Protective behaviour of citizens to transport accidents involving hazardous materials: A discrete choice experiment applied to populated areas nearby waterways

Background To improve the information for and preparation of citizens at risk to hazardous material transport accidents, a first important step is to determine how different characteristics of hazardous material transport accidents will influence citizens' protective behaviour. However, quantitative studies investigating citizens' protective behaviour in case of hazardous material transport accidents are scarce. Methods A discrete choice experiment was conducted among subjects (19-64 years) living in the direct vicinity of a large waterway. Scenarios were described by three transport accident characteristics: odour perception, smoke/vapour perception, and the proportion of people in the environment that were leaving at their own discretion. Subjects were asked to consider each scenario as realistic and to choose the alternative that was most appealing to them: staying, seekin

Measurements of D0D^{0} and D∗D^{*} Production in pp + pp Collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 200 GeV

We report measurements of charmed-hadron ($D^{0}$, $D^{*}$) production cross sections at mid-rapidity in $p$ + $p$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 200 GeV by the STAR experiment. Charmed hadrons were reconstructed via the hadronic decays $D^{0}\rightarrow K^{-}\pi^{+}$, $D^{*+}\rightarrow D^{0}\pi^{+}\rightarrow K^{-}\pi^{+}\pi^{+}$ and their charge conjugates, covering the $p_T$ range of 0.6$-$2.0 GeV/$c$ and 2.0$-$6.0 GeV/$c$ for $D^{0}$ and $D^{*+}$, respectively. From this analysis, the charm-pair production cross section at mid-rapidity is $d\sigma/dy|_{y=0}^{c\bar{c}}$ = 170 $\pm$ 45 (stat.) $^{+38}_{-59}$ (sys.) $\mu$b. The extracted charm-pair cross section is compared to perturbative QCD calculations. The transverse momentum differential cross section is found to be consistent with the upper bound of a Fixed-Order Next-to-Leading Logarithm calculation.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures. Revised version submitted to Phys. Rev.

Inclusive charged hadron elliptic flow in Au + Au collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 7.7 - 39 GeV

A systematic study is presented for centrality, transverse momentum ($p_T$) and pseudorapidity ($\eta$) dependence of the inclusive charged hadron elliptic flow ($v_2$) at midrapidity($|\eta| < 1.0$) in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27 and 39 GeV. The results obtained with different methods, including correlations with the event plane reconstructed in a region separated by a large pseudorapidity gap and 4-particle cumulants ($v_2{4}$), are presented in order to investigate non-flow correlations and $v_2$ fluctuations. We observe that the difference between $v_2{2}$ and $v_2{4}$ is smaller at the lower collision energies. Values of $v_2$, scaled by the initial coordinate space eccentricity, $v_{2}/\varepsilon$, as a function of $p_T$ are larger in more central collisions, suggesting stronger collective flow develops in more central collisions, similar to the results at higher collision energies. These results are compared to measurements at higher energies at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider ($\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 62.4 and 200 GeV) and at the Large Hadron Collider (Pb + Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV). The $v_2(p_T)$ values for fixed $p_T$ rise with increasing collision energy within the $p_T$ range studied ($< 2 {\rm GeV}/c$). A comparison to viscous hydrodynamic simulations is made to potentially help understand the energy dependence of $v_{2}(p_{T})$. We also compare the $v_2$ results to UrQMD and AMPT transport model calculations, and physics implications on the dominance of partonic versus hadronic phases in the system created at Beam Energy Scan (BES) energies are discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures. Version accepted by PR

Elliptic flow of electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays in Au+Au collisions at sNN=\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 200, 62.4, and 39 GeV

We present measurements of elliptic flow ($v_2$) of electrons from the decays of heavy-flavor hadrons ($e_{HF}$) by the STAR experiment. For Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} =$ 200 GeV we report $v_2$, for transverse momentum ($p_T$) between 0.2 and 7 GeV/c using three methods: the event plane method ($v_{2}${EP}), two-particle correlations ($v_2${2}), and four-particle correlations ($v_2${4}). For Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 62.4 and 39 GeV we report $v_2${2} for $p_T< 2$ GeV/c. $v_2${2} and $v_2${4} are non-zero at low and intermediate $p_T$ at 200 GeV, and $v_2${2} is consistent with zero at low $p_T$ at other energies. The $v_2${2} at the two lower beam energies is systematically lower than at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} =$ 200 GeV for $p_T < 1$ GeV/c. This difference may suggest that charm quarks interact less strongly with the surrounding nuclear matter at those two lower energies compared to $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 200$ GeV.Comment: Version accepted by PR

System size and energy dependence of near-side di-hadron correlations

Two-particle azimuthal ($\Delta\phi$) and pseudorapidity ($\Delta\eta$) correlations using a trigger particle with large transverse momentum ($p_T$) in $d$+Au, Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ =\xspace 62.4 GeV and 200~GeV from the STAR experiment at RHIC are presented. The \ns correlation is separated into a jet-like component, narrow in both $\Delta\phi$ and $\Delta\eta$, and the ridge, narrow in $\Delta\phi$ but broad in $\Delta\eta$. Both components are studied as a function of collision centrality, and the jet-like correlation is studied as a function of the trigger and associated $p_T$. The behavior of the jet-like component is remarkably consistent for different collision systems, suggesting it is produced by fragmentation. The width of the jet-like correlation is found to increase with the system size. The ridge, previously observed in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV, is also found in Cu+Cu collisions and in collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ =\xspace 62.4 GeV, but is found to be substantially smaller at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ =\xspace 62.4 GeV than at $\sqrt{s_{{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV for the same average number of participants ($\langle N_{\mathrm{part}}\rangle$). Measurements of the ridge are compared to models.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

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 ($^4\bar{He}$), also known as the anti-{\alpha} ($\bar{\alpha}$), 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 $^4\bar{He}$ counts were detected at the STAR experiment at RHIC in 10$^9$ 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