Centrality-dependent direct photonptspectra inAu+Aucollisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) energysNN=200 GeV

Abstract

We calculate the centrality dependence of transverse momentum (p{sub t}) spectra for direct photons in Au+Au collisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) energy {radical}(s{sub NN})=200 GeV, based on a realistic data-constrained (3+1)-dimensional hydrodynamic description of the expanding hot and dense matter, a reasonable treatment of the propagation of partons and their energy loss in the fluid, and a systematic study of the main sources of direct photons. The resultant p{sub t} spectra agree with recent PHENIX data in a broad p{sub t} range. The competition among the different direct photon sources is investigated at various centralities. Parton energy loss in the plasma is considered for photons from fragmentation and jet-photon conversion, which causes about 40% decrease in the total contribution. In the high p{sub t} region, the observed R{sub AA} of photons is centrality independent at the accuracy of 5% based on a realistic treatment of energy loss. We also link the different behavior of R{sub AA} for central and peripheral collisions, in the low p{sub t} region, to the fact that the plasma in central collisions is hotter than that in peripheral ones.