Phi meson production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt (s)=200 GeV

We report the STAR measurement of Phi meson production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt (s)=200 GeV. Using the event mixing technique, the Phi spectra and yields are obtained at mid-rapidity for five centrality bins in Au+Au collisions and for non-singly-diffractive p+p collisions. It is found that the Phi transverse momentum distributions from Au+Au collisions are better fitted with a single-exponential while the p+p spectrum is better described by a double-exponential distribution. The measured nuclear modification factors indicate that Phi production in central Au+Au collisions is suppressed relative to peripheral collisions when scaled by the number of binary collisions. The systematics of versus centrality and the constant Phi/K- ratio versus beam species, centrality, and collision energy rule out kaon coalescence as the dominant mechanism for Phi production.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Azimuthal anisotropy at RHIC: the first and fourth harmonics

We report the first observations of the first harmonic (directed flow, v_1), and the fourth harmonic (v_4), in the azimuthal distribution of particles with respect to the reaction plane in Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Both measurements were done taking advantage of the large elliptic flow (v_2) generated at RHIC. From the correlation of v_2 with v_1 it is determined that v_2 is positive, or {\it in-plane}. The integrated v_4 is about a factor of 10 smaller than v_2. For the sixth (v_6) and eighth (v_8) harmonics upper limits on the magnitudes are reported.Comment: 6 pages with 3 figures, as accepted for Phys. Rev. Letters The data tables are at http://www.star.bnl.gov/central/publications/pubDetail.php?id=3

Pion, kaon, proton and anti-proton transverse momentum distributions from p+p and d+Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

Identified mid-rapidity particle spectra of $\pi^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, and $p(\bar{p})$ from 200 GeV p+p and d+Au collisions are reported. A time-of-flight detector based on multi-gap resistive plate chamber technology is used for particle identification. The particle-species dependence of the Cronin effect is observed to be significantly smaller than that at lower energies. The ratio of the nuclear modification factor ($R_{dAu}$) between protons $(p+\bar{p})$ and charged hadrons ($h$) in the transverse momentum range $1.2<{p_{T}}<3.0$ GeV/c is measured to be $1.19\pm0.05$(stat)$\pm0.03$(syst) in minimum-bias collisions and shows little centrality dependence. The yield ratio of $(p+\bar{p})/h$ in minimum-bias d+Au collisions is found to be a factor of 2 lower than that in Au+Au collisions, indicating that the Cronin effect alone is not enough to account for the relative baryon enhancement observed in heavy ion collisions at RHIC.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. We extended the pion spectra from transverse momentum 1.8 GeV/c to 3. GeV/

Experimental and Theoretical Challenges in the Search for the Quark Gluon Plasma: The STAR Collaboration's Critical Assessment of the Evidence from RHIC Collisions

We review the most important experimental results from the first three years of nucleus-nucleus collision studies at RHIC, with emphasis on results from the STAR experiment, and we assess their interpretation and comparison to theory. The theory-experiment comparison suggests that central Au+Au collisions at RHIC produce dense, rapidly thermalizing matter characterized by: (1) initial energy densities above the critical values predicted by lattice QCD for establishment of a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP); (2) nearly ideal fluid flow, marked by constituent interactions of very short mean free path, established most probably at a stage preceding hadron formation; and (3) opacity to jets. Many of the observations are consistent with models incorporating QGP formation in the early collision stages, and have not found ready explanation in a hadronic framework. However, the measurements themselves do not yet establish unequivocal evidence for a transition to this new form of matter. The theoretical treatment of the collision evolution, despite impressive successes, invokes a suite of distinct models, degrees of freedom and assumptions of as yet unknown quantitative consequence. We pose a set of important open questions, and suggest additional measurements, at least some of which should be addressed in order to establish a compelling basis to conclude definitively that thermalized, deconfined quark-gluon matter has been produced at RHIC.Comment: 101 pages, 37 figures; revised version to Nucl. Phys.

Azimuthal anisotropy in Au+Au collisions at √s\u3csub\u3eNN\u3c/sub\u3e = 200 GeV

The results from the STAR Collaboration on directed flow (ν1), elliptic flow (ν2), and the fourth harmonic (ν4) in the anisotropic azimuthal distribution of particles from Au+Au collisions at √sNN=200GeV are summarized and compared with results from other experiments and theoretical models. Results for identified particles are presented and fit with a blast-wave model. Different anisotropic flow analysis methods are compared and nonflow effects are extracted from the data. For ν2, scaling with the number of constituent quarks and parton coalescence are discussed. For ν4, scaling with v22 and quark coalescence are discussed

ρ\u3csup\u3e0\u3c/sup\u3e production and possible modification in Au + Au and p + p collisions at √s\u3csub\u3eNN\u3c/sub\u3e = 200 GeV

We report results on ρ(770)0→π+π− production at midrapidity in p+p and peripheral Au+Au collisions at √sNN=200  GeV. This is the first direct measurement of ρ(770)0→π+π− in heavy-ion collisions. The measured ρ0 peak in the invariant mass distribution is shifted by ∼40  MeV/c2 in minimum bias p+p interactions and ∼70  MeV/c2 in peripheral Au+Au collisions. The ρ0 mass shift is dependent on transverse momentum and multiplicity. The modification of the ρ0 meson mass, width, and shape due to phase space and dynamical effects are discussed

Event-wise ⟨p\u3csub\u3et\u3c/sub\u3e⟩ fluctuations in Au-Au collisions at √s\u3csub\u3eNN\u3c/sub\u3e = 130 GeV

We present the first large-acceptance measurement of event-wise mean transverse momentum ⟨pt⟩ fluctuations for Au-Au collisions at nucleon-nucleon center-of-momentum collision energy √sNN = 130 GeV. The observed nonstatistical ⟨pt⟩ fluctuations substantially exceed in magnitude fluctuations expected from the finite number of particles produced in a typical collision. The r.m.s. fractional width excess of the event-wise ⟨pt⟩ distribution is 13.7±0.1(stat) ±1.3(syst)% relative to a statistical reference, for the 15% most-central collisions and for charged hadrons within pseudorapidity range |η|c. The width excess varies smoothly but nonmonotonically with collision centrality and does not display rapid changes with centrality which might indicate the presence of critical fluctuations. The reported ⟨pt⟩ fluctuation excess is qualitatively larger than those observed at lower energies and differs markedly from theoretical expectations. Contributions to ⟨pt⟩ fluctuations from semihard parton scattering in the initial state and dissipation in the bulk colored medium are discussed

Incident energy dependence of p\u3csub\u3et\u3c/sub\u3e correlations at relativistic energies

We present results for two-particle transverse momentum correlations, ⟨Δpt,iΔpt,j⟩, as a function of event centrality for Au+Au collisions at √sNN=20, 62, 130, and 200 GeV at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. We observe correlations decreasing with centrality that are similar at all four incident energies. The correlations multiplied by the multiplicity density increase with incident energy, and the centrality dependence may show evidence of processes such as thermalization, jet production, or the saturation of transverse flow. The square root of the correlations divided by the event-wise average transverse momentum per event shows little or no beam energy dependence and generally agrees with previous measurements made at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron

Proton-Λ correlations in central Au+Au collisions at √s\u3csub\u3eNN\u3c/sub\u3e = 200 GeV

We report on p−Λ,p− ¯Λ¯ ,¯p¯−Λ, and ¯p¯− ¯Λ¯ correlation functions constructed in central Au-Au collisions at √sNN=200 GeV by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The proton and lambda source size is inferred from the p−Λ and p− ¯Λ¯; correlation functions. It is found to be smaller than the pion source size also measured by the STAR experiment at smaller transverse masses, in agreement with a scenario of a strong universal collective flow. The ¯p¯− Λ and p− ¯Λ¯ correlation functions, which are measured for the first time, exhibit a large anticorrelation. Annihilation channels and/or a negative real part of the spin-averaged scattering length must be included in the final-state interactions calculation to reproduce the measured correlation function

Transverse-momentum ptp_t correlations on (η,ϕ)(\eta,\phi) from mean-ptp_{t} fluctuations in Au-Au collisions at sNN=\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

We present first measurements of the pseudorapidity and azimuth $(\eta,\phi)$ bin-size dependence of event-wise mean transverse momentum $$ fluctuations for Au-Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV. We invert that dependence to obtain $p_t$ autocorrelations on differences $(\eta_\Delta,\phi_\Delta)$ interpreted to represent velocity/temperature distributions on ($\eta,\phi$). The general form of the autocorrelations suggests that the basic correlation mechanism is parton fragmentation. The autocorrelations vary strongly with collision centrality, which suggests that fragmentation is strongly modified by a dissipative medium in the more central Au-Au collisions relative to peripheral or p-p collisions. \\Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure