J/ψ production at low pT in Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions at √SNN = 200 GeV with the STAR detector

The J/ψ pT spectrum and nuclear modification factor (RAA) are reported for pT<5GeV/c and |y|<1 from 0% to 60% central Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at √sNN=200GeV at STAR. A significant suppression of pT-integrated J/ψ production is observed in central Au+Au events. The Cu+Cu data are consistent with no suppression, although the precision is limited by the available statistics. RAA in Au+Au collisions exhibits a strong suppression at low transverse momentum and gradually increases with pT. The data are compared to high-pT STAR results and previously published BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider results. Comparing with model calculations, it is found that the invariant yields at low pT are significantly above hydrodynamic flow predictions but are consistent with models that include color screening and regeneration

Neutral pion cross section and spin asymmetries at intermediate pseudorapidity in polarized proton collisions at √s=200 GeV

The differential cross section and spin asymmetries for neutral pions produced within the intermediate pseudorapidity range 0.8<η<2.0 in polarized proton-proton collisions at √s=200  GeV are presented. Neutral pions were detected using the end cap electromagnetic calorimeter in the STAR detector at RHIC. The cross section was measured over a transverse momentum range of 5<pT<16  GeV/c and is found to agree with a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation. The longitudinal double-spin asymmetry ALL is measured in the same pseudorapidity range and spans a range of Bjorken-x down to x≈0.01. The measured ALL is consistent with model predictions for varying degrees of gluon polarization. The parity-violating asymmetry AL is also measured and found to be consistent with zero. The transverse single-spin asymmetry AN is measured over a previously unexplored kinematic range in Feynman-x and pT. Such measurements may aid our understanding of the onset and kinematic dependence of the large asymmetries observed at more forward pseudorapidity (η≈3) and their underlying mechanisms. The AN results presented are consistent with a twist-3 model prediction of a small asymmetry over the present kinematic range

Event-plane-dependent dihadron correlations with harmonic vn subtraction in Au + Au collisions at √sNN=200 GeV

STAR measurements of dihadron azimuthal correlations (Δϕ) are reported in midcentral (20–60%) Au + Au collisions at √sNN=200 GeV as a function of the trigger particle's azimuthal angle relative to the event plane, ϕs=|ϕt−ψEP|. The elliptic (v2), triangular (v3), and quadratic (v4) flow harmonic backgrounds are subtracted using the zero yield at minimum (ZYAM) method. The results are compared to minimum-bias d + Au collisions. It is found that a finite near-side (|Δϕ|π/2) correlation shows a modification from d + Au data, varying with ϕs. The modification may be a consequence of path-length-dependent jet quenching and may lead to a better understanding of high-density QCD

Beam energy dependence of moments of the net-charge multiplicity distributions in Au+Au collisions at RHIC

We report the first measurements of the moments—mean (M), variance (σ2), skewness (S), and kurtosis (κ)—of the net-charge multiplicity distributions at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at seven energies, ranging from sNN−−−√=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, σ2/M, Sσ, and κσ2, with the expectations from Poisson and negative binomial distributions (NBDs). The Sσ values deviate from the Poisson baseline and are close to the NBD baseline, while the κσ2 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

Observation of D0 Meson Nuclear Modifications in Au + Au Collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV

We report the first measurement of charmed-hadron (D0) production via the hadronic decay channel (D0→K−+π+) in Au+Au collisions at √sNN=200  GeV with the STAR experiment. The charm production cross section per nucleon-nucleon collision at midrapidity scales with the number of binary collisions, Nbin, from p+p to central Au+Au collisions. The D0 meson yields in central Au+Au collisions are strongly suppressed compared to those in p+p scaled by Nbin, for transverse momenta pT>3  GeV/c, demonstrating significant energy loss of charm quarks in the hot and dense medium. An enhancement at intermediate pT is also observed. Model calculations including strong charm-medium interactions and coalescence hadronization describe our measurements

Measurement of Longitudinal Spin Asymmetries for Weak Boson Production in Polarized Proton-Proton Collisions at RHIC

We report measurements of single- and double-spin asymmetries for W± and Z/γ∗ boson production in longitudinally polarized p+p collisions at √s=510  GeV by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The asymmetries for W± were measured as a function of the decay lepton pseudorapidity, which provides a theoretically clean probe of the proton’s polarized quark distributions at the scale of the W mass. The results are compared to theoretical predictions, constrained by polarized deep inelastic scattering measurements, and show a preference for a sizable, positive up antiquark polarization in the range 0.05<x<0.2

Dielectron azimuthal anisotropy at mid-rapidity in Au + Au collisions at √sNN=200 GeV

We report on the first measurement of the azimuthal anisotropy (v2) of dielectrons (e+e− pairs) at mid-rapidity from √sNN=200 GeV Au + Au collisions with the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), presented as a function of transverse momentum (pT) for different invariant-mass regions. In the mass region Mee<1.1 GeV/c2 the dielectron v2 measurements are found to be consistent with expectations from π0,η,ω, and ϕ decay contributions. In the mass region 1.1<Mee<2.9GeV/c2, the measured dielectron v2 is consistent, within experimental uncertainties, with that from the cc¯ contributions

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

Rapidity-odd directed flow (v1) measurements for charged pions, protons, and antiprotons near midrapidity (y=0) are reported in √sNN=7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4, and 200 GeV Au+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 dv1/dy|y=0 shows a minimum between 11.5 and 19.6 GeV. In addition, the net-proton dv1/dy|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

J/ψ polarization in p + p collisions at √s = 200 GeV in STAR

We report on a polarization measurement of inclusive J/ψ m√esons in the di-electron decay channel at mid-rapidity at 2 < pT < 6 GeV/c in p + p collisions at s = 200 GeV. Data were taken with the STAR detector at RHIC. The J/ψ polarization measurement should help to distinguish between the different models of the J/ψ production mechanism since they predict different pT dependences of the J/ψ polarization. In this analysis, J/ψ polarization is studied in the helicity frame. The polarization parameter λθ measured at RHIC becomes smaller towards high pT , indicating more longitudinal J/ψ polarization as pT increases. The result is compared with predictions of presently available models

Beam-Energy Dependence of Charge Separation along the Magnetic Field in Au+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