3,235 research outputs found
An assessment of J/Psi formation in the light of initial RHIC data
Predictions of J/Psi formation at RHIC via "off-diagonal" combinations of
charm and anticharm quarks in a region of color deconfinement are confronted
with initial data from the PHENIX collaboration. We find that the measured
centrality behavior places significant constraints on the various parameters
which control model calculations of J/Psi formation. Within present statistical
and systematic uncertainties, one can map out a region of parameter space
within which the contribution of formation in a deconfined phase is allowed. As
these uncertainties decrease and new data from d-Au interactions becomes
available, it is expected that definitive tests for the presence of this
formation mechanism will be possible. We anticipate that the rapidity and
transverse momentum spectra will prove decisive for a final determination.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, presented at SQM2003, March 12-17, 2003. To be
published in J. Phys.
Neutral Pions and Eta Mesons as Probes of the Hadronic Fireball in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions around 1A GeV
Chemical and thermal freeze-out of the hadronic fireball formed in symmetric
collisions of light, intermediate-mass, and heavy nuclei at beam energies
between 0.8A GeV and 2.0A GeV are discussed in terms of an equilibrated,
isospin-symmetric ideal hadron gas with grand-canonical baryon-number
conservation. For each collision system the baryochemical potential mu_B and
the chemical freeze-out temperature T_c are deduced from the inclusive neutral
pion and eta yields which are augmented by interpolated data on deuteron
production. With increasing beam energy mu_B drops from 800 MeV to 650 MeV,
while T_c rises from 55 MeV to 90 MeV. For given beam energy mu_B grows with
system size, whereas T_c remains constant. The centrality dependence of the
freeze-out parameters is weak as exemplified by the system Au+Au at 0.8A GeV.
For the highest beam energies the fraction of nucleons excited to resonance
states reaches freeze-out values of nearly 15 %, suggesting resonance densities
close to normal nuclear density at maximum compression. In contrast to the
particle yields, which convey the status at chemical freeze-out, the shapes of
the related transverse-mass spectra do reflect thermal freeze-out. The observed
thermal freeze-out temperatures T_th are equal to or slightly lower than T_c,
indicative of nearly simultaneous chemical and thermal freeze-out.Comment: 42 pages, 12 figure
Heavy-flavour production in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC, measured with the ALICE detector
We present the first results from the ALICE experiment on the nuclear
modification factors for heavy-flavour hadron production in Pb-Pb collisions at
sqrt{s_NN}=2.76 TeV. Using proton-proton and lead-lead collision samples at
sqrt{s}=7 TeV and sqrt{s_NN}=2.76 TeV, respectively, nuclear modification
factors R_AA(pt) were measured for D mesons at central rapidity (via displaced
decay vertex reconstruction), and for electrons and muons, at central and
forward rapidity, respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, plenary talk at Quark Matter 2011, Annecy, Franc
The Vector Probe in Heavy-Ion Reactions
We review essential elements in using the channel as a probe for
hot and dense matter as produced in (ultra-) relativistic collisions of heavy
nuclei. The uniqueness of the vector channel resides in the fact that it
directly couples to photons, both real and virtual (dileptons), enabling the
study of thermal radiation and in-medium effects on both light () and heavy () vector mesons. We emphasize the importance
of interrelations between photons and dileptons, and characterize relevant
energy/mass regimes through connections to Quark-Gluon-Plasma emission and
chiral symmetry restoration. Based on critical analysis of our current
understanding of data from fixed-target energies, we identify open key
questions to be addressed.Comment: Invited Talk at the Hot Quarks 2004 Workshop, July 18-24, 2004 (Taos
Valley, NM, USA), 15 pages latex incl 14 figs and iop style files, to appear
in the proceeding
Latest results from NA60
The NA60 experiment has measured the production of muon pairs and of charged
particles in In+In collisions at a beam energy of 158 AGeV. For invariant
dimuon masses below the phi the space-time averaged rho spectral function was
isolated by a novel procedure. It shows a strong broadening but essentially no
shift in mass. The production of J/psi was measured as a function of the
collision centrality. As in previous experiments studying Pb+Pb collisions an
anomalous supression is observed, setting in at approximately 90 participant
nucleons. Using the charged particles the reaction plane was reconstructed. The
elliptic flow of charged particles increases with pt showing a saturation for
pt > 2GeV/c. For the first time azimuthal distributions for J/psi are shown.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, talk given at the conference "Strangeness in
Quark Matter 2006 (SQM2006)", March 2006, Los Angeles, USA, accepted for
publication in Journal of Physics
NA60 results on spectra and the spectral function in In-In collisions
The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS has studied low-mass muon pairs in 158
AGeV In-In collisions. A strong excess of pairs is observed above the yield
expected from neutral meson decays. The unprecedented sample size of close to
400K events and the good mass resolution of about 2% have made it possible to
isolate the excess by subtraction of the decay sources (keeping the ).
The shape of the resulting mass spectrum exhibits considerable broadening, but
essentially no shift in mass. The acceptance-corrected transverse-momentum
spectra have a shape atypical for radial flow and show a significant mass
dependence, pointing to different sources in different mass regions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Quark Matter 2006 conference proceeding
Low Mass Dimuon Production in Indium-Indium Collisions at the CERN SPS
NA60 is a fixed-target experiment at the CERN SPS which measured dimuon
production in nucleus-nucleus and proton-nucleus collisions. In this paper we
report on a precision measurement of low-mass muon pairs in 158 AGeV
indium-indium collisions. A significant excess of pairs is observed above the
yield expected from neutral meson decays. The excess can be isolated by
subtraction of expected sources, thanks to the excellent mass resolution and
large sample size.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Contribution at XLIst Rencontres de Moriond, "QCD
and High Energy Hadronic Interactions
First Measurement of the rho Spectral Function in High-Energy Nuclear Collisions
We report on a precision measurement of low-mass muon pairs in 158 AGeV
indium-indium collisions at the CERN SPS. A significant excess of pairs is
observed above the yield expected from neutral meson decays. The unprecedented
sample size of 360 000 dimuons and the good mass resolution of about 2% allow
us to isolate the excess by subtraction of the decay sources. The shape of the
resulting mass spectrum is consistent with a dominant contribution from
pi+pi-->rho-->mu+mu- annihilation. The associated space-time averaged rho
spectral function shows a strong broadening, but essentially no shift in mass.
This may rule out theoretical models linking hadron masse
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