Diffraction measurements at the LHC

Proton-proton collisions at the LHC can be classified as elastic, non-diffractive, and diffractive. In this paper we discuss various measurements of these above processes at various LHC experiments. We report about the total proton-proton cross-section measurements, about the analysis of diffractive events and also about the pseudorapidity distribution in inelastic events.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. Proceedings of the XLIII International Symposium on Multiparticle Dynamic

Systematics of Identified Hadron Spectra at PHENIX

Mid-rapidity transverse momentum distributions for $\pi^\pm$, $K^\pm$, p and \pbar are measured by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC in Au+Au, d+Au and p+p collisions at \ssnn=200GeV up to ~2--4GeV. Also particle ratios of $\pi^{-}/\pi^{+}$, $K^{-}/K^{+}$, \pbar/p, $p/\pi$ and \pbar/\pi are measured, as well as the nuclear modification factor, all as a function of \pt and in every of the above collision systems. Finally, the measured p+p and Au+Au spectra are compared to the Buda-Lund hydro model.Comment: Proceedings of the 20th Lake Louise Winter Institute, 20-26 February 2005. To appear in World Scientifi

Initial conditions, equations of state and final state in hydrodynamics

In this paper we present properties of relativistic and non-relativistic perfect hydrodynamical models. In particular we show illustrations of the fact that different initial conditions and equations of state can lead to the same hadronic final state. This means that alone from the hadronic observables one cannot determine either of the above, one needs for example penetrating probes that inherit their properties from each timeslice of the evolution of the fireball.Comment: Presented at the IV Workshop on Particle Correlations and Femtoscopy. 6 pages, 3 figure

Time evolution of the anisotropies of the hydrodynamically expanding sQGP

In high energy heavy ion collisions of RHIC and LHC, a strongly interacting quark gluon plasma (sQGP) is created. This medium undergoes a hydrodynamic evolution, before it freezes out to form a hadronic matter. The initial state of the sQGP is determined by the initial distribution of the participating nucleons and their interactions. Due to the finite number of nucleons, the initial distribution fluctuates on an event-by-event basis. The transverse plane anisotropy of the initial state can be translated into a series of anisotropy coefficients or eccentricities: second, third, fourth-order anisotropy etc. These anisotropies then evolve in time, and result in measurable momentum-space anisotropies, to be measured with respect to their respective symmetry planes. In this paper we investigate the time evolution of the anisotropies. With a numerical hydrodynamic code, we analyze how the speed of sound and viscosity influence this evolution.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. To appear in the Gribov-85 Memorial Workshop's proceedings volume. Supported by OTKA NK 10143

Multipole solution of hydrodynamics and higher order harmonics

The time evolution of the medium created in heavy ion collisions can be described by hydrodynamical models. After expansion and cooling, the hadrons are created in a freeze-out. Their distribution describes the final state of this medium. In particular their azimuthal asymmetry, characterized by the elliptic flow coefficient $v_2$, is one of the most important observables in heavy ion physics. In recent years it has been revealed that if measuring relative to higher order event planes $\Psi_n$, higher order flow coefficients $v_n$ for $n>2$ can be measured. This is due to initial state fluctuations, previously not described by analytic solutions of relativistic hydrodynamics. In this paper we show the first solutions that utilize higher order asymmetries and thus yield realistic $v_n$ flow coefficients. It is a clear consequence of this that different flow patterns may lead to the same observed flow coefficients. We also compare our results to PHENIX measurements and determine a possible parameter set corresponding to these data.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

Dilepton creation based on an analytic hydrodynamic solution

High-energy collisions of various nuclei, so called ``Little Bangs'' are observed at various experiments of heavy ion colliders. The time evolution of the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma created in heavy ion collisions can be described by hydrodynamical models. After expansion and cooling, the hadrons are created in a freeze-out. Their distribution describes the final state of this medium. To investigate the time evolution one needs to analyze penetrating probes, such as direct photon or dilepton observables, as these particles are created throughout the evolution of the medium. In this paper we analyze an 1+3 dimensional analytic solution of relativistic hydrodynamics, and we calculate dilepton transverse momentum and invariant mass distributions. We investigate the dependence of dilepton production on time evolution parameters, such as emission duration and equation of state. Using parameters from earlier fits of this model to photon and hadron spectra, we compare our calculations to measurements as well. The most important feature of this work is that dilepton observables are calculated from an exact, analytic, 1+3D solution of relativistic hydrodynamics that is also compatible with hadronic and direct photon observables.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure