-by-event for average background density and on an inclusive basis (via unfolding) for residual background fluctuations and detector effects. A strong suppression of jet production in central events with respect to peripheral events is observed. The suppression is found to be similar to the suppression of charged hadrons, which suggests that substantial energy is radiated at angles larger than the jet resolution parameter $R=0.3$ considered in the analysis. The fragmentation bias introduced by selecting jets with a high $p_{\rm T}$ leading particle, which rejects jets with a soft fragmentation pattern, has a similar effect on the jet yield for central and peripheral events. The ratio of jet spectra with $R=0.2$ and $R=0.3$ is found to be similar in Pb-Pb and simulated PYTHIA pp events, indicating no strong broadening of the radial jet structure in the reconstructed jets with $R<0.3$.
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.
The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than those measured at RHIC.
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<= eta <= 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.
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.
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.
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.
Azimuthally anisotropic distributions of D$^0$, D$^+$ and D$^{*+}$ mesons were studied in the central rapidity region ($|y|<0.8$) in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV per nucleon-nucleon collision, with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The second Fourier coefficient $v_2$ (commonly denoted elliptic flow) was measured in the centrality class 30-50% as a function of the D meson transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$, in the range 2-16 GeV/$c$. The measured $v_2$ of D mesons is comparable in magnitude to that of light-flavour hadrons. It is positive in the range $2 < p_{\rm T} < 6$ GeV/$c$ with $5.7\sigma$ significance, based on the combination of statistical and systematic uncertainties.
Angular correlations between unidentified charged trigger ($t$) and associated ($a$) particles are measured by the ALICE experiment in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV for transverse momenta $0.25 < p_{T}^{t,\, a} < 15$ GeV/$c$, where $p_{T}^t > p_{T}^a$. The shapes of the pair correlation distributions are studied in a variety of collision centrality classes between 0 and 50% of the total hadronic cross section for particles in the pseudorapidity interval $|\eta| < 1.0$. Distributions in relative azimuth $\Delta\phi \equiv \phi^t - \phi^a$ are analyzed for $|\Delta\eta| \equiv |\eta^t - \eta^a| > 0.8$, and are referred to as "long-range correlations". Fourier components $V_{n\Delta} \equiv \langle \cos(n\Delta\phi)\rangle$ are extracted from the long-range azimuthal correlation functions. If particle pairs are correlated to one another through their individual correlation to a common symmetry plane, then the pair anisotropy $V_{n\Delta}(p_{T}^t, p_{T}^a)$ is fully described in terms of single-particle anisotropies $v_n (p_{T})$ as $V_{n\Delta}(p_{T}^t, p_{T}^a) = v_n(p_{T}^t) \, v_n(p_{T}^a)$. This expectation is tested for $1 \leq n \leq 5$ by applying a global fit of all $V_{n\Delta} (p_{T}^t, p_{T}^a)$ to obtain the best values $v_{n}\{GF\} (p_{T})$. It is found that for $2 \leq n \leq 5$, the fit agrees well with data up to $p_T^a \sim 3$-4 GeV/$c$, with a trend of increasing deviation as $p_{T}^t$ and $p_{T}^a$ are increased or as collisions become more peripheral. This suggests that no pair correlation harmonic can be described over the full $0.25 < p_{T} < 15$ GeV/$c$ range using a single $v_n(p_T)$ curve; such a description is however approximately possible for $2 \leq n \leq 5$ when $p_T^a < 4$ GeV/$c$. For the $n=1$ harmonic, however, a single $v_1(p_T$ curve is not obtained even within the reduced range $p_T^a < 4$ GeV/$c$.
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.
The ALICE collaboration at the CERN Large Hadron Collider reports the first measurement of the inclusive differential jet cross section at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76$ TeV, with integrated luminosity of 13.6 nb$^{-1}$. Jets are measured over the transverse momentum range 20 to 125 GeV/c and are corrected to the particle level. Calculations based on Next-to-Leading Order perturbative QCD are in good agreement with the measurements. The ratio of inclusive jet cross sections for jet radii $R = 0.2$ and $R = 0.4$ is reported, and is also well reproduced by a Next-to-Leading Order perturbative QCD calculation when hadronization effects are included.
We report about the properties of the underlying event measured with ALICE at the LHC in pp and p$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV. The event activity, quantified by charged-particle number and summed-$p_{\rm T}$ densities, is measured as a function of the leading-particle transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$). These quantities are studied in three azimuthal-angle regions relative to the leading particle in the event: toward, away, and transverse. Results are presented for three different $p_{\rm T}$ thresholds (0.15, 0.5, and 1 GeV/$c$) at mid-pseudorapidity ($|\eta|<0.8$). The event activity in the transverse region, which is the most sensitive to the underlying event, exhibits similar behaviour in both pp and p$-$Pb collisions, namely, a steep increase with $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ for low $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$, followed by a saturation at $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig} \approx 5$ GeV/$c$. The results from pp collisions are compared with existing measurements at other centre-of-mass energies. The quantities in the toward and away regions are also analyzed after the subtraction of the contribution measured in the transverse region. The remaining jet-like particle densities are consistent in pp and p$-$Pb collisions for $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}>10$ GeV/$c$, whereas for lower $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ values the event activity is slightly higher in p$-$Pb than in pp collisions. The measurements are compared with predictions from the PYTHIA 8 and EPOS LHC Monte Carlo event generators.
We report on the first measurement of the triangular $v_3$, quadrangular $v_4$, and pentagonal $v_5$ charged particle flow in Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV measured with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We show that the triangular flow can be described in terms of the initial spatial anisotropy and its fluctuations, which provides strong constraints on its origin. In the most central events, where the elliptic flow $v_2$ and $v_3$ have similar magnitude, a double peaked structure in the two-particle azimuthal correlations is observed, which is often interpreted as a Mach cone response to fast partons. We show that this structure can be naturally explained from the measured anisotropic flow Fourier coefficients.
The first measurements of $x_F$-dependent single spin asymmetries of identified charged hadrons, $\pi^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, and protons, from transversely polarized proton-proton collisions at 62.4 GeV at RHIC are presented. The measurements extend to high-$x_F$ ($|x_F|\sim 0.6$) in both the forward and backward directions.Large asymmetries are seen in the pion and kaon channels. The asymmetries in inclusive $\pi^{+}$ production, $A_N(\pi^+)$, increase with $x_F$ from 0 to $\sim$0.25 %at $x_F = 0.6$ and $A_N(\pi^{-})$ decrease from 0 to $\sim$$-$0.4. Even though $K^-$ contains no valence quarks, observed asymmetries for $K^-$ unexpectedly show positive values similar to those for $K^+$, increasing with $x_F$, whereas proton asymmetries are consistent with zero over the measured kinematic range. Comparisons of the data with predictions of QCD-based models are presented. The flavor dependent single spin asymmetry measurements of identified hadrons allow for stringent tests of theoretical models of partonic dynamics in the RHIC energy regime.
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.
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 suppression and correlations of dijets is performed using 3 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ of Xe+Xe data at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 5.44$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Dijets with jets reconstructed using the $R=0.4$ anti-$k_t$ algorithm are measured differentially in jet $p_{\text{T}}$ over the range of 32 GeV to 398 GeV and the centrality of the collisions. Significant dijet momentum imbalance is found in the most central Xe+Xe collisions, which decreases in more peripheral collisions. Results from the measurement of per-pair normalized and absolutely normalized dijet $p_{\text{T}}$ balance are compared with previous Pb+Pb measurements at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} =5.02$ TeV. The differences between the dijet suppression in Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb are further quantified by the ratio of pair nuclear-modification factors. The results are found to be consistent with those measured in Pb+Pb data when compared in classes of the same event activity and when taking into account the difference between the center-of-mass energies of the initial parton scattering process in Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb collisions. These results should provide input for a better understanding of the role of energy density, system size, path length, and fluctuations in the parton energy loss.
The yield of charged particles associated with high-$p_{\rm T}$ trigger particles ($8 < p_{\rm T} < 15$ GeV/$c$) is measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV relative to proton-proton collisions at the same energy. The conditional per-trigger yields are extracted from the narrow jet-like correlation peaks in azimuthal di-hadron correlations. In the 5% most central collisions, we observe that the yield of associated charged particles with transverse momenta $p_{\rm T}> 3$ GeV/$c$ on the away-side drops to about 60% of that observed in pp collisions, while on the near-side a moderate enhancement of 20-30% is found.
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