Measurements of the transverse-momentum-dependent cross sections of J /ψ production at mid-rapidity in proton+proton collisions at s =510 and 500 GeV with the STAR detector

We present measurements of the differential cross sections of inclusive J/ψ meson production as a function of transverse momentum (pTJ/ψ) using the μ+μ- 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 μ+μ- channel is for

Measurement of inclusive J/ψ suppression in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV through the dimuon channel at STAR

J/ψ suppression has long been considered a sensitive signature of the formation of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. In this letter, we present the first measurement of inclusive J/ψ production at mid-rapidity through the dimuon decay channel in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV with the STAR experiment. These measurements became possible after the installation of the Muon Telescope Detector was completed in 2014. The J/ψ yields are measured in a wide transverse momentum (pT) range of 0.15 GeV/c to 12 GeV/c from central to peripheral collisions. They extend the kinematic reach of previous measurements at RHIC with improved precision. In the 0-10% most central collisions, the J/ψ yield is suppressed by a factor of approximately 3 for pT>5 GeV/c relative to that in p+p collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The J/ψ nuclear modification factor displays little dependence on pT in all centrality bins. Model calculations can qualitatively describe the data, providing further evidence for the color-screening effect experienced by J/ψ mesons in the QGP

Charge-dependent pair correlations relative to a third particle in p + Au and d + Au collisions at RHIC

Quark interactions with topological gluon configurations can induce chirality imbalance and local parity violation in quantum chromodynamics. This can lead to electric charge separation along the strong magnetic field in relativistic heavy-ion collisions – the chiral magnetic effect (CME). We report measurements by the STAR collaboration of a CME-sensitive observable in p+Au and d+Au collisions at 200 GeV, where the CME is not expected, using charge-dependent pair correlations relative to a third particle. We observe strong charge-dependent correlations similar to those measured in heavy-ion collisions. This bears important implications for the interpretation of the heavy-ion data

Observation of Excess J/ψ Yield at Very Low Transverse Momenta in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV and U+U Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=193 GeV.

We report on the first measurements of J/ψ production at very low transverse momentum (p_{T}<0.2  GeV/c) in hadronic Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV and U+U collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=193  GeV. Remarkably, the inferred nuclear modification factor of J/ψ at midrapidity in Au+Au (U+U) collisions reaches about 24 (52) for p_{T}<0.05  GeV/c in the 60%-80% collision centrality class. This noteworthy enhancement cannot be explained by hadronic production accompanied by cold and hot medium effects. In addition, the dN/dt distribution of J/ψ for the very low p_{T} range is presented for the first time. The distribution is consistent with that expected from the Au nucleus and shows a hint of interference. Comparison of the measurements to theoretical calculations of coherent production shows that the excess yield can be described reasonably well and reveals a partial disruption of coherent production in semicentral collisions, perhaps due to the violent hadronic interactions. Incorporating theoretical calculations, the results strongly suggest that the dramatic enhancement of J/ψ yield observed at extremely low p_{T} originates from coherent photon-nucleus interactions. In particular, coherently produced J/ψ's in violent hadronic collisions may provide a novel probe of the quark-gluon plasma

Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry for inclusive jet and dijet production in pp collisions at s =510 GeV

We report the first measurement of the inclusive jet and the dijet longitudinal double-spin asymmetries, ALL, at midrapidity in polarized pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy s=510 GeV. The inclusive jet ALL measurement is sensitive to the gluon helicity distribution down to a gluon momentum fraction of x≈0.015, while the dijet measurements, separated into four jet-pair topologies, provide constraints on the x dependence of the gluon polarization. Both results are consistent with previous measurements made at s=200 GeV in the overlapping kinematic region, x>0.05, and show good agreement with predictions from recent next-to-leading order global analyses

Elliptic Flow of Electrons from Heavy-Flavor Hadron Decays in Au + Au Collisions at √\u3cem\u3e\u3csup\u3es\u3c/sup\u3e\u3csub\u3eNN\u3c/sub\u3e\u3c/em\u3e = 200, 62.4, and 39 GeV

We present measurements of elliptic flow (ν2) of electrons from the decays of heavy-flavor hadrons (eHF) by the STAR experiment. For Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV we report v2, for transverse momentum (pT) between 0.2 and 7 GeV/c, using three methods: the event plane method (v2{EP}), two-particle correlations (v2{2}), and four-particle correlations (v2{4}). For Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 62.4 and 39 GeV we report v2{2} for pT \u3c 2 GeV/c. v2{2} and v2{4} are nonzero at low and intermediate pT at 200 GeV, and v2{2} is consistent with zero at low pT at other energies. The v2{2} at the two lower beam energies is systematically lower than at √sNN = 200 GeV for pT \u3c 1GeV/c. This difference may suggest that charm quarks interact less strongly with the surrounding nuclear matter at those two lower energies compared to √sNN = 200 GeV

Measurement of \u3cem\u3eD\u3c/em\u3e\u3csup\u3e0\u3c/sup\u3e Azimuthal Anisotropy at Midrapidity in Au + Au Collisions at √\u3cem\u3es\u3csub\u3eNN\u3c/sub\u3e\u3c/em\u3e = 200 GeV

We report the first measurement of the elliptic anisotropy (v2) of the charm meson D0 at midrapidity (|y| \u3c 1) in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200  GeV. The measurement was conducted by the STAR experiment at RHIC utilizing a new high-resolution silicon tracker. The measured D0 v2 in 0%–80% centrality Au + Au collisions can be described by a viscous hydrodynamic calculation for a transverse momentum (pT) of less than 4  GeV/c. The D0 v2 as a function of transverse kinetic energy (mT − m0, where mT = √p2T + m20) is consistent with that of light mesons in 10%–40% centrality Au + Au collisions. These results suggest that charm quarks have achieved local thermal equilibrium with the medium created in such collisions. Several theoretical models, with the temperature-dependent, dimensionless charm spatial diffusion coefficient (2πTDs) in the range of ∼2–12, are able to simultaneously reproduce our D0 v2 result and our previously published results for the D0 nuclear modification factor

Centrality Dependence of Identified Particle Elliptic Flow in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions at √\u3cem\u3e\u3csup\u3es\u3c/sup\u3e\u3csub\u3eNN\u3c/sub\u3e\u3c/em\u3e = 7.7–62.4 GeV

Elliptic flow (υ2) values for identified particles at midrapidity in Au + Au collisions measured by the STAR experiment in the Beam Energy Scan at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at √sNN = 7.7– 62.4 GeV are presented for three centrality classes. The centrality dependence and the data at √sNN = 14.5 GeV are new. Except at the lowest beam energies, we observe a similar relative υ2 baryon-meson splitting for all centrality classes which is in agreement within 15% with the number-of-constituent quark scaling. The larger υ2 for most particles relative to antiparticles, already observed for minimum bias collisions, shows a clear centrality dependence, with the largest difference for the most central collisions. Also, the results are compared with a multiphase transport (AMPT) model and fit with a blast wave model