Beam Energy Dependence of Moments of the Net-Charge Multiplicity Distributions in Au plus Au Collisions at RHIC

We report the first measurements of the moments-mean (M), variance (sigma(2)), skewness (S), and kurtosis (kappa)-of the net-charge multiplicity distributions at midrapidity in Au + Au collisions at seven energies, ranging from root s(NN) = 7.7 to 200 GeV, as a part of the Beam Energy Scan program at RHIC. The moments are related to the thermodynamic susceptibilities of net charge, and are sensitive to the location of the QCD critical point. We compare the products of the moments, sigma(2)/M, S sigma, and kappa sigma(2), with the expectations from Poisson and negative binomial distributions (NBDs). The S sigma values deviate from the Poisson baseline and are close to the NBD baseline, while the kappa sigma(2) values tend to lie between the two. Within the present uncertainties, our data do not show nonmonotonic behavior as a function of collision energy. These measurements provide a valuable tool to extract the freeze-out parameters in heavy-ion collisions by comparing with theoretical models

Suppression of Upsilon production in d plus Au and Au plus Au collisions at root S-NN=200 GeV

We report measurements of Upsilon meson production in p + p, d + Au, and Au + Au collisions using the STAR detector at RHIC. We compare the Upsilon yield to the measured cross section in p + p collisions in order to quantify any modifications of the yield in cold nuclear matter using d + Au data and in hot nuclear matter using Au + Au data separated into three centrality classes. Our p + p measurement is based on three times the statistics of our previous result. We obtain a nuclear modification factor for Upsilon (1S + 2S + 3S) in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar < 1 in d + Au collisions of R-dAu = 0.79 +/- 0.24(stat.) +/- 0.03(syst.) +/- 0.10(p + p syst.). A comparison with models including shadowing and initial state parton energy loss indicates the presence of additional cold-nuclear matter suppression. Similarly, in the top 10% most-central Au + Au collisions, we measure a nuclear modification factor of R-AA = 0.49 +/- 0.1(stat.) +/- 0.02(syst.) +/- 0.06(p + p syst.), which is a larger suppression factor than that seen in cold nuclear matter. Our results are consistent with complete suppression of excited-state Upsilon mesons in Au + Au collisions. The additional suppression in Au + Au is consistent with the level expected in model calculations that include the presence of a hot, deconfined Quark-Gluon Plasma. However, understanding the suppression seen in d + Au is still needed before any definitive statements about the nature of the suppression in Au + Au can be made735127137CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPRHIC Operations Group; NERSC Center at LBNL; KISTI Center in Korea; Open Science Grid consortium; National Science Foundation (NSF); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Ministry of Education and Science, Russian Federation; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); Chinese Academy of Sciences; Korean Research Foundation, GA; Ministry of Education, Youth & Sports - Czech Republic; FIAS of Germany; Department of Atomic Energy (DAE); Department of Science & Technology (India); Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) - India; National Science Center, Poland; RosAtom of Russia ; RCF at BNL; United States Department of Energy (DOE); United States Department of Energy (DOE); Ministry of Education, China; Ministry of Science and Technology, China; Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, Republic of Croatia; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS

Beam-Energy Dependence of the Directed Flow of Protons, Antiprotons, and Pions in Au plus Au Collisions

Rapidity-odd directed flow (upsilon 1) measurements for charged pions, protons, and antiprotons near midrapidity (y = 0) are reported in root(S)(NN) = 7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4, and 200 GeVAu+Au collisions as recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. At intermediate impact parameters, the proton and net-proton slope parameter d upsilon(1) = d upsilon(1)vertical bar (y=0) shows a minimum between 11.5 and 19.6 GeV. In addition, the net-proton d upsilon(1) = d upsilon(1)vertical bar (y=0) changes sign twice between 7.7 and 39 GeV. The proton and net-proton results qualitatively resemble predictions of a hydrodynamic model with a first-order phase transition from hadronic matter to deconfined matter, and differ from hadronic transport calculations

Charged-to-neutral correlation at forward rapidity in Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

Event-by-event fluctuations of the multiplicities of inclusive charged particles and photons at forward rapidity in Au + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV have been studied. The dominant contribution to such fluctuations is expected to come from correlated production of charged and neutral pions. We search for evidence of dynamical fluctuations of different physical origins. Observables constructed out of moments of multiplicities are used as measures of fluctuations. Mixed events and model calculations are used as base lines. Results are compared to the dynamical net-charge fluctuations measured in the same acceptance. A nonzero statistically significant signal of dynamical fluctuations is observed in excess to the model prediction when charged particles and photons are measured in the same acceptance. We find that, unlike dynamical net-charge fluctuation, charge-neutral fluctuation is not dominated by correlation owing to particle decay. Results are compared to the expectations based on the generic production mechanism of pions owing to isospin symmetry, for which no significant (<1%) deviation is observed

Dielectron Mass Spectra from Au plus Au Collisions at root s(NN)=200 Ge V

We report the STAR measurements of dielectron (e(+)e(-)) production at midrapidity (vertical bar y(ee)vertical bar < 1) in Au + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. The measurements are evaluated in different invariant mass regions with a focus on 0.30-0.76 (rho-like), 0.76-0.80 (omega-like), and 0.98-1.05 (phi-like) GeV/c(2). The spectrum in the omega-like and phi-like regions can be well described by the hadronic cocktail simulation. In the rho-like region, however, the vacuum rho spectral function cannot describe the shape of the dielectron excess. In this range, an enhancement of 1.77 +/- 0.11(stat) +/- 0.24(syst) +/- 0.33(cocktail) is determined with respect to the hadronic cocktail simulation that excludes the rho meson. The excess yield in the rho-like region increases with the number of collision participants faster than the omega and phi yields. Theoretical models with broadened rho contributions through interactions with constituents in the hot QCD medium provide a consistent description of the dilepton mass spectra for the measurement presented here and the earlier data at the Super Proton Synchrotron energies

Beam-Energy Dependence of Charge Separation along the Magnetic Field in Au plus Au Collisions at RHIC

Local parity-odd domains are theorized to form inside a quark-gluon plasma which has been produced in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. The local parity-odd domains manifest themselves as charge separation along the magnetic field axis via the chiral magnetic effect. The experimental observation of charge separation has previously been reported for heavy-ion collisions at the top RHIC energies. In this Letter, we present the results of the beam-energy dependence of the charge correlations in Au + Au collisions at midrapidity for center-of-mass energies of 7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27, 39, and 62.4 GeV from the STAR experiment. After background subtraction, the signal gradually reduces with decreased beam energy and tends to vanish by 7.7 GeV. This implies the dominance of hadronic interactions over partonic ones at lower collision energies

Intermediate Point Norm Optimal Iterative Learning Control

A Norm-Optimal Iterative Learning Control (NOILC) solution is developed for the problem when tracking is only required at a subset of isolated time points along the trial duration. Well-defined convergence properties are presented, along with design guidelines and supporting experimental results using an electromechanical test facility

Jet-Hadron Correlations in root s(NN)=200 GeV p plus p and Central Au plus Au Collisions

Azimuthal angular correlations of charged hadrons with respect to the axis of a reconstructed (trigger) jet in Au + Au and p + p collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV in STAR are presented. The trigger jet population in Au + Au collisions is biased toward jets that have not interacted with the medium, allowing easier matching of jet energies between Au + Au and p + p collisions while enhancing medium effects on the recoil jet. The associated hadron yield of the recoil jet is significantly suppressed at high transverse momentum (p(T)(assoc)) and enhanced at low p(T)(assoc) in 0%-20% central Au + Au collisions compared to p + p collisions, which is indicative of medium-induced parton energy loss in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

Event-plane-dependent dihadron correlations with harmonic v(n) subtraction in Au plus Au collisions at v root sNN=200 GeV

STAR measurements of dihadron azimuthal correlations (Lambda phi) are reported in midcentral (20-60%) Au + Au collisions at v root sNN = 200 GeV as a function of the trigger particle's azimuthal angle relative to the event plane, phi(s) = | phi(1) -psi(EP)|. The elliptic (v(2)), triangular (v(3)), and quadratic (v(4)) flow harmonic backgrounds are subtracted using the zero yield at mini + Au collisions. It is found that a finite near-side (| Delta phi | pi/2) correlation shows a modification from d+ Au data, varying with fs. The modification may be a consequence of path-length-dependent jet quenching and may lead to a better understanding of high-density QCD

An evaluation of the knowledge and needs of women with diabetes in relation to reproductive health; a focus group study

see paper for full list of authorsJet-medium interactions are studied via a multi-hadron correlation technique (called "2+1"), where a pair of back-to-back hadron triggers with large transverse momentum is used as a proxy for a di-jet. This work extends the previous analysis for nearly-symmetric trigger pairs with the highest momentum threshold of trigger hadron of 5 GeV/$c$ with the new calorimeter-based triggers with energy thresholds of up to 10 GeV and above. The distributions of associated hadrons are studied in terms of correlation shapes and per-trigger yields on each trigger side. In contrast with di-hadron correlation results with single triggers, the associated hadron distributions for back-to-back triggers from central Au+Au data at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV show no strong modifications compared to d+Au data at the same energy. An imbalance in the total transverse momentum between hadrons attributed to the near-side and away-side of jet-like peaks is observed. The relative imbalance in the Au+Au measurement with respect to d+Au reference is found to increase with the asymmetry of the trigger pair, consistent with expectation from medium-induced energy loss effects. In addition, this relative total transverse momentum imbalance is found to decrease for softer associated hadrons. Such evolution indicates the energy missing at higher associated momenta is converted into softer hadrons