We present measurements of $e^+e^-$ production at midrapidity in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV. The invariant yield is studied within the PHENIX detector acceptance over a wide range of mass ($m_{ee} <$ 5 GeV/$c^2$) and pair transverse momentum ($p_T$ $<$ 5 GeV/$c$), for minimum bias and for five centrality classes. The \ee yield is compared to the expectations from known sources. In the low-mass region ($m_{ee}=0.30$--0.76 GeV/$c^2$) there is an enhancement that increases with centrality and is distributed over the entire pair \pt range measured. It is significantly smaller than previously reported by the PHENIX experiment and amounts to $2.3\pm0.4({\rm stat})\pm0.4({\rm syst})\pm0.2^{\rm model}$ or to $1.7\pm0.3({\rm stat})\pm0.3({\rm syst})\pm0.2^{\rm model}$ for minimum bias collisions when the open-heavy-flavor contribution is calculated with {\sc pythia} or {\sc mc@nlo}, respectively. The inclusive mass and $p_T$ distributions as well as the centrality dependence are well reproduced by model calculations where the enhancement mainly originates from the melting of the $\rho$ meson resonance as the system approaches chiral symmetry restoration. In the intermediate-mass region ($m_{ee}$ = 1.2--2.8 GeV/$c^2$), the data hint at a significant contribution in addition to the yield from the semileptonic decays of heavy-flavor mesons.
Dihadron correlations at high transverse momentum in d+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV at midrapidity are measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). From these correlations we extract several structural characteristics of jets; the root-mean-squared (RMS) transverse momentum of fragmenting hadrons with respect to the jet sqrt(<j_T^2>), the mean sine-squared angle between the scattered partons <sin^2(phi_jj)>, and the number of particles produced within the dijet that are associated with a high-p_T particle (dN/dx_E distributions). We observe that the fragmentation characteristics of jets in d+Au collisions are very similar to those in p+p collisions and that there is also little dependence on the centrality of the d+Au collision. This is consistent with the nuclear medium having little influence on the fragmentation process. Furthermore, there is no statistically significant increase in the value of <sin^2(phi_jj)> from p+p to d+Au collisions. This constrains the amount of multiple scattering that partons undergo in the cold nuclear medium before and after a hard-collision.
The PHENIX experiment at RHIC has measured charged hadron yields at mid-rapidity over a wide range of transverse momentum (0.5 < p_T < 10 GeV/c) in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. The data are compared to pi^zero measurements from the same experiment. For both charged hadrons and neutral pions, the yields per nucleon-nucleon collision are significantly suppressed in central compared to peripheral and nucleon-nucleon collisions. The suppression sets in gradually and increases with increasing centrality of the collisions. Above 4-5 GeV/c in p_T, a constant and almost identical suppression of charged hadrons and pi^zeroes is observed. The p_T spectra are compared to published spectra from Au+Au at sqrt(s_NN)=130 in terms of x_t scaling. Central and peripheral pi^zero as well as peripheral charged spectra exhibit the same x_t scaling as observed in p+p data.
We present inclusive charged hadron elliptic flow v_2 measured over the pseudorapidity range |\eta| < 0.35 in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. Results for v_2 are presented over a broad range of transverse momentum (p_T = 0.2-8.0 GeV/c) and centrality (0-60%). In order to study non-flow effects that are not correlated with the reaction plane, as well as the fluctuations of v_2, we compare two different analysis methods: (1) event plane method from two independent sub-detectors at forward (|\eta| = 3.1-3.9) and beam (|\eta| > 6.5) pseudorapidities and (2) two-particle cumulant method extracted using correlations between particles detected at midrapidity. The two event-plane results are consistent within systematic uncertainties over the measured p_T and in centrality 0-40%. There is at most 20% difference of the v_2 between the two event plane methods in peripheral (40-60%) collisions. The comparisons between the two-particle cumulant results and the standard event plane measurements are discussed.
New measurements by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC for eta production at midrapidity as a function of transverse momentum (p_T) and collision centrality in sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV Au+Au and p+p collisions are presented. They indicate nuclear modification factors (R_AA) that are similar both in magnitude and trend to those found in earlier pi^0 measurements. Linear fits to R_AA in the 5--20 GeV/c p_T region show that the slope is consistent with zero within two standard deviations at all centralities although a slow rise cannot be excluded. Having different statistical and systematic uncertainties the pi^0 and eta measurements are complementary at high p_T/ thus, along with the extended p_T range of these data they can provide additional constraints for theoretical modeling and the extraction of transport properties.
We present measurements of the J/psi invariant yields in sqrt(s_NN)=39 and 62.4 GeV Au+Au collisions at forward rapidity (1.2<|y|<2.2). Invariant yields are presented as a function of both collision centrality and transverse momentum. Nuclear modifications are obtained for central relative to peripheral Au+Au collisions (R_CP) and for various centrality selections in Au+Au relative to scaled p+p cross sections obtained from other measurements (R_AA). The observed suppression patterns at 39 and 62.4 GeV are quite similar to those previously measured at 200 GeV. This similar suppression presents a challenge to theoretical models that contain various competing mechanisms with different energy dependencies, some of which cause suppression and others enhancement.
Differential measurements of the elliptic (v_2) and hexadecapole (v_4) Fourier flow coefficients are reported for charged hadrons as a function of transverse momentum (p_T) and collision centrality or the number of participant nucleons (N_part) for Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. The v_{2,4} measurements at pseudorapidity |\eta|<=0.35 obtained with four separate reaction plane detectors positioned in the range 1.0<|\eta|<3.9 show good agreement, indicating the absence of significant \eta-dependent nonflow perturbations. Sizable values for v_4(p_T) are observed with a ratio v_4(p_T,N_part)/v_2^2(p_T,N_part)~0.8 for 50<N_part<200, which is compatible with the combined effects of a finite viscosity and initial eccentricity fluctuations. For N_part>200 this ratio increases up to 1.7 in the most central collisions.
PHENIX has measured the centrality dependence of mid-rapidity pion, kaon and proton transverse momentum distributions in d+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. The p+p data provide a reference for nuclear effects in d+Au and previously measured Au+Au collisions. Hadron production is enhanced in d+Au, relative to independent nucleon-nucleon scattering, as was observed in lower energy collisions. The nuclear modification factor for (anti) protons is larger than that for pions. The difference increases with centrality, but is not sufficient to account for the abundance of baryon production observed in central Au+Au collisions at RHIC. The centrality dependence in d+Au shows that the nuclear modification factor increases gradually with the number of collisions suffered by each participant nucleon. We also present comparisons with lower energy data as well as with parton recombination and other theoretical models of nuclear effects on particle production.
The invariant differential cross section for inclusive electron production in $p + p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 200$~GeV has been measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over the transverse momentum range $0.4 \le p_T \le 5.0$~GeV/$c$ in the central rapidity region ($|\eta| \le 0.35$). The contribution to the inclusive electron spectrum from semileptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy flavor, {\it i.e.} charm quarks or, at high $p_T$, bottom quarks, is determined via three independent methods. The resulting electron spectrum from heavy flavor decays is compared to recent leading and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations. The total cross section of charm quark-antiquark pair production is determined to be $\sigma_{c\bar{c}} = 0.92 \pm 0.15 {\rm (stat.)} \pm 0.54 {\rm (sys.)}$~mb.
Transverse momentum spectra of charged hadrons with p_T < 8 GeV/c and neutral pions with p_T < 10 GeV/c have been measured at mid-rapidity by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC in d+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. The measured yields are compared to those in p+p collisions at the same sqrt(s_NN) scaled up by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions in d+Au. The yield ratio does not show the suppression observed in central Au+Au collisions at RHIC. Instead, there is a small enhancement in the yield of high momentum particles.
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