The STAR trigger Bieser, F.S.; Crawford, H.J.; Engelage, J. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
03/2003, Volume:
499, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
We describe the trigger system that we designed and implemented for the STAR detector at RHIC. This is a
10
MHz
pipelined system based on fast detector output that controls the event selection for ...the much slower tracking detectors. Results from the first run are presented and new detectors for the 2001 run are discussed.
In high-energy heavy-ion collisions, partonic collectivity is evidenced by the constituent quark number scaling of elliptic flow anisotropy for identified hadrons. A breaking of this scaling and ...dominance of baryonic interactions is found for identified hadron collective flow measurements in sNN = 3 GeV Au+Au collisions. In this paper, we report measurements of the first- and second-order azimuthal anisotropic parameters, v1 and v2, of light nuclei (d, t, 3He, 4He) produced in sNN = 3 GeV Au+Au collisions at the STAR experiment. An atomic mass number scaling is found in the measured v1 slopes of light nuclei at mid-rapidity. For the measured v2 magnitude, a strong rapidity dependence is observed. Unlike v2 at higher collision energies, the v2 values at mid-rapidity for all light nuclei are negative and no scaling is observed with the atomic mass number. Calculations by the Jet AA Microscopic Transport Model (JAM), with baryonic mean-field plus nucleon coalescence, are in good agreement with our observations, implying baryonic interactions dominate the collective dynamics in 3 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC.
In this letter, measurements of the shared momentum fraction (zg) and the groomed jet radius (Rg), as defined in the SoftDrop algorithm, are reported in p+p collisions at s=200 GeV collected by the ...STAR experiment. These substructure observables are differentially measured for jets of varying resolution parameters from R=0.2−0.6 in the transverse momentum range 15<pT,jet<60 GeV/c. These studies show that, in the pT,jet range accessible at s=200 GeV and with increasing jet resolution parameter and jet transverse momentum, the zg distribution asymptotically converges to the DGLAP splitting kernel for a quark radiating a gluon. The groomed jet radius measurements reflect a momentum-dependent narrowing of the jet structure for jets of a given resolution parameter, i.e., the larger the pT,jet, the narrower the first splitting. For the first time, these fully corrected measurements are compared to Monte Carlo generators with leading order QCD matrix elements and leading log in the parton shower, and to state-of-the-art theoretical calculations at next-to-leading-log accuracy. We observe that PYTHIA 6 with parameters tuned to reproduce RHIC measurements is able to quantitatively describe data, whereas PYTHIA 8 and HERWIG 7, tuned to reproduce LHC data, are unable to provide a simultaneous description of both zg and Rg, resulting in opportunities for fine parameter tuning of these models for p+p collisions at RHIC energies. We also find that the theoretical calculations without non-perturbative corrections are able to qualitatively describe the trend in data for jets of large resolution parameters at high pT,jet, but fail at small jet resolution parameters and low jet transverse momenta.
Dihadron angular correlations in d+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV are reported as a function of the measured zero-degree calorimeter neutral energy and the forward charged hadron multiplicity in the ...Au-beam direction. A finite correlated yield is observed at large relative pseudorapidity (Δη) on the near side (i.e. relative azimuth Δϕ∼0). This correlated yield as a function of Δη appears to scale with the dominant, primarily jet-related, away-side (Δϕ∼π) yield. The Fourier coefficients of the Δϕ correlation, Vn=〈cosnΔϕ〉, have a strong Δη dependence. In addition, it is found that V1 is approximately inversely proportional to the mid-rapidity event multiplicity, while V2 is independent of it with similar magnitude in the forward (d-going) and backward (Au-going) directions.
Parity (P)-odd domains, corresponding to nontrivial topological solutions of the QCD vacuum, might be created during relativistic heavy-ion collisions. These domains are predicted to lead to charge ...separation of quarks along the orbital momentum of the system created in noncentral collisions. To study this effect, we investigate a three-particle mixed-harmonics azimuthal correlator which is a P-even observable, but directly sensitive to the charge-separation effect. We report measurements of this observable using the STAR detector in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at {radical}s{sub NN} = 200 and 62 GeV. The results are presented as a function of collision centrality, particle separation in rapidity, and particle transverse momentum. A signal consistent with several of the theoretical expectations is detected in all four data sets. We compare our results to the predictions of existing event generators and discuss in detail possible contributions from other effects that are not related to P violation.
J/ψ suppression has long been considered a sensitive signature of the formation of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. In this letter, we present the first measurement ...of inclusive J/ψ production at mid-rapidity through the dimuon decay channel in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV with the STAR experiment. These measurements became possible after the installation of the Muon Telescope Detector was completed in 2014. The J/ψ yields are measured in a wide transverse momentum (pT) range of 0.15 GeV/c to 12 GeV/c from central to peripheral collisions. They extend the kinematic reach of previous measurements at RHIC with improved precision. In the 0-10% most central collisions, the J/ψ yield is suppressed by a factor of approximately 3 for pT>5 GeV/c relative to that in p+p collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The J/ψ nuclear modification factor displays little dependence on pT in all centrality bins. Model calculations can qualitatively describe the data, providing further evidence for the color-screening effect experienced by J/ψ mesons in the QGP.
Quark interactions with topological gluon configurations can induce chirality imbalance and local parity violation in quantum chromodynamics. This can lead to electric charge separation along the ...strong magnetic field in relativistic heavy-ion collisions – the chiral magnetic effect (CME). We report measurements by the STAR collaboration of a CME-sensitive observable in p+Au and d+Au collisions at 200 GeV, where the CME is not expected, using charge-dependent pair correlations relative to a third particle. We observe strong charge-dependent correlations similar to those measured in heavy-ion collisions. This bears important implications for the interpretation of the heavy-ion data.
One of the primary goals of nuclear physics is to understand the force between nucleons, which is a necessary step for understanding the structure of nuclei and how nuclei interact with each other. ...Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus in 1911, and the large body of knowledge about the nuclear force that has since been acquired was derived from studies made on nucleons or nuclei. Although antinuclei up to antihelium-4 have been discovered and their masses measured, little is known directly about the nuclear force between antinucleons. Here, we study antiproton pair correlations among data collected by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), where gold ions are collided with a centre-of-mass energy of 200 gigaelectronvolts per nucleon pair. Antiprotons are abundantly produced in such collisions, thus making it feasible to study details of the antiproton-antiproton interaction. By applying a technique similar to Hanbury Brown and Twiss intensity interferometry, we show that the force between two antiprotons is attractive. In addition, we report two key parameters that characterize the corresponding strong interaction: the scattering length and the effective range of the interaction. Our measured parameters are consistent within errors with the corresponding values for proton-proton interactions. Our results provide direct information on the interaction between two antiprotons, one of the simplest systems of antinucleons, and so are fundamental to understanding the structure of more-complex antinuclei and their properties.
Azimuthal correlations of charged hadrons with direct-photon (γdir) and neutral-pion (π0) trigger particles are analyzed in central Au+Au and minimum-bias p+p collisions at sNN=200 GeV in the STAR ...experiment. The charged-hadron per-trigger yields at mid-rapidity from central Au+Au collisions are compared with p+p collisions to quantify the suppression in Au+Au collisions. The suppression of the away-side associated-particle yields per γdir trigger is independent of the transverse momentum of the trigger particle (pTtrig), whereas the suppression is smaller at low transverse momentum of the associated charged hadrons (pTassoc). Within uncertainty, similar levels of suppression are observed for γdir and π0 triggers as a function of zT (≡pTassoc/pTtrig). The results are compared with energy-loss-inspired theoretical model predictions. Our studies support previous conclusions that the lost energy reappears predominantly at low transverse momentum, regardless of the trigger energy.
We report the direct virtual photon invariant yields in the transverse momentum ranges 1<pT<3 GeV/c and 5<pT<10 GeV/c at mid-rapidity derived from the dielectron invariant mass continuum region ...0.10<Mee<0.28 GeV/c2 for 0–80% minimum-bias Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV. A clear excess in the invariant yield compared to the nuclear overlap function TAA scaled p+p reference is observed in the pT range 1<pT<3 GeV/c. For pT>6 GeV/c the production follows TAA scaling. Model calculations with contributions from thermal radiation and initial hard parton scattering are consistent within uncertainties with the direct virtual photon invariant yield.
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