440 research outputs found
Exploring the QCD landscape with high-energy nuclear collisions
Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) phase diagram is usually plotted as temperature
(T) versus the chemical potential associated with the conserved baryon number
(\mu_{B}). Two fundamental properties of QCD, related to confinement and chiral
symmetry, allows for two corresponding phase transitions when T and \mu_{B} are
varied. Theoretically the phase diagram is explored through non-perturbative
QCD calculations on lattice. The energy scale for the phase diagram
(\Lambda_{QCD} ~ 200 MeV) is such that it can be explored experimentally by
colliding nuclei at varying beam energies in the laboratory. In this paper we
review some aspects of the QCD phase structure as explored through the
experimental studies using high energy nuclear collisions. Specifically, we
discuss three observations related to the formation of a strongly coupled
plasma of quarks and gluons in the collisions, experimental search for the QCD
critical point on the phase diagram and freeze-out properties of the hadronic
phase.Comment: Submitted to the New Journal of Physics focus issue "Strongly
Correlated Quantum Fluids: From Ultracold Quantum Gases to QCD Plasmas
Dissociation of ssDNA - Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Hybrids by Watson-Crick Base Pairing
The unwrapping event of ssDNA from the SWNT during the Watson-Crick base
paring is investigated through electrical and optical methods, and binding
energy calculations. While the ssDNA-metallic SWNT hybrid shows the p-type
semiconducting property, the hybridization product recovered metallic
properties. The gel electrophoresis directly verifies the result of wrapping
and unwrapping events which was also reflected to the Raman shifts. Our
molecular dynamics simulations and binding energy calculations provide
atomistic description for the pathway to this phenomenon. This nano-physical
phenomenon will open up a new approach for nano-bio sensing of specific
sequences with the advantages of efficient particle-based recognition, no
labeling, and direct electrical detection which can be easily realized into a
microfluidic chip format.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Centrality and dE_{T}/d\etadN_{ch}/d\eta$ in Heavy Ion Collisions at Mid-Rapidity
The PHENIX experiment at RHIC has measured transverse energy and charged
particle multiplicity at mid-rapidity in Au + Au collisions at
= 19.6, 130, 62.4 and 200 GeV as a function of centrality. The presented
results are compared to measurements from other RHIC experiments, and
experiments at lower energies. The dependence of
and per pair of participants is consistent with logarithmic
scaling for the most central events. The centrality dependence of
and is similar at all measured incident
energies. At RHIC energies the ratio of transverse energy per charged particle
was found independent of centrality and growing slowly with . A
survey of comparisons between the data and available theoretical models is also
presented.Comment: Proccedings of the Workshop: Focus on Multiplcity at Bari, Italy,
June 17-19,2004. To be submitted to the Jornal of Physics, "Conference
series". Includes: 20 Pages, 15 figures, 3 Tables, 80 Referencie
Parton Collectivity from RHIC to the LHC
Anisotropic flow is recognized as one of the main observables providing
information on the early dynamics in heavy-ion collisions. The large elliptic
flow observed at RHIC is considered to be evidence for almost perfect liquid
behavior of the strongly coupled Quark Gluon Plasma produced in the collisions.
In this report we review our current understanding of this new state of matter
and investigate the predictions for anisotropic flow at the LHC.Comment: 8 pages, proceedings SQM 200
Thermal Dileptons at LHC
We predict dilepton invariant-mass spectra for central 5.5 ATeV Pb-Pb
collisions at LHC. Hadronic emission in the low-mass region is calculated using
in-medium spectral functions of light vector mesons within hadronic many-body
theory. In the intermediate-mass region thermal radiation from the Quark-Gluon
Plasma, evaluated perturbatively with hard-thermal loop corrections, takes
over. An important source over the entire mass range are decays of correlated
open-charm hadrons, rendering the nuclear modification of charm and bottom
spectra a critical ingredient.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, contributed to Workshop on Heavy Ion Collisions
at the LHC: Last Call for Predictions, Geneva, Switzerland, 14 May - 8 Jun
2007 v2: acknowledgment include
An Experimental Exploration of the QCD Phase Diagram: The Search for the Critical Point and the Onset of De-confinement
The QCD phase diagram lies at the heart of what the RHIC Physics Program is
all about. While RHIC has been operating very successfully at or close to its
maximum energy for almost a decade, it has become clear that this collider can
also be operated at lower energies down to 5 GeV without extensive upgrades. An
exploration of the full region of beam energies available at the RHIC facility
is imperative. The STAR detector, due to its large uniform acceptance and
excellent particle identification capabilities, is uniquely positioned to carry
out this program in depth and detail. The first exploratory beam energy scan
(BES) run at RHIC took place in 2010 (Run 10), since several STAR upgrades,
most importantly a full barrel Time of Flight detector, are now completed which
add new capabilities important for the interesting physics at BES energies. In
this document we discuss current proposed measurements, with estimations of the
accuracy of the measurements given an assumed event count at each beam energy.Comment: 59 pages, 78 figure
Observation of the antimatter helium-4 nucleus
High-energy nuclear collisions create an energy density similar to that of
the universe microseconds after the Big Bang, and in both cases, matter and
antimatter are formed with comparable abundance. However, the relatively
short-lived expansion in nuclear collisions allows antimatter to decouple
quickly from matter, and avoid annihilation. Thus, a high energy accelerator of
heavy nuclei is an efficient means of producing and studying antimatter. The
antimatter helium-4 nucleus (), also known as the anti-{\alpha}
(), consists of two antiprotons and two antineutrons (baryon
number B=-4). It has not been observed previously, although the {\alpha}
particle was identified a century ago by Rutherford and is present in cosmic
radiation at the 10% level. Antimatter nuclei with B < -1 have been observed
only as rare products of interactions at particle accelerators, where the rate
of antinucleus production in high-energy collisions decreases by about 1000
with each additional antinucleon. We present the observation of the antimatter
helium-4 nucleus, the heaviest observed antinucleus. In total 18
counts were detected at the STAR experiment at RHIC in 10 recorded Au+Au
collisions at center-of-mass energies of 200 GeV and 62 GeV per nucleon-nucleon
pair. The yield is consistent with expectations from thermodynamic and
coalescent nucleosynthesis models, which has implications beyond nuclear
physics.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Nature. Under media embarg
Elliptic flow of electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays in Au+Au collisions at 200, 62.4, and 39 GeV
We present measurements of elliptic flow () of electrons from the decays
of heavy-flavor hadrons () by the STAR experiment. For Au+Au collisions
at 200 GeV we report , for transverse momentum
() between 0.2 and 7 GeV/c using three methods: the event plane method
({EP}), two-particle correlations ({2}), and four-particle
correlations ({4}). For Au+Au collisions at = 62.4 and
39 GeV we report {2} for GeV/c. {2} and {4} are
non-zero at low and intermediate at 200 GeV, and {2} is consistent
with zero at low at other energies. The {2} at the two lower beam
energies is systematically lower than at 200 GeV for
GeV/c. This difference may suggest that charm quarks interact less
strongly with the surrounding nuclear matter at those two lower energies
compared to GeV.Comment: Version accepted by PR
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