Event-by-event background in estimates of the chiral magnetic effect

In terms of the parton-hadron-string-dynamics (PHSD) approach - including the retarded electromagnetic field - we investigate the role of fluctuations of the correlation function in the azimuthal angle $\psi$ of charged hadrons that is expected to be a sensitive signal of local strong parity violation. For the early time we consider fluctuations in the position of charged spectators resulting in electromagnetic field fluctuations as well as in the position of participant baryons defining the event plane. For partonic and hadronic phases in intermediate stages of the interaction we study the possible formation of excited matter in electric charge dipole and quadrupole form as generated by fluctuations. The role of the transverse momentum and local charge conservation laws in the observed azimuthal asymmetry is investigated, too. All these above-mentioned effects are incorporated in our analysis based on event-by-event PHSD calculations. Furthermore, the azimuthal angular correlations from Au+Au collisions observed in the recent STAR measurements within the RHIC Beam-Energy-Scan (BES) program are studied. It is shown that the STAR correlation data at the collision energies of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 7.7 and 11.5 GeV can be reasonably reproduced within the PHSD. At higher energies the model fails to describe the $\psi$ correlation data resulting in an overestimation of the partonic scalar field involved. We conclude that an additional transverse anisotropy fluctuating source is needed which with a comparable strength acts on both in- and out-of-plane components.Comment: 20 pages, 19 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Charged particle directed flow in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 2.76 TeV measured with ALICE at the LHC

Charged particle directed flow at midrapidity, |eta|<0.8, and forward rapidity, 1.7 < |eta|<5.1, is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 2.76 TeV with ALICE at the LHC. Directed flow is reported as a function of collision centrality, charged particle transverse momentum, and pseudo-rapidity. Results are compared to measurements at RHIC and recent model calculations for LHC energies.Comment: Talk given at the XXII International Conference on Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (Quark Matter 2011), 23-28 May 2011, Annecy, France; 4 pages, 3 figure

Two-particle correlations in azimuthal angle and pseudorapidity in inelastic p + p interactions at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron

Results on two-particle ΔηΔϕ correlations in inelastic p + p interactions at 20, 31, 40, 80, and 158 GeV/c are presented. The measurements were performed using the large acceptance NA61/SHINE hadron spectrometer at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. The data show structures which can be attributed mainly to effects of resonance decays, momentum conservation, and quantum statistics. The results are compared with the Epos and UrQMD models.ISSN:1434-6044ISSN:1434-605

Transverse-momentum ptp_t correlations on (η,ϕ)(\eta,\phi) from mean-ptp_{t} fluctuations in Au-Au collisions at sNN=\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

We present first measurements of the pseudorapidity and azimuth $(\eta,\phi)$ bin-size dependence of event-wise mean transverse momentum $$ fluctuations for Au-Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV. We invert that dependence to obtain $p_t$ autocorrelations on differences $(\eta_\Delta,\phi_\Delta)$ interpreted to represent velocity/temperature distributions on ($\eta,\phi$). The general form of the autocorrelations suggests that the basic correlation mechanism is parton fragmentation. The autocorrelations vary strongly with collision centrality, which suggests that fragmentation is strongly modified by a dissipative medium in the more central Au-Au collisions relative to peripheral or p-p collisions. \\Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Centrality evolution of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density over a broad pseudorapidity range in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

Peer reviewe

Probing dense baryon-rich matter with virtual photons

International audienceAbout 10 μs after the Big Bang, the universe was filled—in addition to photons and leptons—with strong-interaction matter consisting of quarks and gluons, which transitioned to hadrons at temperatures close to kT = 150 MeV and densities several times higher than those found in nuclei. This quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matter can be created in the laboratory as a transient state by colliding heavy ions at relativistic energies. The different phases in which QCD matter may exist depend for example on temperature, pressure or baryochemical potential, and can be probed by studying the emission of electromagnetic radiation. Electron–positron pairs emerge from the decay of virtual photons, which immediately decouple from the strong interaction, and thus provide information about the properties of QCD matter at various stages. Here, we report the observation of virtual photon emission from baryon-rich QCD matter. The spectral distribution of the electron–positron pairs is nearly exponential, providing evidence for a source of temperature in excess of 70 MeV with constituents whose properties have been modified, thus reflecting peculiarities of strong-interaction QCD matter. Its bulk properties are similar to the dense matter formed in the final state of a neutron star merger, as apparent from recent multimessenger observation