D^0 measurements in Au+Au Collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV using the STAR Silicon Inner Tracker

We present preliminary results from D^0 meson measurements through the hadronic decay channel in minimum bias Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV at STAR. The measurements are performed using a secondary vertexing technique that exploits the resolution given by the Silicon detectors available in STAR.Comment: 2 pages, 3 figures - To appear in the conference proceedings for Quark Matter 2009, March 30 - April 4, Knoxville, Tennesse

MINERvA: a dedicated neutrino scattering experiment at NuMI

MINERvA is a dedicated neutrino cross-section experiment planned for the near detector hall of the NuMI neutrino beam at Fermilab. I summarize the detector design and physics capabilities of the experiment.Comment: Comments: to appear in the proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions in the Few-GeV Region (NuInt05

Correcting for Distortions due to Ionization in the STAR TPC

Physics goals of the STAR Experiment at RHIC in recent (and future) years drive the need to operate the STAR TPC at ever higher luminosities, leading to increased ionization levels in the TPC gas. The resulting ionic space charge introduces field distortions in the detector which impact tracking performance. Further complications arise from ionic charge leakage into the main TPC volume from the high gain anode region. STAR has implemented corrections for these distortions based on measures of luminosity, which we present here. Additionally, we highlight a novel approach to applying the corrections on an event-by-event basis applicable in conditions of rapidly varying ionization sources.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, proceedings of the Workshop on Tracking in High Multiplicity Environments (TIME 05) in Zurich, Switzerland, submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Meth.

Neutrino Factory Designs and R&D

European, Japanese, and US Neutrino Factory designs are presented. The main R&D issues, and the associated R&D programs, are discussed.Comment: Talk presented at the XXth International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, May 25-30, 2002, Munich, Germany. 10 pages, 12 figure

Extensive Particle Identification with TPC and TOF at the STAR Experiment

Particle identification (PID) capabilities are studied by using the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) and a Time-Of-Flight (TOF) detector together at STAR. The identification capability of charged hadrons is greatly extended compared with that achieved by TPC and TOF separately. Particle spectra from p+p, d+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=62.4$ GeV are used to develop the methods. The transverse momentum ($p_T$) ranges of $\pi$, and $p(\bar{p})$ identification are from $\sim0.3$ GeV/$c$ to $\sim10$ GeV/$c$. The high $p_T$ reach is limited by statistics in current data sets. An important conceptual advance was developed to identify electrons by using a combination of dE/dx in TPC and velocity information from the TOF detectors, which is important for future low-mass dilepton program at STAR.Comment: 19 pages, 22 figures, 3 tables, submitted to NIM

Alignement experience in STAR

The STAR experiment at RHIC uses four layers of silicon strip and silicon drift detectors for secondary vertex reconstruction. An attempt for a direct charm meson measurement put stringent requirements on alignment and calibration. We report on recent alignment and drift velocity calibration work performed on the inner silicon tracking system

Radiation environment and shielding for a high luminosity collider detector

Detectors now under design for use in the proposed high energy high luminosity colliders must deal with unprecedented radiation levels. We have performed a comprehensive study for the GEM detector at the SSC to determine the best way to shield critical detector components from excessive radiation, with special attention paid to the low energy neutrons and photons. We have used several detailed Monte-Carlo simulations to calculate the particle fluxes in the detector. We describe these methods and demonstrate that two orders of magnitude reduction in the neutron and photon fluxes can be obtained with appropriate shielding of critical forward regions such as the low beta quadrupoles and the forward calorimeter

Evidence from Identified Particles for Active Quark and Gluon Degrees of Freedom

Measurements of intermediate pT (1.5 < pT < 5.0 GeV/c) identified particle distributions in heavy ion collisions at SPS and RHIC energies display striking dependencies on the number of constituent quarks in the corresponding hadron. One finds that elliptic flow at intermediate pT follows a constituent quark scaling law as predicted by models of hadron formation through coalescence. In addition, baryon production is also found to increase with event multiplicity much faster than meson production. The rate of increase is similar for all baryons, and seemingly independent of mass. This indicates that the number of constituent quarks determines the multiplicity dependence of identified hadron production at intermediate pT. We review these measurements and interpret the experimental findings.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, proceedings for SQM2006 conference in Los Angele

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

Bulk properties of the system formed in Au+Au collisions at sNN =14.5 GeV at the BNL STAR detector

We report systematic measurements of bulk properties of the system created in Au+Au collisions at sNN=14.5 GeV recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The transverse momentum spectra of π±, K±, and p(p) are studied at midrapidity (|y|&lt;0.1) for nine centrality intervals. The centrality, transverse momentum (pT), and pseudorapidity (η) dependence of inclusive charged particle elliptic flow (v2), and rapidity-odd charged particles directed flow (v1) results near midrapidity are also presented. These measurements are compared with the published results from Au+Au collisions at other energies, and from Pb+Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV. The results at sNN=14.5 GeV show similar behavior as established at other energies and fit well in the energy dependence trend. These results are important as the 14.5-GeV energy fills the gap in μB, which is of the order of 100 MeV, between sNN=11.5 and 19.6 GeV. Comparisons of the data with UrQMD and AMPT models show poor agreement in general