We present measurements of bottomonium production in heavy-ion and p+p collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The inclusive yield of the three Υ states, Υ(1S+2S+3S), was measured ...in the PHENIX experiment via electron-positron decay pairs at midrapidity for Au+Au and p+p collisions at s NN = 200 GeV. The Υ(1S+2S+3S)→e+e- differential cross section at midrapidity was found to be Beedσ/dy=108±38(stat)±15(syst)±11(luminosity) pb in p+p collisions. The nuclear modification factor in the 30% most central Au+Au collisions indicates a suppression of the total Υ state yield relative to the extrapolation from p+p collision data. In conclusion, the suppression is consistent with measurements made by STAR at RHIC and at higher energies by the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider.
Event-by-event fluctuations of the average transverse momentum of produced particles near midrapidity have been measured by the PHENIX Collaboration in square root of (sNN)=200 GeV Au+Au, and p+p ...collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The fluctuations are observed to be in excess of the expectation for statistically independent particle emission for all centralities. The excess fluctuations exhibit a dependence on both the centrality of the collision and on the pT range over which the average is calculated. Both the centrality and pT dependence can be well reproduced by a simulation of random particle production with the addition of contributions from hard-scattering processes.
Flow coefficients v_n for n = 2, 3, 4, characterizing the anisotropic collective flow in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV, are measured relative to event planes \Psi_n determined at large ...rapidity. We report v_n as a function of transverse momentum and collision centrality, and study the correlations among the event planes of different order n. The v_n are well described by hydrodynamic models which employ a Glauber Monte Carlo initial state geometry with fluctuations, providing additional constraining power on the interplay between initial conditions and the effects of viscosity as the system evolves. This new constraint improves precision of the extracted viscosity to entropy density ratio eta/s.
We report a measurement of e+e- pairs from semileptonic heavy-flavor decays in d+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV. By exploring the mass and transverse-momentum dependence of the yield, the bottom decay ...contribution can be isolated from charm, and quantified by comparison to pythia and mc@nlo simulations. The resulting $ b\overline{b} $-production cross section is σ$dAu \atop{b\overline{b}} $=1.37±0.28(stat)±0.46(syst) mb, which is equivalent to a nucleon-nucleon cross section of σ$NN \atop{bb} $=3.4±0.8(stat)±1.1(syst)μb.
We have measured the azimuthal anisotropy of π⁰ production for 1<p(T)<18 GeV/c for Au+Au collisions at sqrt((s)NN)=200 GeV. The observed anisotropy shows a gradual decrease for 3≲p(T)≲7-10 GeV/c, ...but remains positive beyond 10 GeV/c. The magnitude of this anisotropy is underpredicted, up to at least ∼10 GeV/c, by current perturbative QCD (PQCD) energy-loss model calculations. An estimate of the increase in anisotropy expected from initial-geometry modification due to gluon saturation effects and fluctuations is insufficient to account for this discrepancy. Calculations that implement a path-length dependence steeper than what is implied by current PQCD energy-loss models show reasonable agreement with the data.
The standard model (SM) of particle physics is spectacularly successful, yet the measured value of the muon anomalous magnetic moment (g - 2)mu deviates from SM calculations by 3.6 sigma. Several ...theoretical models attribute this to the existence of a "dark photon," an additional U(1) gauge boson, which is weakly coupled to ordinary photons. The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has searched for a dark photon, U, in pi(0), eta -> gamma e(+)e(-) decays and obtained upper limits of O(2 x 10(-6)) on U-gamma mixing at 90% C.L. for the mass range 30 < m(U) < 90 MeV/c(2). Combined with other experimental limits, the remaining region in the U-gamma mixing parameter space that can explain the (g - 2)(mu) deviation from its SM value is nearly completely excluded at the 90% confidence level, with only a small region of 29 < m(U) < 32 MeV/c(2) remaining.
We have studied the dependence of azimuthal anisotropy nu(2) for inclusive and identified charged hadrons in Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions on collision energy, species, and centrality. The values of ...nu(2) as a function of transverse momentum pT and centrality in Au + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 and 62.4 GeV are the same within uncertainties. However, in Cu + Cu collisions we observe a decrease in nu(2) values as the collision energy is reduced from 200 to 62.4 GeV. The decrease is larger in the more peripheral collisions. By examining both Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions we find that nu(2) depends both on eccentricity and the number of participants, N-part. We observe that nu(2) divided by eccentricity (epsilon) monotonically increases with N-part and scales as N-part(1/3). The Cu + Cu data at 62.4 GeV falls below the other scaled nu(2) data. For identified hadrons, nu(2) divided by the number of constituent quarks n(q) is independent of hadron species as a function of transverse kinetic energy K E-T = m(T) - m between 0.1 < K E-T / n(q) < 1 GeV. Combining all of the above scaling and normalizations, we observe a near-universal scaling, with the exception of the Cu + Cu data at 62.4 GeV, of nu(2)/(nq center dot e center dot N-part(1/3)) vs K E-T / n(q) for all measured particles.
The PHENIX Collaboration has measured phi meson production in d + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV using the dimuon and dielectron decay channels. The phi meson is measured in the forward ...(backward) d-going (Au-going) direction, 1.2 < y < 2.2 (-2.2 < y < -1.2) in the transverse-momentum (pT) range from 1-7 GeV/c and at midrapidity vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.35 in the p(T) range below 7 GeV/c. The phi meson invariant yields and nuclear-modification factors as a function of p(T), rapidity, and centrality are reported. An enhancement of phi meson production is observed in the Au-going direction, while suppression is seen in the d-going direction, and no modification is observed at midrapidity relative to the yield in p + p collisions scaled by the number of binary collisions. Similar behavior was previously observed for inclusive charged hadrons and open heavy flavor, indicating similar cold-nuclear-matter effects.
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