We measure triangular flow relative to the reaction plane at 3 GeV center-of-mass energy in Au+Au collisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. A significant $v_3$ signal for protons is observed, which increases for higher rapidity, higher transverse momentum, and more peripheral collisions. The triangular flow is essentially rapidity-odd with a slope at mid-rapidity, $dv_3/dy|_{(y=0)}$, opposite in sign compared to the slope for directed flow. No significant $v_3$ signal is observed for charged pions and kaons. Comparisons with models suggest that a mean field potential is required to describe these results, and that the triangular shape of the participant nucleons is the result of stopping and nuclear geometry.
Transverse momentum ($p_{\rm{T}}$) spectra of pions, kaons, and protons up to $p_{\rm{T}} = 20$ GeV/$c$ have been measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV using the ALICE detector for six different centrality classes covering 0-80%. The proton-to-pion and the kaon-to-pion ratios both show a distinct peak at $p_{\rm{T}} \approx 3$ GeV/$c$ in central Pb-Pb collisions that decreases towards more peripheral collisions. For $p_{\rm{T}} > 10$ GeV/$c$, the nuclear modification factor is found to be the same for all three particle species in each centrality interval within systematic uncertainties of 10-20%. This suggests there is no direct interplay between the energy loss in the medium and the particle species composition in the hard core of the quenched jet. For $p_{\rm{T}} < 10$ GeV/$c$, the data provide important constraints for models aimed at describing the transition from soft to hard physics.
We report precision measurements of hypernuclei ${}^3_\Lambda \rm{H}$ and ${}^4_\Lambda \rm{H}$ lifetimes obtained from Au+Au collisions at \snn = 3.0 GeV and 7.2 GeV collected by the STAR experiment at RHIC, and the first measurement of ${}^3_\Lambda \rm{H}$ and ${}^4_\Lambda \rm{H}$ mid-rapidity yields in Au+Au collisions at \snn = 3.0 GeV. ${}^3_\Lambda \rm{H}$ and ${}^4_\Lambda \rm{H}$, being the two simplest bound states composed of hyperons and nucleons, are cornerstones in the field of hypernuclear physics. Their lifetimes are measured to be $221\pm15(\rm stat.)\pm19(\rm syst.)$ ps for ${}^3_\Lambda \rm{H}$ and $218\pm6(\rm stat.)\pm13(\rm syst.)$ ps for ${}^4_\Lambda \rm{H}$. The $p_T$-integrated yields of ${}^3_\Lambda \rm{H}$ and ${}^4_\Lambda \rm{H}$ are presented in different centrality and rapidity intervals. It is observed that the shape of the rapidity distribution of ${}^4_\Lambda \rm{H}$ is different for 0--10% and 10--50% centrality collisions. Thermal model calculations, using the canonical ensemble for strangeness, describes the ${}^3_\Lambda \rm{H}$ yield well, while underestimating the ${}^4_\Lambda \rm{H}$ yield. Transport models, combining baryonic mean-field and coalescence (JAM) or utilizing dynamical cluster formation via baryonic interactions (PHQMD) for light nuclei and hypernuclei production, approximately describe the measured ${}^3_\Lambda \rm{H}$ and ${}^4_\Lambda \rm{H}$ yields. Our measurements provide means to precisely assess our understanding of the fundamental baryonic interactions with strange quarks, which can impact our understanding of more complicated systems involving hyperons, such as the interior of neutron stars or exotic hypernuclei.
Measurements of mass and $\Lambda$ binding energy of $\rm ^4_{\Lambda}H$ and $\rm ^4_{\Lambda}He$ in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}=3$ GeV are presented, with an aim to address the charge symmetry breaking (CSB) problem in hypernuclei systems with atomic number A = 4. The $\Lambda$ binding energies are measured to be $\rm 2.22\pm0.06(stat.) \pm0.14(syst.)$ MeV and $\rm 2.38\pm0.13(stat.) \pm0.12(syst.)$ MeV for $\rm ^4_{\Lambda}H$ and $\rm ^4_{\Lambda}He$, respectively. The measured $\Lambda$ binding-energy difference is $\rm 0.16\pm0.14(stat.)\pm0.10(syst.)$ MeV for ground states. Combined with the $\gamma$-ray transition energies, the binding-energy difference for excited states is $\rm -0.16\pm0.14(stat.)\pm0.10(syst.)$ MeV, which is negative and comparable to the value of the ground states within uncertainties. These new measurements on the $\Lambda$ binding-energy difference in A = 4 hypernuclei systems are consistent with the theoretical calculations that result in $\rm \Delta B_{\Lambda}^4(1_{exc}^{+})\approx -\Delta B_{\Lambda}^4(0_{g.s.}^{+})<0$ and present a new method for the study of CSB effect using relativistic heavy-ion collisions.
We report a measurement of cumulants and correlation functions of event-by-event proton multiplicity distributions from fixed-target Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 3 GeV measured by the STAR experiment. Protons are identified within the rapidity ($y$) and transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) region $-0.9 < y<0$ and $0.4 < p_{\rm T} <2.0 $ GeV/$c$ in the center-of-mass frame. A systematic analysis of the proton cumulants and correlation functions up to sixth-order as well as the corresponding ratios as a function of the collision centrality, $p_{\rm T}$, and $y$ are presented. The effect of pileup and initial volume fluctuations on these observables and the respective corrections are discussed in detail. The results are compared to calculations from the hadronic transport UrQMD model as well as a hydrodynamic model. In the most central 5% collisions, the value of proton cumulant ratio $C_4/C_2$ is negative, drastically different from the values observed in Au+Au collisions at higher energies. Compared to model calculations including Lattice QCD, a hadronic transport model, and a hydrodynamic model, the strong suppression in the ratio of $C_4/C_2$ at 3 GeV Au+Au collisions indicates an energy regime dominated by hadronic interactions.
We present the first measurement of the two-particle transverse momentum differential correlation function, $P_2\equiv\langle \Delta p_{\rm T} \Delta p_{\rm T} \rangle /\langle p_{\rm T} \rangle^2$, in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}} =$ 2.76 TeV. Results for $P_2$ are reported as a function of relative pseudorapidity ($\Delta \eta$) and azimuthal angle ($\Delta \varphi$) between two particles for different collision centralities. The $\Delta \phi$ dependence is found to be largely independent of $\Delta \eta$ for $|\Delta \eta| \geq$ 0.9. In 5% most central Pb-Pb collisions, the two-particle transverse momentum correlation function exhibits a clear double-hump structure around $\Delta \varphi = \pi$ (i.e., on the away side), which is not observed in number correlations in the same centrality range, and thus provides an indication of the dominance of triangular flow in this collision centrality. Fourier decompositions of $P_2$, studied as a function of collision centrality, show that correlations at $|\Delta \eta| \geq$ 0.9 can be well reproduced by a flow ansatz based on the notion that measured momentum correlations are strictly determined by the collective motion of the system.
We present results on transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) and rapidity ($y$) differential production cross sections, mean transverse momentum and mean transverse momentum square of inclusive J/$\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ at forward rapidity ($2.5<y<4$) as well as $\psi(2S)$-to-J/$\psi$ cross section ratios. These quantities are measured in pp collisions at center of mass energies $\sqrt{s}=5.02$ and 13 TeV with the ALICE detector. Both charmonium states are reconstructed in the dimuon decay channel, using the muon spectrometer. A comprehensive comparison to inclusive charmonium cross sections measured at $\sqrt{s}=2.76$, 7 and 8 TeV is performed. A comparison to non-relativistic quantum chromodynamics and fixed-order next-to-leading logarithm calculations, which describe prompt and non-prompt charmonium production respectively, is also presented. A good description of the data is obtained over the full $p_{\rm T}$ range, provided that both contributions are summed. In particular, it is found that for $p_{\rm T}>15$ GeV/$c$ the non-prompt contribution reaches up to 50% of the total charmonium yield.
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.
Global hyperon polarization, $\overline{P}_\mathrm{H}$, in Au+Au collisions over a large range of collision energy, $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$, was recently measured and successfully reproduced by hydrodynamic and transport models with intense fluid vorticity of the quark-gluon plasma. While naïve extrapolation of data trends suggests a large $\overline{P}_\mathrm{H}$ as the collision energy is reduced, the behavior of $\overline{P}_\mathrm{H}$ at small $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}<7.7$ GeV is unknown. Operating the STAR experiment in fixed-target mode, we measured the polarization of $\Lambda$ hyperons along the direction of global angular momentum in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=3$ GeV. The observation of substantial polarization of $4.91\pm0.81(\rm stat.)\pm0.15(\rm syst.)$% in these collisions may require a reexamination of the viscosity of any fluid created in the collision, of the thermalization timescale of rotational modes, and of hadronic mechanisms to produce global polarization.
The Beam Energy Scan (BES) program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) was extended to energies below $\sqrt{\textit{s}_{NN}}$ = 7.7 GeV in 2015 by successful implementation of the fixed-target mode of operation in the STAR (Solenoidal Track At RHIC) experiment. In the fixed-target mode, ions circulate in one ring of the collider and interact with a stationary target at the entrance of the STAR Time Projection Chamber. The first results for Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{\textit{s}_{NN}}$ = 4.5 GeV are presented, including directed and elliptic flow of identified hadrons, and radii from pion femtoscopy. The proton flow and pion femtoscopy results agree quantitatively with earlier measurements by Alternating Gradient Synchrotron experiments at similar energies. This validates running the STAR experiment in the fixed-target configuration. Pion directed and elliptic flow are presented for the first time at this beam energy. Pion and proton elliptic flow show behavior which hints at constituent quark scaling, but large error bars preclude reliable conclusions. The ongoing second phase of BES (BES-II) will provide fixed-target data sets with 100 times more events at each of several energies down to $\sqrt{\textit{s}_{NN}}$ = 3.0 GeV.