Heavy Flavor Production at STAR

e present measurements on $D^0$ meson production via direct reconstruction of its hadronic decay channel $D^0\to K\pi$ in minimum bias $d$+Au and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV with $p_T$ up to $\sim$3 GeV/$c$. Non-photonic electron spectra from the charm semi-leptonic decays are analyzed from the same data set as well as in $p$+$p$ collision at $\sqrt{s}$=200 GeV using the STAR Time-of-Flight (TOF) and Barrel EMC (BEMC) detectors, respectively. Results of the charm-decayed single muon (prompt muon) spectra are also presented at low $p_T$ in Au+Au collisions measured by the TOF detector. The charm production total cross-section per nucleon-nucleon collision is measured to be 1.26$\pm$0.09(stat.)$\pm$0.23(sys.) mb in minimum bias Au+Au collisions, which is consistent with the $N_{bin}$ scaling compared to 1.4$\pm0.2\pm$0.4 mb in minimum bias $d$+Au collisions, and supports the idea that charm quarks should be produced mostly via parton fusion at early stage in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. A Blast-Wave model fit to the low $p_T$ ($<2$ GeV/c) non-photonic electrons, prompt muons and $D^0$ spectra shows that charm hadrons may kinetically freeze-out earlier than light hadrons with a smaller collective velocity. The nuclear modification factors ($R_{AA}$) of the non-photonic electrons in central Au+Au collisions are significantly below unity at $p_T>\sim$2 GeV/$c$, which indicates a significant amount of energy loss for heavy quarks in Au+Au collisions. The charm transverse momentum distribution must have been modified by the hot and dense matter created in central Au+Au collisions at RHIC.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, proceedings for the Strange Quark Matter 2006 conferenc

Open Charm Production at STAR

We present the open charm spectra at mid-rapidity from direct reconstruction of D0, D* and D+/- in d+Au collisions at sqrt(sNN)=200 GeV using the STAR detector at RHIC. The indirect electron/positron measurements via charm semileptonic decays in p+p and d+Au collisions are also reported. The total c\bar(c) cross section per nucleon-nucleon collision is extracted from both direct and indirect measurements and are consistent with each other. By combining the D0 and semileptonic measurements together, the cross section of 1.4+/-0.2+/-0.4 mb is higher than expectations from PYTHIA and other pQCD calculations. The open charm pT distribution from direct measurements covers the pT range up to ~10 GeV/c and follows a power-law distribution.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, proceedings for Hot Quark 04 Conference. submitted to J. Phys. G: Nucl. Phy

Multi-strange baryon production in Au+Au collisions at top RHIC energy as a probe of bulk properties

We report STAR preliminary results on multi-strange baryon production in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV at RHIC. Its implication for the formation of a new state of matter is discussed. The system size dependence on the production of strange baryons is investigated to study the onset of strange quark equilibration in the medium. The nuclear modification factor of Lambda, Xi and Omega is also presented. Its suppression at p_T>3 GeV/c supports the formation of a dense interacting medium at RHIC. The spectra of multi-strange baryons reveal that within a hydro-inspired model, they may decouple prior than lighter particles and that their flow may be mostly developed at a partonic level. This idea is emphasized by the measurement of the v_2 of Xi+AntiXi and Omega+AntiOmega whose behaviour is close to the Lambda+AntiLambda baryon elliptic flow in the intermediate p_T region where a constituent quark scaling of v_2 is observed.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, Strange Quark Matter 2004 conference proceeding

Strangeness and the discovery of quark-gluon plasma

Strangeness flavor yield s and the entropy yield S are the observables of the deconfined quark-gluon state of matter which can be studied in the entire available experimental energy range at AGS, SPS, RHIC, and, in near future, at the LHC energy range. We present here a comprehensive analysis of strange, soft hadron production as function of energy and reaction volume. We discuss the physical properties of the final state and argue how evidence about the primordial QGP emerges.Comment: 16 pages: Invited talk at 5th International Conference on Physics and Astrophysics of Quark Gluon Plasma, February 8 - 12, 2005, Salt Lake City, Kolkata, India, to appear in: Journal of Physics: Conference Serie

Observation of modified hadronization in relativistic Au+Au collisions: a promising signature for deconfined quark-gluon matter

Measurements of identified particles from Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on nuclear modification, baryon-to-meson ratios, and elliptic flow at intermediate transverse momentum ($1.5 < p_T < 5$ GeV/c). Possible connections between (1) these measurements, (2) the running coupling for static quark anti-quark pairs at finite temperature, and (3) the creation of a deconfined quark-gluon phase are presented. Modifications to hadronization in Au+Au collisions are proposed as a likely signature for the creation of deconfined colored matter.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, invited talk at the Strange Quark Matter 2004 conference, Cape Town, South Afric

Hydrodynamic emission of strange and non-strange particles at RHIC and LHC

The hydrodynamic model is used to describe the single-particle spectra and elliptic flow of hadrons at RHIC and to predict the emission angle dependence of HBT correlations at RHIC and LHC energies.Comment: 6 pages LaTeX, 3 postscript figures. Proceedings for the conference "Strange Quark Matter 2003", Atlantic Beach, NC, March 12-17, 2003, to appear in J. Phys.

Space-time analysis of reaction at RHIC

Space-time information about the Au-Au collisions produced at RHIC are key tools to understand the evolution of the system and especially assess the presence of collective behaviors. Using a parameterization of the system's final state relying on collective expansion, we show that pion source radii can be tied together with transverse mass spectra and elliptic flow within the same framework. The consistency between these different measures provide a solid ground to understand the characteristics of collective flow and especially the possible peculiar behavior of particles such as Xi, Omega or phi. The validity of the short time scales that are extracted from fits to the pion source size is also addressed. The wealth of new data that will soon be available from Au-Au collisions at sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV, will provide a stringet test of the space-time analysis framework developped in these proceedings.Comment: Invited talk given at the SQM2003 conference (March 2003), to be published in Journal of Physics G. 10 pages, 3 figure

Bulk properties and flow

In this report, I summarize the experimental results on {\bf bulk properties and flow} presented at Quark Matter 2004. It is organized in four sections: 1) Initial condition and stopping; 2) Particle spectra and freeze-outs; 3) Anisotropic flow; 4) Outlook for future measurements.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, "Rapporteur-Conference Highlights", Quark Matter 2004, Oakland, January 11-1

A study on the anomaly of pp over π\pi ratios in Au+AuAu+Au collisions with jet quenching

The ratios of $p/\pi$ at large transverse momentum in central $Au+Au$ collisions at RHIC are studied in the framework of jet quenching based on a next-to-leading order pQCD parton model. It is shown that theoretical calculations with a gluon energy loss larger than the quark energy loss will naturally lead to a smaller $p/\pi$ ratios at large transverse momentum in $Au+Au$ collisions than those in $p+p$ collisions at the same energy. Scenarios with equal energy losses for gluons and quarks and a strong jet conversion are both explored and it is demonstrated in both scenarios $p/\pi$ ratios at high $p_T$ in central $Au+Au$ collisions are enhanced and the calculated ratios of protons over pions approach to the experimental measurements. However, ${\bar p}/p$ in the latter scenario is found to fit data better than that in the former scenario.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures; revised version; accepted for publication in Journal of Physics

Is Strangeness still interesting at RHIC ?

With the advent of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Heavy Ion Physics will enter a new energy regime. The question is whether the signatures proposed for the discovery of a phase transition from hadronic matter to a Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP), that were established on the basis of collisions at the BEVALAC, the AGS, and the SPS, respectively, are still useful and detectable at these high incident energies. In the past two decades, measurements related to strangeness formation in the collision were advocated as potential signatures and were tested in numerous fixed target experiments at the AGS and the SPS. In this article I will review the capabilities of the RHIC detectors to measure various aspects of strangeness, and I will try to answer the question whether the information content of those measurements is comparable to the one at lower energies.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, Invited Talk at the IV International Conference on Strangeness in Quark Matter, Padova (Italy), July 20-24, 199