Single particle inclusive spectra, HBT and elliptic flow; a consistent picture at RHIC?

In these proceedings we will present the preliminary identified single particle inclusive spectra, the identified particle elliptic flow and the HBT versus the reaction plane measured with the STAR detector at RHIC. So far none of the theoretical space-time models has been able to describe the combination of these measurements consistently. In order to see if our measurements can be understood in the context of a simple hydro-motivated blast wave model we extract the relevant parameters for this model, and show that it leads to a consistent description of these observables.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures (in eps) talk given at XXXI International Symposium on Multiparticle Dynamics, Sep. 1-7, 2001, Datong China URL http://ismd31.ccnu.edu.cn

Heavy Ion Collisions

Lattice QCD predicts a phase transition between hadronic matter and a system of deconfined quarks and gluons (the Quark Gluon Plasma) at high energy densities. Recent results from the Brookhaven Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) dedicated to the study of QCD at extreme densities will be discussed and compared to measurements obtained at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS).Comment: Invited talk at the XXIII Physics in Collisions Conference (PIC03), Zeuthen, Germany, June 2003, 14 pages, LaTeX, 13 eps figures. PSN SAAT0

How much does the hadronic phase contribute to the observed anisotropic flow at the LHC?

Elliptic flow signals the presence of multiple interactions between the constituents of the created matter in heavy-ion collisions. This includes possible contributions from the different phases, including the hadronic phase. In these proceedings I will first show that the energy dependence of elliptic flow, based on recent ALICE and STAR beam energy scan measurements, can largely be understood in terms of a boosted thermal system. In addition, a detailed comparison between the identified particle elliptic flow measured by the ALICE collaboration and viscous hydrodynamical model calculations with and without a hadronic afterburner is performed to constrain the possible effects of individual hadron-hadron re-interaction cross-sections.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, proceedings Resonance Workshop at Catania, version two updated with referee comment

Collective flow and viscosity in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Collective flow, its anisotropies and its event-to-event fluctuations in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, and the extraction of the specific shear viscosity of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) from collective flow data collected in heavy-ion collision experiments at RHIC and LHC are reviewed. Specific emphasis is placed on the similarities between the Big Bang of our universe and the Little Bangs created in heavy-ion collisions.Comment: 38 pages (incl. 11 figures), 145 references. Invited review prepared for Annual Review in Nuclear and Particle Physics 63 (2013

Collective phenomena in non-central nuclear collisions

Recent developments in the field of anisotropic flow in nuclear collision are reviewed. The results from the top AGS energy to the top RHIC energy are discussed with emphasis on techniques, interpretation, and uncertainties in the measurements.Comment: Review paper, 56 pages, as accepted for publicatio

Anisotropic distributions in a multi-phase transport model

With A Multi-Phase Transport (AMPT) model we investigate the relation between the magnitude, fluctuations and correlations of the initial state spatial anisotropy $\varepsilon_{n}$ and the final state anisotropic flow coefficients $v_{n}$ in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}=$ 200 GeV. It is found that the relative eccentricity fluctuations in AMPT account for the observed elliptic flow fluctuations, in agreement with measurements of the STAR collaboration. In addition, the studies based on 2- and multi-particle correlations and event-by-event distributions of the anisotropies suggest that the Elliptic-Power function is a promising candidate of the underlying probability density function of the event-by-event distributions of $\varepsilon_{n}$ as well as $v_{n}$. Furthermore, the correlations between different order symmetry planes and harmonics in the initial coordinate space and final state momentum space are presented. Non-zero values of these correlations have been observed. The comparison between our calculations and data will, in the future, shed new insight into the nature of the fluctuations of the Quark-Gluon Plasma produced in heavy ion collisions.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted by PR

A transverse momentum differential global analysis of Heavy Ion Collisions

The understanding of heavy ion collisions and its quark-gluon plasma formation requires a complicated interplay of rich physics in a wealth of experimental data. In this work we compare for identified particles the transverse momentum dependence of both the yields and the anisotropic flow coefficients for both PbPb and $p$Pb collisions. We do this in a global model fit including a free streaming prehydrodynamic phase with variable velocity $v_\text{fs}$, thereby widening the scope of initial conditions. During the hydrodynamic phase we vary three second order transport coefficients. The free streaming velocity has a preference slightly below the speed of light. In this extended model the bulk viscosity is small and even consistent with zero.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, see also the companion paper "A Bayesian analysis of Heavy Ion Collisions with Trajectum