We report on a determination of the analyzing power Ay in the reaction studied with the TOF spectrometer located at the COSY-accelerator (Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany). This spectrometer is very well suited for polarization measurements due to its rotational symmetry and full coverage of the azimuthal angle. For a beam momentum of p=3065MeV/c corresponding to an excess energy of epsilon (Porson) =129MeV Ay is found to be compatible with zero.
The transverse polarization of $\Lambda$ and $\bar\Lambda$ hyperons produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is measured. The analysis uses 760 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ of minimum bias data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in the year 2010. The measured transverse polarization averaged over Feynman $x_{\rm F}$ from $5\times 10^{-5}$ to 0.01 and transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$ from 0.8 to 15 GeV is $-0.010 \pm 0.005({\rm stat}) \pm 0.004({\rm syst})$ for $\Lambda$ and $0.002 \pm 0.006({\rm stat}) \pm 0.004({\rm syst})$ for $\bar\Lambda$. It is also measured as a function of $x_{\rm F}$ and $p_{\rm T}$, but no significant dependence on these variables is observed. Prior to this measurement, the polarization was measured at fixed-target experiments with center-of-mass energies up to about 40 GeV. The ATLAS results are compatible with the extrapolation of a fit from previous measurements to the $x_{\rm F}$ range covered by this mesurement.
The polarizations of the Y(1S), Y(2S), and Y(3S) mesons are measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using a data sample of Y(nS) to oppositely charged muon pair decays collected by the CMS experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 inverse femtobarns. The dimuon decay angular distributions are analyzed in three different polarization frames. The polarization parameters lambda[theta], lambda[phi], and lambda[theta,phi], as well as the frame-invariant quantity lambda-tilde, are presented as a function of the Y(nS) transverse momentum between 10 and 50 GeV, in the rapidity ranges abs(y) < 0.6 and 0.6 < abs(y) < 1.2. No evidence of large transverse or longitudinal polarizations has been seen in the explored kinematic region.
The polarizations of prompt J/psi and psi(2S) mesons are measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using a dimuon data sample collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 inverse femtobarns. The prompt J/psi and psi(2S) polarization parameters lambda[theta], lambda[phi], and lambda[theta,phi], as well as the frame-invariant quantity lambda(tilde), are measured from the dimuon decay angular distributions in three different polarization frames. The J/psi results are obtained in the transverse momentum range 14 < pt < 70 GeV, in the rapidity intervals abs(y) < 0.6 and 0.6 < abs(y) < 1.2. The corresponding psi(2S) results cover 14 < pt < 50 GeV and include a third rapidity bin, 1.2 < abs(y) < 1.5. No evidence of large transverse or longitudinal polarizations is seen in these kinematic regions, which extend much beyond those previously explored.
The extreme temperatures and energy densities generated by ultra-relativistic collisions between heavy nuclei produce a state of matter with surprising fluid properties. Non-central collisions have angular momentum on the order of 1000$\hbar$, and the resulting fluid may have a strong vortical structure that must be understood to properly describe the fluid. It is also of particular interest because the restoration of fundamental symmetries of quantum chromodynamics is expected to produce novel physical effects in the presence of strong vorticity. However, no experimental indications of fluid vorticity in heavy ion collisions have so far been found. Here we present the first measurement of an alignment between the angular momentum of a non-central collision and the spin of emitted particles, revealing that the fluid produced in heavy ion collisions is by far the most vortical system ever observed. We find that $\Lambda$ and $\overline{\Lambda}$ hyperons show a positive polarization of the order of a few percent, consistent with some hydrodynamic predictions. A previous measurement that reported a null result at higher collision energies is seen to be consistent with the trend of our new observations, though with larger statistical uncertainties. These data provide the first experimental access to the vortical structure of the "perfect fluid" created in a heavy ion collision. They should prove valuable in the development of hydrodynamic models that quantitatively connect observations to the theory of the Strong Force. Our results extend the recent discovery of hydrodynamic spin alignment to the subatomic realm.
The angular distributions and the differential branching fraction of the decay B0 to K*0(892) mu mu are studied using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.5 inverse femtobarns collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. From 1430 signal decays, the forward-backward asymmetry of the muons, the K*0(892) longitudinal polarization fraction, and the differential branching fraction are determined as a function of the dimuon invariant mass squared. The measurements are among the most precise to date and are in good agreement with standard model predictions.
Angular distributions of the decay B$^+$$\to$ K$^*$(892)$^+\mu^+\mu^-$ are studied using events collected with the CMS detector in $\sqrt{s} =$ 8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.0 fb$^{-1}$. The forward-backward asymmetry of the muons and the longitudinal polarization of the K$^*$(892)$^+$ meson are determined as a function of the square of the dimuon invariant mass. These are the first results from this exclusive decay mode and are in agreement with a standard model prediction.
The production of Λ,\(\bar \Lambda\) andKs0 has been studied in 200 GeV/nucleonp+S and S+S collisions in the streamer chamber of the NA35 experiment at the CERN SPS. Significant enhancement of the multiplicities of all observed strange particles relative to negative hadrons was observed in central S+S collisions, as compared top+p andp+S collisions. The latter collisions show no overall (relative) strangeness enhancement overp+p, but the rapidity distributions and hadron multiplicities indicate some secondary cascading production of Λ particles in thep+S andp+Au collisions. The Λ polarization in central S+S collisions was found to be compatible with zero up topT=2 GeV/c.
We report on measurements of the ϒ(1S), ϒ(2S), and ϒ(3S) differential cross sections (d2σ/dpTdy)|y|<0.4, as well as on the ϒ(1S) polarization in pp¯ collisions at s=1.8TeV using a sample of 77±3pb−1 collected by the collider detector at Fermilab. The three resonances were reconstructed through the decay ϒ→μ+μ−. The measured angular distribution of the muons in the ϒ(1S) rest frame is consistent with unpolarized meson production.
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.
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