Measurements of double-helicity asymmetries in inclusive J/ψJ/\psi production in longitudinally polarized p+pp+p collisions at s=510\sqrt{s}=510 GeV

We report the double helicity asymmetry, $A_{LL}^{J/\psi}$, in inclusive $J/\psi$ production at forward rapidity as a function of transverse momentum $p_T$ and rapidity $|y|$. The data analyzed were taken during $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV longitudinally polarized $p$$+$$p$ collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in the 2013 run using the PHENIX detector. At this collision energy, $J/\psi$ particles are predominantly produced through gluon-gluon scatterings, thus $A_{LL}^{J/\psi}$ is sensitive to the gluon polarization inside the proton. We measured $A_{LL}^{J/\psi}$ by detecting the decay daughter muon pairs $\mu^+ \mu^-$ within the PHENIX muon spectrometers in the rapidity range $1.2<|y|<2.2$. In this kinematic range, we measured the $A_{LL}^{J/\psi}$ to be $0.012 \pm 0.010$~(stat)~$\pm$~$0.003$(syst). The $A_{LL}^{J/\psi}$ can be expressed to be proportional to the product of the gluon polarization distributions at two distinct ranges of Bjorken $x$: one at moderate range $x \approx 0.05$ where recent RHIC data of jet and $\pi^0$ double helicity spin asymmetries have shown evidence for significant gluon polarization, and the other one covering the poorly known small-$x$ region $x \approx 2\times 10^{-3}$. Thus our new results could be used to further constrain the gluon polarization for $x< 0.05$.Comment: 335 authors, 10 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, 2013 data. Version accepted for publication by Phys. Rev. D. 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

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

Systematic study of charged-pion and kaon femtoscopy in Au++Au collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200 GeV

We present a systematic study of charged pion and kaon interferometry in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=200 GeV. The kaon mean source radii are found to be larger than pion radii in the outward and longitudinal directions for the same transverse mass; this difference increases for more central collisions. The azimuthal-angle dependence of the radii was measured with respect to the second-order event plane and similar oscillations of the source radii were found for pions and kaons. Hydrodynamic models qualitatively describe the similar oscillations of the mean source radii for pions and kaons, but they do not fully describe the transverse-mass dependence of the oscillations.Comment: 499 authors, 27 pages, 13 figures, and 11 tables. v2 is the 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

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.

Single electron yields from semileptonic charm and bottom hadron decays in Au++Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV

The PHENIX Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has measured open heavy-flavor production in minimum bias Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV via the yields of electrons from semileptonic decays of charm and bottom hadrons. Previous heavy-flavor electron measurements indicated substantial modification in the momentum distribution of the parent heavy quarks due to the quark-gluon plasma created in these collisions. For the first time, using the PHENIX silicon vertex detector to measure precision displaced tracking, the relative contributions from charm and bottom hadrons to these electrons as a function of transverse momentum are measured in Au$+$Au collisions. We compare the fraction of electrons from bottom hadrons to previously published results extracted from electron-hadron correlations in $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV and find the fractions to be similar within the large uncertainties on both measurements for $p_T>4$ GeV/$c$. We use the bottom electron fractions in Au$+$Au and $p$$+$$p$ along with the previously measured heavy flavor electron $R_{AA}$ to calculate the $R_{AA}$ for electrons from charm and bottom hadron decays separately. We find that electrons from bottom hadron decays are less suppressed than those from charm for the region $3<p_T<4$ GeV/$c$.Comment: 432 authors, 33 pages, 23 figures, 2 tables, 2011 data. v2 is version accepted for publication by 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