Experimental evidence of strong phonon scattering in isotopical disordered systems: The case of LiH_xD_{1-x} crystals

The observation of the local - mode vibration, the two - mode behavior of the LO phonons at large isotope concentration, as well as large line broadening in LIH - D mixed crystals directly evidence strong additional phonon scattering due to the isotope - induced disorder.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

ϕ\phi meson production in dd++Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200 GeV

The PHENIX experiment has measured $\phi$ meson production in $d$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV using the dimuon and dielectron decay channels. The $\phi$ meson is measured in the forward (backward) $d$-going (Au-going) direction, $1.2<y<2.2$ ($-2.2<y<-1.2$) in the transverse-momentum ($p_T$) range from 1--7 GeV/$c$, and at midrapidity $|y|<0.35$ in the $p_T$ range below 7 GeV/$c$. The $\phi$ meson invariant yields and nuclear-modification factors as a function of $p_T$, rapidity, and centrality are reported. An enhancement of $\phi$ meson production is observed in the Au-going direction, while suppression is seen in the $d$-going direction, and no modification is observed at midrapidity relative to the yield in $p$$+$$p$ collisions scaled by the number of binary collisions. Similar behavior was previously observed for inclusive charged hadrons and open heavy flavor indicating similar cold-nuclear-matter effects.Comment: 484 authors, 16 pages, 12 figures, 6 tables. v1 is the version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C. Data tables for the points plotted in the figures are given in the paper itsel

Quadrupole Anisotropy in Dihadron Azimuthal Correlations in Central dd++Au Collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200 GeV

The PHENIX collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) reports measurements of azimuthal dihadron correlations near midrapidity in $d$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=200 GeV. These measurements complement recent analyses by experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) involving central $p$$+$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=5.02 TeV, which have indicated strong anisotropic long-range correlations in angular distributions of hadron pairs. The origin of these anisotropies is currently unknown. Various competing explanations include parton saturation and hydrodynamic flow. We observe qualitatively similar, but larger, anisotropies in $d$$+$Au collisions compared to those seen in $p$$+$Pb collisions at the LHC. The larger extracted $v_2$ values in $d$$+$Au collisions at RHIC are consistent with expectations from hydrodynamic calculations owing to the larger expected initial-state eccentricity compared with that from $p$$+$Pb collisions. When both are divided by an estimate of the initial-state eccentricity the scaled anisotropies follow a common trend with multiplicity that may extend to heavy ion data at RHIC and the LHC, where the anisotropies are widely thought to arise from hydrodynamic flow.Comment: 375 authors, 7 pages, 5 figures. Published in Phys. Rev. Lett. v2 has minor changes to text and figures in response to PRL referee suggestions. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

The ANTARES Optical Beacon System

ANTARES is a neutrino telescope being deployed in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of a three dimensional array of photomultiplier tubes that can detect the Cherenkov light induced by charged particles produced in the interactions of neutrinos with the surrounding medium. High angular resolution can be achieved, in particular when a muon is produced, provided that the Cherenkov photons are detected with sufficient timing precision. Considerations of the intrinsic time uncertainties stemming from the transit time spread in the photomultiplier tubes and the mechanism of transmission of light in sea water lead to the conclusion that a relative time accuracy of the order of 0.5 ns is desirable. Accordingly, different time calibration systems have been developed for the ANTARES telescope. In this article, a system based on Optical Beacons, a set of external and well-controlled pulsed light sources located throughout the detector, is described. This calibration system takes into account the optical properties of sea water, which is used as the detection volume of the ANTARES telescope. The design, tests, construction and first results of the two types of beacons, LED and laser-based, are presented.Comment: 21 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Meth. Phys. Res.

L\'evy-stable two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in sNN=200\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200 GeV Au++Au collisions

We present a detailed measurement of charged two-pion correlation functions in 0%-30% centrality $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV Au$+$Au collisions by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The data are well described by Bose-Einstein correlation functions stemming from L\'evy-stable source distributions. Using a fine transverse momentum binning, we extract the correlation strength parameter $\lambda$, the L\'evy index of stability $\alpha$ and the L\'evy length scale parameter $R$ as a function of average transverse mass of the pair $m_T$. We find that the positively and the negatively charged pion pairs yield consistent results, and their correlation functions are represented, within uncertainties, by the same L\'evy-stable source functions. The $\lambda(m_T)$ measurements indicate a decrease of the strength of the correlations at low $m_T$. The L\'evy length scale parameter $R(m_T)$ decreases with increasing $m_T$, following a hydrodynamically predicted type of scaling behavior. The values of the L\'evy index of stability $\alpha$ are found to be significantly lower than the Gaussian case of $\alpha=2$, but also significantly larger than the conjectured value that may characterize the critical point of a second-order quark-hadron phase transition.Comment: 448 authors, 25 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables, 2010 data. v2 is version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Inclusive cross section and double-helicity asymmetry for π0\pi^{0} production at midrapidity in pp++pp collisions at s=510\sqrt{s}=510 GeV

PHENIX measurements are presented for the cross section and double-helicity asymmetry ($A_{LL}$) in inclusive $\pi^0$ production at midrapidity from $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=510$~GeV from data taken in 2012 and 2013 at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The next-to-leading-order perturbative-quantum-chromodynamics theory calculation is in excellent agreement with the presented cross section results. The calculation utilized parton-to-pion fragmentation functions from the recent DSS14 global analysis, which prefer a smaller gluon-to-pion fragmentation function. The $\pi^{0}A_{LL}$ results follow an increasingly positive asymmetry trend with $p_T$ and $\sqrt{s}$ with respect to the predictions and are in excellent agreement with the latest global analysis results. This analysis incorporated earlier results on $\pi^0$ and jet $A_{LL}$, and suggested a positive contribution of gluon polarization to the spin of the proton $\Delta G$ for the gluon momentum fraction range $x>0.05$. The data presented here extend to a currently unexplored region, down to $x\sim0.01$, and thus provide additional constraints on the value of $\Delta G$. The results confirm the evidence for nonzero $\Delta G$ using a different production channel in a complementary kinematic region.Comment: 413 authors, 8 pages, 4 figures. v2 is version accepted as PRD Rapid Communication. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Nuclear matter effects on J/ψJ/\psi production in asymmetric Cu+Au collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}} = 200 GeV

We report on $J/\psi$ production from asymmetric Cu+Au heavy-ion collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=200 GeV at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at both forward (Cu-going direction) and backward (Au-going direction) rapidities. The nuclear modification of $J/\psi$ yields in Cu$+$Au collisions in the Au-going direction is found to be comparable to that in Au$+$Au collisions when plotted as a function of the number of participating nucleons. In the Cu-going direction, $J/\psi$ production shows a stronger suppression. This difference is comparable in magnitude and has the same sign as the difference expected from shadowing effects due to stronger low-$x$ gluon suppression in the larger Au nucleus. The relative suppression is opposite to that expected from hot nuclear matter dissociation, since a higher energy density is expected in the Au-going direction.Comment: 349 authors, 10 pages, 4 figures, and 4 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. C. For v2, fixed LaTeX error in 3rd-to-last sentence. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Transverse energy production and charged-particle multiplicity at midrapidity in various systems from sNN=7.7\sqrt{s_{NN}}=7.7 to 200 GeV

Measurements of midrapidity charged particle multiplicity distributions, $dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta$, and midrapidity transverse-energy distributions, $dE_T/d\eta$, are presented for a variety of collision systems and energies. Included are distributions for Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$, 130, 62.4, 39, 27, 19.6, 14.5, and 7.7 GeV, Cu$+$Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ and 62.4 GeV, Cu$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV, U$+$U collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=193$ GeV, $d$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV, $^{3}$He$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV, and $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. Centrality-dependent distributions at midrapidity are presented in terms of the number of nucleon participants, $N_{\rm part}$, and the number of constituent quark participants, $N_{q{\rm p}}$. For all $A$$+$$A$ collisions down to $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=7.7$ GeV, it is observed that the midrapidity data are better described by scaling with $N_{q{\rm p}}$ than scaling with $N_{\rm part}$. Also presented are estimates of the Bjorken energy density, $\varepsilon_{\rm BJ}$, and the ratio of $dE_T/d\eta$ to $dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta$, the latter of which is seen to be constant as a function of centrality for all systems.Comment: 706 authors, 32 pages, 20 figures, 34 tables, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012 data. v2 is version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.