Energy dependence of pion and kaon production in central Pb+Pb collisions

Measurements of charged pion and kaon production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 40, 80 and 158 AGeV are presented. These are compared with data at lower and higher energies as well as with results from p+p interactions. The mean pion multiplicity per wounded nucleon increases approximately linearly with s_NN^1/4 with a change of slope starting in the region 15-40 AGeV. The change from pion suppression with respect to p+p interactions, as observed at low collision energies, to pion enhancement at high energies occurs at about 40 AGeV. A non-monotonic energy dependence of the ratio of K^+ to pi^+ yields is observed, with a maximum close to 40 AGeV and an indication of a nearly constant value at higher energies.The measured dependences may be related to an increase of the entropy production and a decrease of the strangeness to entropy ratio in central Pb+Pb collisions in the low SPS energy range, which is consistent with the hypothesis that a transient state of deconfined matter is created above these energies. Other interpretations of the data are also discussed

Strange Particles from NEXUS 3

After discussing conceptual problems with the conventional string model, we present a new approach, based on a theoretically consistent multiple scattering formalism. First results for strange particle production in proton-proton scattering at 158 GeV and at 200 GeV (cms) are discussed.Comment: invited talk, given at the Strange Quark Matter Conference, Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, March 12-17, 200

A description of the ratio between electric and magnetic proton form factors by using space-like, time-like data and dispersion relations

We use the available information on the ratio between the electric and magnetic proton form factors coming from recently published space-like data and from the few available time-like data. We apply a dispersive procedure on these data to evaluate the behaviour of this ratio, as a complex function, for all values of q^2.Comment: 12 pages, 7 Encapsulated Postscript figures, uses epsfig, rotating, exscale, amsmath, cite, latexsym, graphics, color packages, added reference

Eikonal representation in the momentum-transfer space

By means of empirical fits to the differential cross section data on pp and p(bar)p elastic scattering, above 10 GeV (center-of-mass energy), we determine the eikonal in the momentum - transfer space (q^2- space). We make use of a numerical method and a novel semi-analytical method, through which the uncertainties from the fit parameters can be propagated up to the eikonal in the $q^2$- space. A systematic study of the effect of the experimental information at large values of the momentum transfer is developed and discussed in detail. We present statistical evidence that the imaginary part of the eikonal changes sign in the q^2- space and that the position of the zero decreases as the energy increases; after the position of the zero, the eikonal presents a minimum and then goes to zero through negative values. We discuss the applicability of our results in the phenomenological context, outlining some connections with nonperturbative QCD. A short review and a critical discussion on the main results concerning "model-independent" analyses are also presented.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures, 4 tables, svjour.cls. Revised discussion on the proton's electromagnetic form factor and references added. To appear in Eur. Phys. J.

Elliptic flow of charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV

We report the first measurement of charged particle elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is performed in the central pseudorapidity region (|$\eta$|<0.8) and transverse momentum range 0.2< $p_{\rm T}$< 5.0 GeV/$c$. The elliptic flow signal v$_2$, measured using the 4-particle correlation method, averaged over transverse momentum and pseudorapidity is 0.087 $\pm$ 0.002 (stat) $\pm$ 0.004 (syst) in the 40-50% centrality class. The differential elliptic flow v$_2(p_{\rm T})$ reaches a maximum of 0.2 near $p_{\rm T}$ = 3 GeV/$c$. Compared to RHIC Au-Au collisions at 200 GeV, the elliptic flow increases by about 30%. Some hydrodynamic model predictions which include viscous corrections are in agreement with the observed increase.Comment: 10 pages, 4 captioned figures, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/389

Evidence for an Excess of Soft Photons in Hadronic Decays of Z^0

Soft photons inside hadronic jets converted in front of the DELPHI main tracker (TPC) in events of qqbar disintegrations of the Z^0 were studied in the kinematic range 0.2 < E_gamma < 1 GeV and transverse momentum with respect to the closest jet direction p_T < 80 MeV/c. A clear excess of photons in the experimental data as compared to the Monte Carlo predictions is observed. This excess (uncorrected for the photon detection efficiency) is (1.17 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.27) x 10^{-3} gamma/jet in the specified kinematic region, while the expected level of the inner hadronic bremsstrahlung (which is not included in the Monte Carlo) is (0.340 +/- 0.001 +/- 0.038) x 10^{-3} gamma/jet. The ratio of the excess to the predicted bremsstrahlung rate is then (3.4 +/- 0.2 +/- 0.8), which is similar in strength to the anomalous soft photon signal observed in fixed target experiments with hadronic beams.Comment: 37 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.

Study of QGP signatures with the phi->K+K- signal in Pb-Pb ALICE events

The phi->K+K- decay channel in Pb-Pb collisions at LHC is studied through a full simulation of the ALICE detector. The study focuses on possible signatures in this channel of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation. On a basis of 10^6 collisions at high centrality some proposed QGP signatures are clearly visible both in K+K- invariant mass and transverse mass distributions. The high significance of this observation appears to reside heavily on the use of the TOF (Time Of Flight) system of ALICE in addition to its central tracking detectors.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, to appear in EPJ