1,084 research outputs found
Vertex reconstruction algorithms in the PHOBOS experiment at RHIC
The PHOBOS experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at
Brookhaven National Laboratory is studying interactions of heavy nuclei at the
largest energies available in the laboratory. The high multiplicity of
particles created in heavy ion collisions makes precise vertex reconstruction
possible using information from a spectrometer and a specialized vertex
detector with relatively small acceptances. For lower multiplicity events, a
large acceptance, single layer multiplicity detector is used and special
algorithms are developed to reconstruct the vertex, resulting in high
efficiency at the expense of poorer resolution. The algorithms used in the
PHOBOS experiment and their performance are presented.Comment: presented at the Workshop on Tracking In high Multiplicity
Environments, TIME0
The Importance of Correlations and Fluctuations on the Initial Source Eccentricity in High-Energy Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions
In this paper, we investigate various ways of defining the initial source
eccentricity using the Monte Carlo Glauber (MCG) approach. In particular, we
examine the participant eccentricity, which quantifies the eccentricity of the
initial source shape by the major axes of the ellipse formed by the interaction
points of the participating nucleons. We show that reasonable variation of the
density parameters in the Glauber calculation, as well as variations in how
matter production is modeled, do not significantly modify the already
established behavior of the participant eccentricity as a function of collision
centrality. Focusing on event-by-event fluctuations and correlations of the
distributions of participating nucleons we demonstrate that, depending on the
achieved event-plane resolution, fluctuations in the elliptic flow magnitude
lead to most measurements being sensitive to the root-mean-square, rather
than the mean of the distribution. Neglecting correlations among
participants, we derive analytical expressions for the participant eccentricity
cumulants as a function of the number of participating nucleons,
\Npart,keeping non-negligible contributions up to \ordof{1/\Npart^3}. We
find that the derived expressions yield the same results as obtained from
mixed-event MCG calculations which remove the correlations stemming from the
nuclear collision process. Most importantly, we conclude from the comparison
with MCG calculations that the fourth order participant eccentricity cumulant
does not approach the spatial anisotropy obtained assuming a smooth nuclear
matter distribution. In particular, for the Cu+Cu system, these quantities
deviate from each other by almost a factor of two over a wide range in
centrality.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, submitted to PR
System size and centrality dependence of charged hadron transverse momentum spectra in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt(s) = 62.4 and 200 GeV
We present transverse momentum distributions of charged hadrons produced in
Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt(s) = 62.4 and 200 GeV. The spectra are measured for
transverse momenta of 0.25 < p_T < 5.0 GeV/c at sqrt(s) = 62.4 GeV and 0.25 <
p_T < 7.0 GeV/c at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV, in a pseudo-rapidity range of 0.2 < eta <
1.4. The nuclear modification factor R_AA is calculated relative to p+p data at
both collision energies as a function of collision centrality. At a given
collision energy and fractional cross-section, R_AA is observed to be
systematically larger in Cu+Cu collisions compared to Au+Au. However, for the
same number of participating nucleons, R_AA is essentially the same in both
systems over the measured range of p_T, in spite of the significantly different
geometries of the Cu+Cu and Au+Au systems.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
System Size, Energy and Centrality Dependence of Pseudorapidity Distributions of Charged Particles in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions
We present the first measurements of the pseudorapidity distribution of
primary charged particles in Cu+Cu collisions as a function of collision
centrality and energy, \sqrtsnn = 22.4, 62.4 and 200 GeV, over a wide range of
pseudorapidity, using the PHOBOS detector. Making a global comparison of Cu+Cu
and Au+Au results, we find that the total number of produced charged particles
and the rough shape (height and width) of the pseudorapidity distributions are
determined by the number of nucleon participants. More detailed studies reveal
that a more precise matching of the shape of the Cu+Cu and Au+Au pseudorapidity
distributions over the full range of pseudorapidity occurs for the same
Npart/2A value rather than the same Npart value. In other words, it is the
collision geometry rather than just the number of nucleon participants that
drives the detailed shape of the pseudorapidity distribution and its centrality
dependence at RHIC energies.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review Letter
Identified charged antiparticle to particle ratios near midrapidity in Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt(s) = 62.4 and 200 GeV
Antiparticle to particle ratios for identified protons, kaons and pions at
sqrt(s) = 62.4 and 200 GeV in Cu+Cu collisions are presented as a function of
centrality for the midrapidity region of 0.2 < eta < 1.4. No strong dependence
on centrality is observed. For the / ratio at ~ 0.51 GeV/c, we
observe an average value of 0.50 +/- 0.003_(stat) +/- 0.04_(syst) and 0.77 +/-
0.008_(stat) +/- 0.05_(syst) for the 10% most central collisions of 62.4 and
200 GeV Cu+Cu, respectively. The values for all three particle species measured
at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV are in agreement within systematic uncertainties with that
seen in both heavier and lighter systems measured at the same RHIC energy. This
indicates that system size does not appear to play a strong role in determining
the midrapidity chemical freeze-out properties affecting the antiparticle to
particle ratios of the three most abundant particle species produced in these
collisions.Comment: 5 Pages, 4 figures Made changes to the figures to include the panel
numbers. Slight changes to the text. Updated data points from other
experiment
System Size, Energy, Pseudorapidity, and Centrality Dependence of Elliptic Flow
This paper presents measurements of the elliptic flow of charged particles as
a function of pseudorapidity and centrality from Cu-Cu collisions at 62.4 and
200 GeV using the PHOBOS detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
(RHIC). The elliptic flow in Cu-Cu collisions is found to be significant even
for the most central events. For comparison with the Au-Au results, it is found
that the detailed way in which the collision geometry (eccentricity) is
estimated is of critical importance when scaling out system-size effects. A new
form of eccentricity, called the participant eccentricity, is introduced which
yields a scaled elliptic flow in the Cu-Cu system that has the same relative
magnitude and qualitative features as that in the Au-Au system
Cluster properties from two-particle angular correlations in p+p collisions at = 200 and 410 GeV
We present results on two-particle angular correlations in proton-proton
collisions at center of mass energies of 200 and 410 GeV. The PHOBOS experiment
at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has a uniquely large coverage for
charged particles, giving the opportunity to explore the correlations at both
short- and long-range scales. At both energies, a complex two-dimensional
correlation structure in and is observed. In the
context of an independent cluster model of short-range correlations, the
cluster size and its decay width are extracted from the two-particle
pseudorapidity correlation function and compared with previous measurements in
proton-proton and proton-antiproton collisions, as well as PYTHIA and HIJING
predictions.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Latest Results from PHOBOS
This manuscript contains a summary of the latest physics results from PHOBOS,
as reported at Quark Matter 2006. Highlights include the first measurement from
PHOBOS of dynamical elliptic flow fluctuations as well as an explanation of
their possible origin, two-particle correlations, identified particle ratios,
identified particle spectra and the latest results in global charged particle
production.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, PHOBOS plenary proceedings for Quark Matter 200
System size, energy, centrality and pseudorapidity dependence of charged-particle density in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at RHIC
Charged particle pseudorapidity distributions are presented from the PHOBOS
experiment at RHIC, measured in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt{s_NN}=19.6,
22.4, 62.4, 130 and 200 GeV, as a function of collision centrality. The
presentation includes the recently analyzed Cu+Cu data at 22.4 GeV. The
measurements were made by the same detector setup over a broad range in
pseudorapidity, |eta|<5.4, allowing for a reliable systematic study of particle
production as a function of energy, centrality and system size. Comparing Cu+Cu
and Au+Au results, we find that the total number of produced charged particles
and the overall shape (height and width) of the pseudorapidity distributions
are determined by the number of nucleon participants, N_part. Detailed
comparisons reveal that the matching of the shape of the Cu+Cu and Au+Au
pseudorapidity distributions over the full range of eta is better for the same
N_part/2A value than for the same N_part value, where A denotes the mass
number. In other words, it is the geometry of the nuclear overlap zone, rather
than just the number of nucleon participants that drives the detailed shape of
the pseudorapidity distribution and its centrality dependence.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Presented at the 20th International Conference on
Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (Quark Matter 2008), Jaipur, Rajasthan, India,
4-10 February 200
Phobos results on charged particle multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions in Au+Au, Cu+Cu, d+Au, and p+p collisions at ultra-relativistic energies
Pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles emitted in ,
, , and collisions over a wide energy range have been
measured using the PHOBOS detector at RHIC. The centrality dependence of both
the charged particle distributions and the multiplicity at midrapidity were
measured. Pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles emitted with
, which account for between 95% and 99% of the total
charged-particle emission associated with collision participants, are presented
for different collision centralities. Both the midrapidity density,
, and the total charged-particle multiplicity, , are
found to factorize into a product of independent functions of collision energy,
, and centrality given in terms of the number of nucleons
participating in the collision, . The total charged particle
multiplicity, observed in these experiments and those at lower energies,
assumes a linear dependence of over the full range of
collision energy of =2.7-200 GeV.Comment: 25 pages, 29 figures, 8 table
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