Elliptic flow of resonances at RHIC: probing final state interactions and the structure of resonances

We propose the measurement of the elliptic flow of hadron resonances at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider as a tool to probe the amount of hadronic final state interactions for resonances at intermediate and large transverse momenta. This can be achieved by looking at systematic deviations of the measured flow coefficient $v_2$ from the scaling law given by the quark recombination formalism. Our method can be generalized to explore the structure of exotic particles, such as the recently found pentaquark $\Theta^+ (1540)$.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; v2: accepted version for publication in Physical Review C rapid communication

Hadronization in heavy ion collisions: Recombination and fragmentation of partons

We argue that the emission of hadrons with transverse momentum up to about 5 GeV/c in central relativistic heavy ion collisions is dominated by recombination, rather than fragmentation of partons. This mechanism provides a natural explanation for the observed constant baryon-to-meson ratio of about one and the apparent lack of a nuclear suppression of the baryon yield in this momentum range. Fragmentation becomes dominant at higher transverse momentum, but the transition point is delayed by the energy loss of fast partons in dense matter.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; v2: reference [8] added; v3: Eq.(2) corrected, two references added, version to appear in PR

Recombination Models

We review the current status of recombination and coalescence models that have been successfully applied to describe hadronization in heavy ion collisions at RHIC energies. Basic concepts as well as actual implementations of the idea are discussed. We try to evaluate where we stand in our understanding at the moment and what remains to be done in the future.Comment: Plenary Talk at Quark Matter 2004, submitted to J. Phys. G, 8 pages, 3 figure

Hadronization in heavy ion collisions: recombination or fragmentation?

We show that hadron production in relativistic heavy ion collisions at transverse momenta larger than 2 GeV/c can be explained by the competition of two different hadronization mechanisms. Above 5 GeV/c hadron production can be described by fragmentation of partons that are created perturbatively. Below 5 GeV/c recombination of partons from the dense and hot fireball dominates. This can explain some of the surprising features of RHIC data like the constant baryon-to-meson ratio of about one and the small nuclear suppression for baryons between 2 to 4 GeV/c.Comment: Contribution to the 7th Conference on Strange Quark Matter (SQM 2003), submitted to J.Phys.G; 6 pages LaTeX, 4 eps figures, uses iopart.cl

The QCD confinement transition: hadron formation

We review the foundations and the applications of the statistical and the quark recombination model as hadronization models.Comment: 45 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Landolt-Boernstein Volume 1-23

Hadron production in heavy ion collisions: Fragmentation and recombination from a dense parton phase

We discuss hadron production in heavy ion collisions at RHIC. We argue that hadrons at transverse momenta P_T < 5 GeV are formed by recombination of partons from the dense parton phase created in central collisions at RHIC. We provide a theoretical description of the recombination process for P_T > 2 GeV. Below P_T = 2 GeV our results smoothly match a purely statistical description. At high transverse momentum hadron production is well described in the language of perturbative QCD by the fragmentation of partons. We give numerical results for a variety of hadron spectra, ratios and nuclear suppression factors. We also discuss the anisotropic flow v_2 and give results based on a flow in the parton phase. Our results are consistent with the existence of a parton phase at RHIC hadronizing at a temperature of 175 MeV and a radial flow velocity of 0.55c.Comment: 25 pages LaTeX, 18 figures; v2: some references updated; v3: some typos fixe

Single Electron Elliptic Flow Measurements in Au+Au Collisions from STAR

Recent measurements of elliptic flow (v_2) and the nuclear modification factor (R_{CP}) of strange mesons and baryons in the intermediate p_T domain in Au+Au collisions demonstrate a scaling with the number of constituent-quarks. This suggests hadron production via quark coalescence from a thermalized parton system. Measuring the elliptic flow of charmed hadrons, which are believed to originate rather from fragmentation than from coalescence processes, might therefore change our view of hadron production in heavy ion collisions. While direct v_2 measurements of charmed hadrons are currently not available, single electron v_2 at sufficiently high transverse momenta can serve as a substitute. At transverse momenta above 2 GeV/c, the production of single electrons from non-photonic sources is expected to be dominated by the decay of charmed hadrons. Simulations show a strong correlation between the flow of the charmed hadrons and the flow of their decay electrons for p_T > 2 GeV/c. We will present preliminary STAR results from our single electron v_2 measurements from Au+Au collisions at RHIC energies.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures Proceedings of the Hot Quarks 2004 Conference, July 18-24 2004, Taos Valley, New Mexico, USA to be published in Journal of Physics

Evolution of mechanism of parton energy loss with transverse momentum at RHIC and LHC in relativistic collision of heavy nuclei

We analyze the suppression of particle production at large transverse momenta in ($0-5$ most) central collisions of gold nuclei at $\sqrt{s_\textrm{NN}}=$ 200 GeV and lead nuclei at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}=$ 2.76 TeV. Full next-to-leading order radiative corrections at ${\cal{O}}(\alpha_s^3)$, and nuclear effects like shadowing and parton energy loss are included. The parton energy loss is implemented in a simple multiple scattering model, where the partons lose an energy $\epsilon=\lambda \times dE/dx$ per collision, where $\lambda$ is their mean free path. We take $\epsilon=\kappa E$ for a treatment which is suggestive of the Bethe Heitler (BH) mechanism of incoherent scatterings, $\epsilon = \sqrt{\alpha E}$ for LPM mechanism, and $\epsilon=$ constant for a mechanism which suggests that the rate of energy loss ($dE/dx$) of the partons is proportional to total path length ($L$) of the parton in the plasma, as the formation time of the radiated gluon becomes much larger than $L$. We find that while the BH mechanism describes the nuclear modification factor $R_{\textrm{AA}}$ for $p_T \leq$ 5 GeV/$c$ (especially at RHIC energy), the LPM and more so the constant $dE/dx$ mechanism provides a good description at larger $p_T$. This confirms the earlier expectation that the energy loss mechanism for partons changes from BH to LPM for $p_T \ge \lambda$, where $\lambda \approx$ 1 fm and $\approx$ 1 GeV$^2$ is the average transverse kick-squared received by the parton per collision. The energy loss per collision at the $\sqrt{s_\textrm{NN}}$ =2.76 TeV is found to be about twice of that at 0.2 TeV.Comment: Discussion expanded, additional references added, 14 pages, 6 figures, To appear in Journal of Physics

phi meson production in Au + Au collisions at sqrt{s_{NN} = 200 GeV

We present the results on the mid-rapidity phi meson production in the K^{+}K^{-} decay channel in Au + Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV measured by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC. The spectral shape of the phi resonance, studied at different collision centralities, is consistent with the particle data book. The transverse mass spectra are measured in four centrality bins. The inverse slopes (T), yields (dN/dy) and particle ratios are studied as a function of centrality. The nuclear modification factor is measured through the ratio, R_{CP}, of central to peripheral yields normalized to the number of nucleon-nucleon collisions. The R_{CP} of the phi mesons is less than unity and is comparable to that of pions rather than R_{CP} ~ 1 observed for protons and anti-protons

Photon Production in Hot and Dense Strongly Interacting Matter

This text is meant as an introduction to the theoretical physics of photon emission in hot and dense strongly interacting matter, the principal application being relativistic nuclear collisions. We shall cover some of the results and techniques appropriate for studies at SPS, RHIC, and LHC energiesComment: 35 pages, accepted for publication, Landolt-Boernstein Volume 1-23