Mid-rapidity transverse mass spectra and multiplicity densities of charged and neutral kaons are reported for Au+Au collisions at $\snn$=130 GeV at RHIC. The spectra are exponential in transverse mass, with an inverse slope of about 280 MeV in central collisions. The multiplicity densities for these particles scale with the negative hadron pseudo-rapidity density. The charged kaon to pion ratios are $K^+/\pi^- = 0.161 \pm 0.002 {\rm (stat)} \pm 0.024 {\rm (syst)}$ and $K^-/\pi^- = 0.146 \pm 0.002 {\rm (stat)} \pm 0.022 {\rm (syst)}$ for the most central collisions. The $K^+/\pi^-$ ratio is lower than the same ratio observed at the SPS while the $K^-/\pi^-$ is higher than the SPS result. Both ratios are enhanced by about 50% relative to p+p and $\bar{\rm p}$+p collision data at similar energies.

The STAR Collaboration reports a measurement of the transverse single-spin asymmetries, $A_{N}$, for neutral pions produced in polarized proton collisions with protons ($pp$), with aluminum nuclei ($p\rm{Al}$) and with gold nuclei ($p\rm{Au}$) at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 200 GeV. Neutral pions are observed in the forward direction relative to the transversely polarized proton beam, in the pseudo-rapidity region $2.7<\eta<3.8$. Results are presented for $\pi^0$s observed in the STAR FMS electromagnetic calorimeter in narrow Feynman x ($x_F$) and transverse momentum ($p_T$) bins, spanning the range $0.17<x_F<0.81$ and $1.7<p_{T}<6.0$ GeV/$c$. For fixed $x_F<0.47$, the asymmetries are found to rise with increasing transverse momentum. For larger $x_F$, the asymmetry flattens or falls as ${p_T}$ increases. Parametrizing the ratio $r(A) \equiv A_N(pA)/A_N(pp)=A^P$ over the kinematic range, the ratio $r(A)$ is found to depend only weakly on $A$, with ${\langle}P{\rangle} = -0.027 \pm 0.005$. No significant difference in $P$ is observed between the low-$p_T$ region, $p_T<2.5$ GeV/$c$, where gluon saturation effects may play a role, and the high-$p_T$ region, $p_T>2.5$ GeV/$c$. It is further observed that the value of $A_N$ is significantly larger for events with a large-$p_T$ isolated $\pi^0$ than for events with a non-isolated $\pi^0$ accompanied by additional jet-like fragments. The nuclear dependence $r(A)$ is similar for isolated and non-isolated $\pi^0$ events.

We present measurements of the differential production cross sections of the inclusive $J/\psi$ meson as a function of transverse momentum ($p_{T}^{J/\psi}$) using the $\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ and $e^{+}e^{-}$ decay channels in proton+proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 510 and 500 GeV, respectively, recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The measurement from the $\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ channel is for 0 $< p_{T}^{J/\psi} <$ 9 GeV/$c$ and rapidity range $|y^{J/\psi}| < $ 0.4, and that from the $e^{+}e^{-}$ channel is for 4 $< p_{T}^{J/\psi} <$ 20 GeV/$c$ and $|y^{J/\psi}| < $ 1.0. The $\psi(2S)$ to $J/\psi$ ratio is also measured for 4 $< p_{T}^{\rm meson} <$ 12 GeV/$c$ through the $e^{+}e^{-}$ decay channel. Model calculations, which incorporate different approaches toward the $J/\psi$ production mechanism, are compared with experimental results and show reasonable agreement within uncertainties. A more discriminating comparison to theoretical models at low $p_T$ can be performed in the future, if the calculations are carried out within our fiducial volume, eliminating the uncertainty due to the $J/\psi$ polarization.

We report the first measurements of transverse single-spin asymmetries for inclusive jet and jet + $\pi^{\pm}$ production at midrapidity from transversely polarized proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 500$ GeV. The data were collected in 2011 with the STAR detector sampled from 23 pb$^{-1}$ integrated luminosity with an average beam polarization of 53%. Asymmetries are reported for jets with transverse momenta $6 < p_{T, jet} < 55$ GeV/c and pseudorapidity $|\eta| < 1$. Presented are measurements of the inclusive-jet azimuthal transverse single-spin asymmetry, sensitive to twist-3 initial-state quark-gluon correlators; the Collins asymmetry, sensitive to quark transversity coupled to the polarized Collins fragmentation function; and the first measurement of the "Collins-like" asymmetry, sensitive to linearly polarized gluons. Within the present statistical precision, inclusive-jet and Collins-like asymmetries are small, with the latter allowing the first experimental constraints on gluon linear polarization in a polarized proton. At higher values of jet transverse momenta, we observe the first non-zero Collins asymmetries in polarized-proton collisions, with a statistical significance of greater than $5\sigma$. The results span a range of x similar to results from SIDIS but at much higher $Q^{2}$. The Collins results enable tests of universality and factorization-breaking in the transverse momentum-dependent formulation of perturbative quantum chromodynamics.

We present a measurement of inclusive $J/\psi$ production at mid-rapidity ($|y|<1$) in $p+p$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV with the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The differential production cross section for $J/\psi$ as a function of transverse momentum ($p_T$) for $0

According to first-principle lattice QCD calculations, the transition from quark-gluon plasma to hadronic matter is a smooth crossover in the region μB ≤ T c. In this range the ratio, C6=C2, of net-baryon distributions are predicted to be negative. In this Letter, we report the first measurement of the midrapidity net-proton C6=C2 from 27, 54.4, and 200 GeV Au þ Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The dependence on collision centrality and kinematic acceptance in (p T , y) are analyzed. While for 27 and 54.4 GeV collisions the C6=C2 values are close to zero within uncertainties, it is observed that for 200 GeV collisions, the C6=C2 ratio becomes progressively negative from peripheral to central collisions. Transport model calculations without critical dynamics predict mostly positive values except for the most central collisions within uncertainties. These observations seem to favor a smooth crossover in the high-energy nuclear collisions at top RHIC energy.

We report the triton ($t$) production in mid-rapidity ($|y| <$ 0.5) Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$= 7.7--200 GeV measured by the STAR experiment from the first phase of the beam energy scan at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The nuclear compound yield ratio ($\mathrm{N}_t \times \mathrm{N}_p/\mathrm{N}_d^2$), which is predicted to be sensitive to the fluctuation of local neutron density, is observed to decrease monotonically with increasing charged-particle multiplicity ($dN_{ch}/d\eta$) and follows a scaling behavior. The $dN_{ch}/d\eta$ dependence of the yield ratio is compared to calculations from coalescence and thermal models. Enhancements in the yield ratios relative to the coalescence baseline are observed in the 0%-10% most central collisions at 19.6 and 27 GeV, with a significance of 2.3$\sigma$ and 3.4$\sigma$, respectively, giving a combined significance of 4.1$\sigma$. The enhancements are not observed in peripheral collisions or model calculations without critical fluctuation, and decreases with a smaller $p_{T}$ acceptance. The physics implications of these results on the QCD phase structure and the production mechanism of light nuclei in heavy-ion collisions are discussed.

We report on the measurement of the Central Exclusive Production of charged particle pairs $h^{+}h^{-}$ ($h = \pi, K, p$) with the STAR detector at RHIC in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV. The charged particle pairs produced in the reaction $pp\to p^\prime+h^{+}h^{-}+p^\prime$ are reconstructed from the tracks in the central detector, while the forward-scattered protons are measured in the Roman Pot system. Differential cross sections are measured in the fiducial region, which roughly corresponds to the square of the four-momentum transfers at the proton vertices in the range $0.04~\mbox{GeV}^2 < -t_1 , -t_2 < 0.2~\mbox{GeV}^2$, invariant masses of the charged particle pairs up to a few GeV and pseudorapidities of the centrally-produced hadrons in the range $|\eta|<0.7$. The measured cross sections are compared to phenomenological predictions based on the Double Pomeron Exchange (DPE) model. Structures observed in the mass spectra of $\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ and $K^{+}K^{-}$ pairs are consistent with the DPE model, while angular distributions of pions suggest a dominant spin-0 contribution to $\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ production. The fiducial $\pi^+\pi^-$ cross section is extrapolated to the Lorentz-invariant region, which allows decomposition of the invariant mass spectrum into continuum and resonant contributions. The extrapolated cross section is well described by the continuum production and at least three resonances, the $f_0(980)$, $f_2(1270)$ and $f_0(1500)$, with a possible small contribution from the $f_0(1370)$. Fits to the extrapolated differential cross section as a function of $t_1$ and $t_2$ enable extraction of the exponential slope parameters in several bins of the invariant mass of $\pi^+\pi^-$ pairs. These parameters are sensitive to the size of the interaction region.

The STAR Collaboration reports measurements of the transverse single-spin asymmetry (TSSA) of inclusive $\pi^0$ at center-of-mass energies ($\sqrt s$) of 200 GeV and 500 GeV in transversely polarized proton-proton collisions in the pseudo-rapidity region 2.7 to 4.0. The results at the two different energies show a continuous increase of the TSSA with Feynman-$x$, and, when compared to previous measurements, no dependence on $\sqrt s$ from 19.4 GeV to 500 GeV is found. To investigate the underlying physics leading to this large TSSA, different topologies have been studied. $\pi^0$ with no nearby particles tend to have a higher TSSA than inclusive $\pi^0$. The TSSA for inclusive electromagnetic jets, sensitive to the Sivers effect in the initial state, is substantially smaller, but shows the same behavior as the inclusive $\pi^0$ asymmetry as a function of Feynman-$x$. To investigate final-state effects, the Collins asymmetry of $\pi^0$ inside electromagnetic jets has been measured. The Collins asymmetry is analyzed for its dependence on the $\pi^0$ momentum transverse to the jet thrust axis and its dependence on the fraction of jet energy carried by the $\pi^0$. The asymmetry was found to be small in each case for both center-of-mass energies. All the measurements are compared to QCD-based theoretical calculations for transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions and fragmentation functions. Some discrepancies are found, which indicates new mechanisms might be involved.

We report the first measurements of a complete second-order cumulant matrix of net-charge, net-proton, and net-kaon multiplicity distributions for the first phase of the beam energy scan program at RHIC. This includes the centrality and, for the first time, the pseudorapidity window dependence of both diagonal and off-diagonal cumulants in Au+Au collisions at \sNN~= 7.7-200 GeV. Within the available acceptance of $|\eta|<0.5$, the cumulants grow linearly with the pseudorapidity window. Relative to the corresponding measurements in peripheral collisions, the ratio of off-diagonal over diagonal cumulants in central collisions indicates an excess correlation between net-charge and net-kaon, as well as between net-charge and net-proton. The strength of such excess correlation increases with the collision energy. The correlation between net-proton and net-kaon multiplicity distributions is observed to be negative at \sNN~= 200 GeV and change to positive at the lowest collision energy. Model calculations based on non-thermal (UrQMD) and thermal (HRG) production of hadrons cannot explain the data. These measurements will help map the QCD phase diagram, constrain hadron resonance gas model calculations, and provide new insights on the energy dependence of baryon-strangeness correlations. An erratum has been added to address the issue of self-correlation in the previously considered efficiency correction for off-diagonal cumulant measurement. Previously considered unidentified (net-)charge correlation results ($\sigma^{11}_{Q,p}$ and $\sigma^{11}_{Q,k})$ are now replaced with identified (net-)charge correlation ($\sigma^{11}_{Q^{PID},p}$ and $\sigma^{11}_{Q^{PID},k}$)