Yields for J/psi production in Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt (s_NN)= 200 GeV have been measured by the PHENIX experiment over the rapidity range |y| < 2.2 at transverse momenta from 0 to beyond 5 GeV/c. The invariant yield is obtained as a function of rapidity, transverse momentum and collision centrality, and compared with results in p+p and Au+Au collisions at the same energy. The Cu+Cu data provide greatly improved precision over existing Au+Au data for J/psi production in collisions with small to intermediate numbers of participants, providing a key constraint that is needed for disentangling cold and hot nuclear matter effects.
Mid-rapidity open charm spectra from direct reconstruction of $D^{0}$($\bar{D^0}$)$\to K^{\mp}\pi^{\pm}$ in d+Au collisions and indirect electron/positron measurements via charm semileptonic decays in p+p and d+Au collisions at \srt = 200 GeV are reported. The $D^{0}$($\bar{D^0}$) spectrum covers a transverse momentum ($p_T$) range of 0.1 $<p_T<$ 3 \GeVc whereas the electron spectra cover a range of 1 $<p_T<$ 4 GeV/$c$. The electron spectra show approximate binary collision scaling between p+p and d+Au collisions. From these two independent analyses, the differential cross section per nucleon-nucleon binary interaction at mid-rapidity for open charm production from d+Au collisions at RHIC is $d\sigma^{NN}_{c\bar{c}}/dy$=0.30$\pm$0.04 (stat.)$\pm$0.09(syst.) mb. The results are compared to theoretical calculations. Implications for charmoniumm results in A+A collisions are discussed.
Measurements of strange hadron (K0s, Lambda + anti-Lambda, and Xi+ + Xi-) transverse momentum spectra in pp, pPb, and PbPb collisions are presented over a wide range of rapidity and event charged-particle multiplicity. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, pPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 5.02 TeV, and PbPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV. The average transverse kinetic energy is found to increase with multiplicity, at a faster rate for heavier strange particle species in all systems. At similar multiplicities, the difference in average transverse kinetic energy between different particle species is observed to be larger for pp and pPb events than for PbPb events. In pPb collisions, the average transverse kinetic energy is found to be slightly larger in the Pb-going direction than in the p-going direction for events with large multiplicity. The spectra are compared to models motivated by hydrodynamics.
The production of the strange and double-strange baryon resonances ( $\Sigma (1385)^{\pm }$ , $\Xi (1530)^{0}$ ) has been measured at mid-rapidity ( $\left| y \right| $ $<0.5$ ) in proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ $=$ 7 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. Transverse momentum spectra for inelastic collisions are compared to QCD-inspired models, which in general underpredict the data. A search for the $\phi (1860)$ pentaquark, decaying in the $\Xi \pi $ channel, has been carried out but no evidence is seen.
The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has measured J/psi production for rapidities 2.2 < y < 2.2 in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. The J/psi invariant yield and nuclear modification factor R_AA as a function of centrality, transverse momentum and rapidity are reported. A suppression of J/psi relative to binary collision scaling of proton-proton reaction yields is observed. Models which describe the lower energy J/Psi data at the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) invoking only J/psi destruction based on the local medium density would predict a significantly larger suppression at RHIC and more suppression at mid rapidity than at forward rapidity. Both trends are contradicted by our data.
Phi meson production is studied by the NA49 collaboration in central Pb+Pb collisions at 20A, 30A, 40A, 80A and 158A GeV beam energy. The data are compared to measurements at lower and higher energies and to microscopic and thermal models. The energy dependence of yields and spectral distributions is compatible with the assumption that partonic degrees of freedom set in at low SPS energies.
The PHENIX experiment has measured mid-rapidity transverse momentum spectra (0.4 < p_T < 4.0 GeV/c) of single electrons as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. Contributions to the raw spectra from photon conversions and Dalitz decays of light neutral mesons are measured by introducing a thin (1.7% X_0) converter into the PHENIX acceptance and are statistically removed. The subtracted ``non-photonic'' electron spectra are primarily due to the semi-leptonic decays of hadrons containing heavy quarks (charm and bottom). For all centralities, charm production is found to scale with the nuclear overlap function, T_AA. For minimum-bias collisions the charm cross section per binary collision is N_cc^bar/T_AA = 622 +/- 57 (stat.) +/- 160 (sys.) microbarns.
The transverse momentum distributions of the strange and double-strange hyperon resonances ($\Sigma(1385)^{\pm}$, $\Xi(1530)^{0}$) produced in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV were measured in the rapidity range $-0.5< y_{\rm{CMS}}<0$ for event classes corresponding to different charged-particle multiplicity densities, $\langle{\rm d}N_{\rm{ch}}/{\rm d}\eta_{\rm{lab}}\rangle$. The mean transverse momentum values are presented as a function of $\langle{\rm d}N_{\rm{ch}}/{\rm d}\eta_{\rm{lab}}\rangle$, as well as a function of the particle masses and compared with previous results on hyperon production. The integrated yield ratios of excited to ground-state hyperons are constant as a function of $\langle{\rm d}N_{\rm{ch}}/{\rm d}\eta_{\rm{lab}}\rangle$. The equivalent ratios to pions exhibit an increase with $\langle{\rm d}N_{\rm{ch}}/{\rm d}\eta_{\rm{lab}}\rangle$, depending on their strangeness content.
Measurements of K∗ (892) 0 and φ(1020)resonance production in Pb–Pb and pp collisions at √ sNN = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The resonances are measured at midrapidity (|y| < 0.5) via their hadronic decay channels and the transverse momentum (pT) distributions are obtained for various collision centrality classes up to pT = 20 GeV/c. The pT-integrated yield ratio K∗ (892) 0/K in Pb–Pb collisions shows significant suppression relative to pp collisions and decreases towards more central collisions. In contrast, the φ(1020)/K ratio does not show any suppression. Furthermore, the measured K∗ (892) 0/K ratio in central Pb–Pb collisions is significantly suppressed with respect to the expectations based on a thermal model calculation, while the φ(1020)/K ratio agrees with the model prediction. These measurements are an experimental demonstration of rescattering of K∗ (892) 0 decay products in the hadronic phase of the collisions. The K∗ (892) 0/K yield ratios in Pb–Pb and pp collisions are used to estimate the time duration between chemical and kinetic freeze-out, which is found to be ∼ 4–7 fm/c for central collisions. The pT-differential ratios of K∗ (892) 0/K, φ(1020)/K, K∗ (892) 0/π, φ(1020)/π, p/K ∗ (892) 0 and p/φ(1020) are also presented for Pb–Pb and pp collisions at √ sNN = 5.02 TeV. These ratios show that the rescattering effect is predominantly a low-pT phenomenon.
The PHENIX experiment has measured mid-rapidity transverse momentum spectra (0.4 < p_T < 5.0 GeV/c) of electrons as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. Contributions from photon conversions and from light hadron decays, mainly Dalitz decays of pi^0 and eta mesons, were removed. The resulting non-photonic electron spectra are primarily due to the semi-leptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy quarks. Nuclear modification factors were determined by comparison to non-photonic electrons in p+p collisions. A significant suppression of electrons at high p_T is observed in central Au+Au collisions, indicating substantial energy loss of heavy quarks.
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