Measurement of pi0 and eta Mesons with PHENIX in sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV Au+Au Collisions at RHIC
B. Sahlmueller
备注：
4 pages, 4 figures; to appear in the poster proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions: Quark Matter 2008 (QM2008), Jaipur, India, 4-10 Feb 2008
The pi0 meson has been a crucial proble for observing jet quenching in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions at RHIC. Measurements of the eta meson in the same collisions have also shed light on a possible dependence of the observed suppression on the particle species. The preliminary pi0 nuclear modification factor R_AA from the 2004 RHIC run allowed a first systematic comparison between a precise measurement with high statistics and theoretical calculations, constraining model parameters such as the initial gluon density dN^g/dy, and the transport coefficient qhat. The final pi0 spectra and R_AA are shown as well as the first eta results obtained with both PHENIX electromagnetic calorimeters.
Event-by-event fluctuations in the net charge and <pT> at mid-rapidity have been studied in Au+Au collisions using the central tracking arms in the PHENIX experiment at RHIC.
The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC has conducted a beam energy scan at several collision energies in order to search for signatures of the QCD critical point and the onset of deconfinement. PHENIX has conducted measurements of transverse energy production, muliplicity fluctuations, and the skewness and kurtosis of net charge distributions. The data analyzed to date show no significant indications of the presence of the critical point.
The PHENIX Experiment on the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) with its use of beams of polarized protons, provides a unique environment of hard scattering between gluons and quarks complementary to that provided by deep inelastic scattering (DIS). Polarized proton proton collisions can directly probe the polarized gluon and anti-quark distributions as the collisions couple the color charges of the participants. We will give a brief overview of the PHENIX Spin Program and we will report recent results of the many probes accessible to the PHENIX experiment.
Recent PHENIX elliptic flow ($v_2$) measurements for identified particles produced in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV are presented and compared to other RHIC measurements. They indicate universal scaling of $v_2$ compatible with partonic collectivity leading to the flow of light, strange and heavy quarks with a common expansion velocity field.
Latest results from the PHENIX experiment at RHIC on these topics will be presented. Results will be shown for Au+Au compared to p-p collisions as well as compared to results from fully reconstructed jets at LHC.
Hard-scattering in p-p collisions was discovered in 1972 at the CERN-ISR, the first hadron collider. Techniques were developed and several hard-processes were discovered which form the basis for many of the measurements made in p-p and Au+Au collisions at RHIC. Recent measurements of hard-scattering and related reactions by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC are presented in this context.
The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC has conducted a beam energy scan at several collision energies in order to search for signatures of the QCD critical point and the onset of deconfinement. PHENIX has conducted measurements of transverse energy production, muliplicity fluctuations, the skewness and kurtosis of net charge distributions, Hanbury-Brown Twiss correlations, charged hadron flow, and energy loss. The data analyzed to date show no significant indications of the presence of the critical point.
We study charm production through dimuon and single muon measurements at forward and backward rapidities in p+p and d+Au collisions with the PHENIX muon detectors. We also compare open charm to $J/ψ$ yields in the forward and backward rapidities in d+Au collisions and study the origin of the large forward and backward asymmetry in open charm production observed by the PHENIX experiment.
Results from the PHENIX experiment for the first RHIC run with Au-Au collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 130 GeV are presented. The systematic variation with centrality of charged particle multiplicity, transverse energy, elliptic flow, identified particle spectra and yield ratios, and production of charged particles and neutral pions at high transverse momenta are presented. Results on two-pion correlations and electron spectra are also provided, along with a discussion of plans for the second run at RHIC.
Recent results on identified hadrons from the PHENIX experiment in Au+Au collisions at mid-rapidity at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV are presented. The centrality dependence of transverse momentum distributions and particle ratios for identified charged hadrons are studied.
This contribution presents the latest results on heavy quarkonia (j/psi and upsilon) production in d+A and A+A collisions at RHIC at a center of mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV, measured by the PHENIX experiment, as well as their implications in terms of understanding cold nuclear matter effects and the possible formation of a quark gluon plasma in central $\auau$ collisions.}
The PHENIX experiment at RHIC has measured a variety of light neutral mesons ($π^{0}$, K$_{S}^{0}$, $η$, $ω$, $η^{\prime}$, $ϕ$) via multi-particle decay channels over a wide range of transverse momentum. A review of the recent results on the production rates of light mesons in p+p and their nuclear modification factors in d+Au, Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at different energies is presented.
We report recent results of strangeness and heavy flavor measurements from PHENIX. The topics are: Elliptic flow of strangeness and heavy flavor electron production comparing to the other hadrons, $ϕ$ meson production, and an exotic particle search.
The first measurement of the dielectron continuum at RHIC energies was performed by the PHENIX experiment for Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_{NN}) = 200 GeV. Mass spectra for different centralities are presented and compared with the expectations from hadron decays.
PHENIX has measured $e^+e^-$ pairs from p+p and Au+Au collisions as function of mass and $p_T$. The data can be used to probe the properties of dense matter formed in Au+Au collision. The relation between electron pairs and virtual photons is discussed.
PHENIX preliminary results on the $J/Ψ$ production in $Cu+Cu$ and $Au+Au$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV are presented. They are compared to results from lower energy experiments NA50 and NA60 at CERN SPS and to expectations from various theoretical models.
Direct photons have been measured with the PHENIX experiment in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 200 GeV. The direct photon result obtained with PHENIX-EMCal up to 18 GeV/$c$ is consistent with the NLO pQCD calculation scaled by the nuclear overlap function. The measurement using internal conversion of photons into $e^+e^-$ shows the enhancement of the yield comparing with NLO pQCD calculation.
The PHENIX experiment at RHIC measured K0S, eta and omega-meson production at high pT in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. Measurements performed in different hadronic decay channels give consistent results. This paper presents measured meson-to-pi0 ratios and Nuclear Modification factors in the most central d+Au and Au+Au collisions. No suppression seen in d+Au interactions is in contrast to a strong suppression of meson yields revealed in central Au+Au collisions at the same energy.
The measurement of quarkonia production in relativistic heavy ion collisions provides a powerful tool for studying the properties of the hot and dense matter created in these collisions. To be really useful, however, such measurements must cover a wide range of quarkonia states and colliding species. The PHENIX experiment at RHIC has successfully measured J/psi, psi-prime, chi_c and Upsilon production in different colliding systems at various energies. In this talk I will present recent results from the PHENIX collaboration on charmonium production in d+Au, Cu+Au and U+U collisions at 200 GeV/…
Neutral pions ($π^0$) in $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 200 GeV and 62.4 GeV Au+Au collisions were measured at RHIC-PHENIX Year-4 Run. In $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 200 GeV, $π^0$ specta are measured up to p$_\mathrm{T}$ = 20 GeV/$c$. %PHENIX extended the p$_\mathrm{T}$ region of A strong suppression by a factor of $\sim$ 5 is observed and stays almost constant up to 20 GeV/$c$.
Over the last decade it has been established that a quark-gluon plasma (QGP) is formed in ultrarelativistic A+A collisions at RHIC energies. In recent years, detector upgrades have enabled the detailed study of this hot and dense matter. Important probes, among others, are direct photons and heavy flavor observables. Although the RHIC d+Au program was originally undertaken to study initial state and cold nuclear matter effects, recent measurements at both RHIC (d+Au) and the LHC (p+Pb) have found evidence for collective phenomena in these small systems.
PHENIX has measured high transverse momentum (pT) identified hadrons in different collision species and energies in the last five RHIC runs. The systematic study of the high pT hadron production provides an idea on interaction of hard scattered partons and the matter created in relativistic heavy ion collision. The eta/pi0 ratio is measured in Au+Au collisions, which gives a hint on the system thermalization and particle production. A future measurement of hadron and photon measurement is discussed.
Measurements from the RHIC experiments show a strong suppression in the yield of high-p$_\mathrm{T}$ single hadrons and a clear reduction in strength of the di-jet signal in two-hadron azimuthal-angle correlation functions in central Au+Au collisions at RHIC. These measurements should provide direct information on the properties of the medium within which hard-scattered partons propagate. The PHENIX preliminary results on single high-p$_\mathrm{T}$ hadron production and on particle azimuthal correlations are shown. The properties of the medium created in relativistic heavy ion collisions are d…
The PHENIX experiment has measured single electron spectra at RHIC in proton-proton (p-p), deuteron-gold (d-Au), and gold-gold (Au-Au) collisions at an available energy per nucleon-nucleon pair of sqrt{s_NN} = 200 GeV. Contributions from photonic sources, i.e. Dalitz decays of light mesons and photon conversions, are subtracted from the inclusive spectra. The remaining non-photonic single electron spectra are dominated by semileptonic decays of particles carrying heavy flavor. Implications of these systematic measurements for heavy flavor production in cold and hot nuclear systems are discusse…
The baryon production mechanism at the intermediate $p_T$ (2 - 5 GeV/$c$) at RHIC is still not well understood. The beam energy scan data in Cu+Cu and Au+Au systems at RHIC may provide us a further insight on the origin of the baryon anomaly and its evolution as a function of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$. In 2005 RHIC physics program, the PHENIX experiment accumulated the first intensive low beam energy data in Cu+Cu collisions. We present the preliminary results of identified charged hadron spectra in Cu+Cu at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 22.5 and 62.4 GeV using the PHENIX detector. The centrality and beam energy de…
The production of the low-mass dielectrons is considered to be a powerful tool to study the properties of the hot and dense matter created in the ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We present the preliminary results on the first measurements of the low-mass dielectron continuum in Au+Au collisions and the phi meson production measured in Au+Au and d+Au collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 200 GeV performed by the PHENIX experiment.
Transverse momentum spectra for identified $π^0$'s in the range 1 GeV/c $< p_T <$ 4 GeV/c have been measured by the PHENIX experiment in Au-Au collisions at $\sqrt{s}=130$ GeV. The spectra from peripheral nuclear collisions are consistent with the simple expectation of scaling the spectra from p+p collisions by the average number of nucleon-nucleon binary collisions. The spectra from central collisions and the ratio of central/peripheral spectra are significantly suppressed when compared to point-like scaling.
The intermediate $p_T$ region (2 - 5 GeV/$c$) in central Au+Au collisions at RHIC has a rich physics content. The (anti)proton to pion ratio at the intermediate $p_T$ gives us a powerful tool to investigate the bulk properties of the hot and dense matter created at RHIC and their hadronization processes. We present the preliminary results of identified charged hadron spectra at the lower beam energies at RHIC. The excitation function of (anti)proton to pion ratios from SPS to RHIC are shown. We also discuss the onset of the baryon enhancement at the high energy heavy ion collisions.
Polarized $p+p$ collisions provide insight into the structure of the nucleon. $A_N$ of eta mesons at forward rapidities are of particular interest, as asymmetries of other mesons observed both by PHENIX and other experiments show significant deviation from zero in the forward region. Several mechanisms have been proposed that attempt to explain these non-zero asymmetries, and a comparison of different probes may further constrain these models. Therefore, measurements of $A_N$ with inclusive eta mesons at forward rapidities are an important tool toward understanding the underlying mechanism. Us…
The ratio of the $ψ'$ over the $J/ψ$ production cross section in the dielectron channel has been measured in $\sqrt{s}=$ 200 GeV $p+p$ collisions with the PHENIX detector at RHIC. The analysis is based on fitting of the dielectron invariant mass spectra in the area around the $J/ψ$ and $ψ'$ signals in order to extract a ratio $ψ'$ over $J/ψ$ of 0.019$\pm 0.005($stat$)\pm 0.002($sys$)$ and a fractional feed-down contribution to $J/ψ$ from $ψ^\prime$ of $8.6 \pm 2.5 %$.
The PHENIX collaboration has designed a conceptually new Hadron Blind Detector (HBD) for electron identification in high density hadron environment. The HBD will identify low momentum electron-positron pairs to reduce the combinatorial background in the mass region below 1 GeV/c^2. The HBD shall be installed in PHENIX during the 2007 physics run. The HBD is a windowless proximity focusing Cherenkov detector with a radiator length of 50 cm, CsI photocathode and three layers of Gas Electron Multipliers (GEM) for gas amplification. Pure CF_4 serves both as a radiator and as a detector gas. The ra…
Two-particle azimuthal correlations have allowed detailed study of the modification to di-jets in the hot, dense medium created in RHIC collisions. Light can be shed by such correlations on many novel effects discovered at RHIC such as the enhanced p/pi ratio and conical structure of events with energy loss. Using pi0 triggers to reduce the effect of recombination we utilize high-pT correlations to explore the away-side structure.
The PHENIX experiment at RHIC measured production of the ω- and ϕ- mesons in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_NN} = 63 and 200 GeV. Particle properties were studied using hadronic and di-electron decay channels. Transverse momentum (mass) spectra measured in different decay modes are found to be in agreement with each other within the errors. Nuclear modification factors R_{AA} measured for both mesons are consistent with results previously obtained for other neutral mesons. Position of the meson mass peaks and their widths reconstructed in hadronic decay channels are in agreement wit…
Charged pion two-particle correlation functions were measured in 0-30% centrality 200 GeV Au+Au collisions with the PHENIX experiment at RHIC. The measured correlation functions can be statistically well described based on the assumption of Levy-shaped source distributions. In this proceedings paper we present the Levy parameters of the measured correlation functions: correlation strength parameter lambda, Levy index alpha and Levy scale parameter R as a function of pair transverse mass mT, in 31 bins from 228 to 871 MeV, separately for positive and negative pion pairs. We discuss the physical…
When heavy ions with high energy collide, a hot and dense matter is produced. As the matter expands, the matter undergoes cross-over phase transition from partonic matter to hadronic matter. Jets are created by high pT partons in the early phase of the collisions. Leptons and photons can penetrate the matter without strong interaction. For that reason, jets, leptons and photons are good probes to study the partonic matter in the early phase of the collisions. We report about two probes associated with photon and their results for PHENIX.
Transverse momentum spectra of identified $π^{+}$, $π^{-}$, $K^{+}$, $K^{-}$, p and $\overline{p}$ were measured by the PHENIX experiment at mid-rapidity in Au-Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=130$ GeV over a broad momentum range. Inverse slope parameters and mean $p_{t}$ were measured in minimum bias events and as a function of the number of participating nucleons. The mass and centrality dependence of the inverse slope parameters and mean $p_{t}$ is presented and discussed.
The polarized proton beams at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory provide a unique environment to observe hard scattering between gluons and quarks. The PHENIX experiment has recorded collisions at $\sqrt(s_{NN})=$200 GeV and 62.4 GeV to yield data which are complementary to those measured by deep inelastic scattering experiments. Polarized proton-proton collisions can directly probe the polarized gluon and anti-quark distributions as the collisions couple the color charges of the participants. The PHENIX detector is well suited to measure many final-state par…
Recent results on direct photons and dileptons from the PHENIX experiment opened up a possibility of landscaping electro-magnetic radiation over various kinetic energies in heavy ion collisions. Results on direct photon measurement in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200GeV are discussed from the point of view of structure function and isospin effect. It is supported by the first measurement of direct photons at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=62.4GeV in the same collisional system.
The first results from Au-Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=130 GeV obtained with the PHENIX detector in the Year 2000 run at RHIC are presented. The mid-rapidity charged particle multiplicity and transverse energy per participating nucleon rise steadily with the number of participants, such that transverse energy per charged particle remains relatively constant as a function of centrality. Identified charged hadron spectra as well as $\bar{p}/p$ and $K^+/K^-$ ratios are discussed. Charged particle and neutral pion transverse momentum distributions in peripheral nuclear collisions are consisten…
Measurements from the RHIC experiments show strong suppression of high-pT hadrons in central Au+Au collisions. The PHENIX experiment has observed strong suppression of $π^0$ and charged hadron yields in central Au+Au collisions for pT > 5 GeV/c regardless of pT and particle species. The observed suppression is interpreted in terms of energy loss of quarks in a high-density medium. The PHENIX Year-4 Au+Au measurements have extended the pT reach of the $π^0$ spectra to 20 GeV/c. And the PHENIX Year-5 Cu+Cu measurements performed for the study of particle production in a lighter system and they c…
At the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), key insights into the bulk properties of the hot and dense partonic matter arise from the study of azimuthal anisotropy ($v_2$) of the produced particles. These insights include indicating the matter undergoes rapid thermalization and behaves hydrodynamically at low $p_T$. Recently a low energy scan ($\le \sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 62.4 GeV) began at RHIC to search for the QGP critical point, where a change in $v_2$ from higher energies could play a key role in its identification. Additionally, higher order flow harmonics have recently been shown to provide…
Results from PHENIX at RHIC in p-p and Au+Au collisions are presented from the perspective of measurements in p-p collisions at the CERN ISR which serve as a basis for many of the techniques used. Notable results include the equality of the suppression of inclusive pi0 and direct electrons (from the decay of heavy quarks) in the range of transverse momentuum 4 < pT < 9 GeV/c in central Au+Au collisions. This result appears to strongly disfavor the explanation of suppression as due to radiative energy loss of partons traversing a Quark Gluon Plasma but opens up a fundamental discussion of how F…
Transverse momentum (p_T) spectra of neutral pions and charged hadrons measured in Au+Au and d+Au collisions at sqrt{s_NN}=200 GeV by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC are compared to p+p reference spectra at the same sqrt{s_NN}. In central Au+Au collisions a factor 4-5 suppression for neutral pions and charged hadrons with p_T > 5 GeV/c is found relative to the p+p reference scaled by the nuclear overlap function <T_AB>. In contrast, such a suppression of high p_T particles is absent in d+Au collisions.
The origin of the azimuthal anisotropy in particle yields at high pT (pT > 5 GeV/c) in RHIC collisions remains an intriguing puzzle. Traditional flow and parton energy loss models have failed to completely explain the large v2 observed at high pT. Measurement of this parameter at high pT will help to gain an understanding of the interplay between flow, recombination and energy loss, and the role they play in the transition from soft to hard physics. Neutral mesons measured in the PHENIX experiment provide an ideal observable for such studies. We present recent measurements of \piz yields with …
The PHENIX experiment at RHIC measured $ω$, $η$ and $K_{S}^{0}$-meson production at high $p_{T}$ in $p+p$, $d+Au$ and $Au+Au$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ $GeV$. Measurements performed in different hadronic decay channels give consistent results. The measured ratios of all three mesons to $π^{0}$ are found to be flat as a function of $p_{T}$ in $p+p$ collisions and equal to $ω/π^{0}=0.81\pm0.02\pm0.07$, $η/π^{0}=0.48\pm0.02\pm0.02$ and $K_{S}^{0}/π^{0}=0.45\pm0.01\pm0.05$. Nuclear modification factor measured for $ω$-mesons in central Au+Au collisions is $R_{AA}=0.4\pm0.15$.
In this paper we present the measurement of charged pion two-particle femtoscopic correlation functions in 200 GeV Au+Au collisions, in 31 average transverse mass bins, separately for positive and negative pion pairs. Lévy-shaped source distributions yield a statistically acceptable description of the measured correlation functions, with three physical parameters: correlation strength parameter lambda, Lévy index alpha and Lévy scale parameter R. The transverse mass dependence of these Lévy parameters is then investigated and their physical interpretation is also discussed, and the appearance …
The physics emphases of the PHENIX collaboration and the design and current status of the PHENIX detector are discussed. The plan of the collaboration for making the most effective use of the available luminosity in the first years of RHIC operation is also presented.
Extensive experimental data from high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions were recorded using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The comprehensive set of measurements from the first three years of RHIC operation includes charged particle multiplicities, transverse energy, yield ratios and spectra of identified hadrons in a wide range of transverse momenta (p_T), elliptic flow, two-particle correlations, non-statistical fluctuations, and suppression of particle production at high p_T. The results are examined with an emphasis on implications for the formation of a …
At the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), key insights into the bulk properties of the hot and dense partonic matter arise from the study of azimuthal anisotropy (v_2) of the produced particles. The v_2 values indicate that the matter undergoes rapid thermalization and behaves hydrodynamically at low p_T. Furthermore, the quark scaling of v_2 for different particle species suggests that thermalization occurs at the quark level and that v_2 is the same for all quark flavors. Recently, higher order harmonic measurements (v_3, v_4) have shown the potential for insights into the medium's init…
The latest PHENIX results for particle production are presented in this paper. A suppression of the yield of high p_t (transverse momentum) hadrons in central Au+Au collisions is found. In contrast, direct photons are not suppressed in central Au+Au collisions and no suppression of high p_t particles can be seen in d+Au collisions. This leads to the conclusion that the dense medium formed in central Au+Au collisions is responsible for the suppression. It is as well found, that the properties of this medium are similar to the one of a liquid. Further measurements provide information about the c…
Recent results on identified hadrons from the PHENIX experiment in Au+Au collisions at mid-rapidity at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV are presented. The centrality dependence of transverse momentum distributions and particle ratios for identified charged hadrons are studied. The transverse flow velocity and freeze-out temperature are extracted from $p_{T}$ spectra within the framework of a hydrodynamic collective flow model. Two-particle HBT correlations for charged pions are measured in different centrality selections for a broad range of transverse momentum of the pair. Results on elliptic flow m…
$J/ψ$ production has been measured in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) during 2004 and 2005, respectively, at mid-rapidity ($|η| \le$ 0.35) via $J/ψ$ $\to$ $e^{+}e^{-}$ decay and at forward rapidity (1.2 $\le | η| \le$ 2.2) via $J/ψ$ $\to$ $μ^{+}μ^{-}$ decay. The nuclear modification factor ($R_{AA}$) of $J/ψ$ is presented as a function of the collision centrality for Au+Au collisions (final results) and Cu+Cu collisions (preliminary results) in both rapidity windows. These results are compared to SPS…
We present results on charged particle and transverse energy densities measured at mid-rapidity in Au-Au collisions at sqrt(s_{NN})=200 GeV. The mean transverse energy per charged particle is derived. The results are presented as a function of centrality, which is defined by the number of participating nucleons, and compared to results obtained in Au-Au collisions at sqrt{s_{NN})=130 GeV. A comparison with calculations from various theoretical models is performed.
A study of heavy flavor production in different collision systems in various kinematic regions presents an opportunity to probe cold nuclear medium and hot dense matter effects. Results from the PHENIX experiment on $J/ψ$ and open charm production in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =200 GeV are presented. The data show strong $J/ψ$ suppression in central AA collisions, similar to NA50 results, and strong suppression in high $p_T$ open charm production. The $J/ψ$ production in Au+Au and d+Au collisions is compared to understand the cold nuclear medium effects. The data show signif…
Measurements of J/$ψ$ production by the PHENIX experiment in p+p, d+Au, Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV are reviewed. The results show a suppression beyond what can be explained by cold nuclear matter effects in the most central Au+Au and to a lesser extent in Cu+Cu collisions. In addition, the suppression observed at mid rapidity in Au+Au is smaller than at forward rapidity, a tendency opposite to what is expected from the higher energy density at mid rapidity. Regeneration, a possible explanation, can be tested by measuring the elliptic flow parameter v$_2$ of J/$ψ$.
Thermal photons can provide information on the temperature of the new state of matter created at RHIC. In the p_T region of 1--3 GeV/c thermal photons are expected to be the dominant direct photon source. Therefore, a possible excess compared to a pure decay photon signal due to a thermal photon contribution should be seen in the double ratio (gamma/gamma(pi^0))_{Measured}/(gamma/gamma(pi^0))_{Simulated}, if sufficient accuracy can be reached. We present a method to reconstruct direct photons by measuring e^+e^- pairs from external photon conversions.
Direct photon production in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV has been measured in the $p_T$ range of 1$<$$p_T$$<$5 GeV/$c$. The yield as acfunction of centrality is in agreement with published data of the RHIC 2002 run, and with results from a new method that explores very low mass dileptons. The result is compared to several theoretical calculations, and it is found that the measurement is not inconsistent with calculations including thermal photon contributions.
PHENIX has measured the dielectron continuum in sqrt(s_(NN))=200 GeV Au+Au and p+p collisions. In minimum bias Au+Au collisions the dielectron yield in the mass range between 150 and 750 MeV/c^2 is enhanced by a factor of 3.4 +/- 0.2(stat.) +/- 1.3(syst.) +/- 0.7(model) compared to the expectation from our model of hadron decays that well reproduces the mass spectrum in p+p collisions. The integrated yield increases faster with the centrality of the collisions than the number of participating nucleons, suggesting emission from scattering processes in the dense medium. The continuum yield betwe…
In recent years, PHENIX has studied many important observables related to heavy-flavor physics through their leptonic decay measurements including the invariant yield of electrons from nonphotonic sources, and prompt single muons, both of which are dominated by D and B mesons. Charm and beauty cross-sections were measured and compared through single lepton, and lepton-hadron correlations in p+p collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV. Observables for quarkonia production such as invariant yield and polarization were also measured in p+p collisions. In Au+Au collisions, preliminary results for the $…
