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Open and hidden heavy-flavor physics in high-energy nuclear collisions are entering a new and exciting stage towards reaching a clearer understanding of the new experimental results with the ...possibility to link them directly to the advancement in lattice Quantum Chromo-Dynamics (QCD). Recent results from experiments and theoretical developments regarding open and hidden heavy-flavor dynamics have been debated at the Lorentz Workshop
Tomography of the Quark-Gluon Plasma with Heavy Quarks
, which was held in October 2016 in Leiden, The Netherlands. In this contribution, we summarize identified common understandings and developed strategies for the upcoming five years, which aim at achieving a profound knowledge of the dynamical properties of the quark-gluon plasma.
We report on a precision measurement of low-mass muon pairs in 158 AGeV indium-indium collisions at the CERN SPS. A significant excess of pairs is observed above the yield expected from neutral meson ...decays. The unprecedented sample size of 360,000 dimuons and the good mass resolution of about 2% allow us to isolate the excess by subtraction of the decay sources. The shape of the resulting mass spectrum is consistent with a dominant contribution from pi+pi- -->rho -->mu+mu- annihilation. The associated space-time averaged spectral function shows a strong broadening, but essentially no shift in mass. This may rule out theoretical models linking hadron masses directly to the chiral condensate.
Quarkonium production in heavy-ion collisions is a well-known signature of the formation of a plasma of quarks and gluons (QGP). After thirty years from the first measurements at SPS energies, a ...large wealth of results is now accessible from high-energy experiments at RHIC and LHC, and these new data are contributing to sharpen the picture of the quarkonium behaviour in A-A collisions. In this paper, an overview of the main results on both charmonium and bottomonium production in p-A and A-A collisions is presented, focussing on the most recent achievements from the RHIC and LHC experiments.
NA60 results on thermal dimuons Arnaldi, R.; Banicz, K.; Borer, K. ...
European physical journal. C, Particles and fields (Print),
06/2009, Letnik:
61, Številka:
4
Journal Article, Conference Proceeding
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS has measured muon pairs with unprecedented precision in 158
A
GeV In–In collisions. A strong excess of pairs above the known sources is observed in the whole ...mass region 0.2<
M
<2.6 GeV. The mass spectrum for
M
<1 GeV is consistent with a dominant contribution from
π
+
π
−
→
ρ
→
μ
+
μ
−
annihilation. The associated
ρ
spectral function shows a strong broadening, but essentially no shift in mass. For
M
>1 GeV, the excess is found to be prompt, not due to enhanced charm production, with pronounced differences to Drell–Yan pairs. The slope parameter
T
eff
associated with the transverse momentum spectra rises with mass up to the
ρ
, followed by a sudden decline above. The rise for
M
<1 GeV is consistent with radial flow of a hadronic emission source. The seeming absence of significant flow for
M
>1 GeV and its relation to parton–hadron duality is discussed in detail, suggesting a dominantly partonic emission source in this region. A comparison of the data to the present status of theoretical modeling is also contained. The accumulated empirical evidence, including also a Planck-like shape of the mass spectra at low
p
T
and the lack of polarization, is consistent with a global interpretation of the excess dimuons as thermal radiation. We conclude with first results on
ω
in-medium effects.
The NA60 experiment has studied J/ψ production in p–A collisions at 158 and 400 GeV, at the CERN SPS. Nuclear effects on the J/ψ yield have been estimated from the A-dependence of the production ...cross section ratios σJ/ψA/σJ/ψBe (A=Al, Cu, In, W, Pb, U). We observe a significant nuclear suppression of the J/ψ yield per nucleon–nucleon collision, with a larger effect at lower incident energy, and we compare this result with previous observations by other fixed-target experiments. An attempt to disentangle the different contributions to the observed suppression has been carried out by studying the dependence of nuclear effects on x2, the fraction of the nucleon momentum carried by the interacting parton in the target nucleus.
We report on the opportunities for spin physics and Transverse-Momentum Dependent distribution (TMD) studies at a future multi-purpose fixed-target experiment using the proton or lead ion LHC beams ...extracted by a bent crystal. The LHC multi-TeV beams allow for the most energetic fixed-target experiments ever performed, opening new domains of particle and nuclear physics and complementing that of collider physics, in particular that of RHIC and the EIC projects. The luminosity achievable with AFTER@LHC using typical targets would surpass that of RHIC by more that 3 orders of magnitude in a similar energy region. In unpolarised proton-proton collisions, AFTER@LHC allows for measurements of TMDs such as the Boer-Mulders quark distributions, the distribution of unpolarised and linearly polarised gluons in unpolarised protons. Using the polarisation of hydrogen and nuclear targets, one can measure transverse single-spin asymmetries of quark and gluon sensitive probes, such as, respectively, Drell-Yan pair and quarkonium production. The fixed-target mode has the advantage to allow for measurements in the target-rapidity region, namely at large x↑ in the polarised nucleon. Overall, this allows for an ambitious spin program which we outline here.
The NA60 experiment studies muon pair production at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. In this Letter we report on a precision measurement of J/psi in In-In collisions. We have studied the J/psi ...centrality distribution, and we have compared it with the one expected if absorption in cold nuclear matter were the only active suppression mechanism. For collisions involving more than approximately 80 participant nucleons, we find that an extra suppression is present. This result is in qualitative agreement with previous Pb-Pb measurements by the NA50 experiment, but no theoretical explanation is presently able to coherently describe both results.
The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS has studied low-mass muon pairs in 158 AGeV In-In collisions. A strong excess of pairs is observed above the yield expected from neutral meson decays. After ...subtraction of the decay sources, the shape of the resulting mass spectrum is largely consistent with a dominant contribution from
π
+
π
−
→
ρ
→
μ
+
μ
−
annihilation. The associated
ρ spectral function exhibits considerable broadening, but essentially no shift in mass. The acceptance-corrected
p
T
spectra have a shape atypical for radial flow. They also significantly depend on mass, pointing to different sources in different mass regions. Both mass and
p
T
spectra are compared to recent theoretical predictions.
The NA60 experiment, at CERN SPS, has studied muon pairs production in p-A and A-A collisions at 158 GeV. After an introduction to explain why the dimuon measurements are a useful tool to investigate ...the formation of a deconfined medium and how these measurements can be performed, from an experimental point of view, a review of the status of the field is presented, with particular emphasis on the NA60 results. The NA60 experimental apparatus, in fact, allows to perform high precision measurements, and therefore to obtain high quality results. Concerning the so called “low mass region” (0.2 < Mμμ < 2.5 GeV), an excess above the yield expected from known meson decays is observed in In-In collisions and interpreted as thermal radiation, dominated by π annihilation through the ρ. Furthermore, the associated space-time averaged ρ spectral function shows a strong broadening, but no shift in mass. The extraction of the inverse slope parameter Teff, from the transverse momentum spectra, allows an even deeper understanding. Teff rises with mass up to the ρ, followed by a sudden decrease. While the initial rise is consistent with the expectations for the radial flow of a hadronic decay source, the decline signals a transition to an emission source with much smaller flow, which may be of partonic origin. The “high mass region” ( Mμμ > 2.9 GeV) is dominated by the J/ψ whose suppression is usually considered one of the main signatures for the formation of a deconfined medium. However also cold nuclear matter effects, not related to the hot matter, may reduce the J/ψ yield. Therefore, the study of p-A collisions allows the determination of the J/ψ behaviour in cold nuclear matter, representing the reference with respect to which the J/ψ yield in A-A collisions must be compared. NA60 results show that indeed an “anomalous suppression” is present in central In-In collisions. However, it is clear that to correctly quantify the amount of suppression exceeding the one due to cold nuclear matter, a precise determination of this reference must be performed. To advance in this direction, NA60 has also collected high quality p-A data at the same energy as the one of the A-A interactions.
The cross sections of forward emission of one, two and three neutrons by 158A GeV 115In nuclei in collisions with Al, Cu, Sn and Pb targets are reported. The measurements were performed in the ...framework of the ALICE–LUMI experiment at the SPS facility at CERN. Various corrections accounting for the absorption of beam nuclei and produced neutrons in target material and surrounding air were introduced. The corrected cross section data are compared with the predictions of the RELDIS model for electromagnetic fragmentation of 115In in ultraperipheral collisions, as well as with the results of the abrasion–ablation model for neutron emission in hadronic interactions. The measured neutron emission cross sections well agree with the RELDIS results, with the exception of In–Al collisions where the measured cross sections are larger compared to RELDIS. This is attributed to a relatively large contribution of hadronic fragmentation of In on Al target with respect to electromagnetic fragmentation, in contrast to similar measurements performed earlier with 30A GeV 208Pb colliding with Al.
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