High-energy Nucleus-nucleus Collisions Research Articles

Neutral meson production measurements with the ALICE at the LHC

Identified hadron spectra are considered to be sensitive to the transport properties of strongly interacting matter produced in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. π0 and η mesons in ALICE are identified via their two-photon decays by using calorimeters and the central tracking system. In the latter, photons are measured via their conversion to electron-positron pairs in the material of the inner ALICE barrel tracking detectors. The measured production spectra in pp, p–Pb and Pb–Pb collisions at mid–rapidity and over a wide pT range will be presented in the available Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies of Run I. The resulting nuclear modification factor RAA at different centrality classes shows a clear pattern of strong suppression in the hot QCD medium with respect to pp collisions. Comparison of the ALICE results on neutral mesons with lower-energy experiments is also discussed.

Does non-monotonic behavior of directed flow signal the onset of deconfinement?

We investigate the effects of nuclear mean-field as well as the formation and decay of nuclear clusters on the directed flow v1 in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions from sNN=7.7 GeV to 27 GeV incident energies within a transport model. Specifically, we use the JAM transport model in which potentials are implemented based on the framework of the relativistic quantum molecular dynamics. Our approach reproduces the rapidity dependence of directed flow data up to sNN≈8 GeV showing the significant importance of mean-field. However, the slopes of dv1/dy at mid-rapidity are calculated to be positive at sNN11.7 and 19.6 GeV, and become negative above 27 GeV. Thus the result from the JAM hadronic transport model with nuclear mean-field approach is incompatible with the data. Therefore within our approach, we conclude that the excitation function of the directed flow cannot be explained by the hadronic degree of freedom alone.

Asymmetric vector mesons produced in nuclear collisions

It is argued that the experimentally observed phenomenon of asymmetric shapes of vector mesons produced in nuclear media during high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions can be explained as Fano-Feshbach resonances. It has been observed that the mass distributions of lepton pairs created at meson decays decline from the traditional Breit-Wigner shape with some excess in the low-mass wing of the resonance. It is clear that the whole phenomenon is related to some interaction with the nuclear medium. Moreover, it can be further detalized in quantum mechanics as the interference of direct and continuum states in Fano-Feshbach effect. To reveal the nature of the interaction it is proposed to use a phenomenological model of the additional contribution due to Cherenkov gluons. They can be created because of the excess of the refractivity index over 1 just in the low-mass wing as required by the classical Cherenkov treatment. In quantum mechanics, this requirement is related to the positive real part of the interaction amplitude in this wing. The corresponding parameters are found from the comparison with $\rho $-meson data and admit reasonable explanation.

Non prompt D-meson measurements with ALICE at the LHC

The production of hadrons with open heavy flavour (charm and beauty) in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions is a powerful tool to study the properties of the deconfined phase of strongly interacting matter known as the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). The production of charm and beauty quarks occurs in hard partonic scattering processes in the early stage of the collisions. ALICE is the LHC experiment devoted to the study of heavy-ion physics. It is able to reconstruct charmed mesons in exclusive decays (e.g. D0 →K− π + ) and beauty hadrons in semi-inclusive decays (e.g. B→eX, B→J/ψ X) . At LHC energies a significant component of the inclusive D-meson yield originates from the decay of beauty-flavoured hadrons, whose knowledge is essential to determine the production of prompt D mesons coming from charm quarks. A precise determination of the non-prompt fraction combined with the determination of the inclusive D-meson yield would allow a measurement of beauty production. A data-driven method that exploits the different shapes of the distributions of the transverse-plane impact parameter to the primary vertex of prompt and feed-down D mesons in p-Pb collisions is used in ALICE. An alternative approach based on the D-meson decay length for Pb–Pb collisions is under study.

Heavy flavors in nucleus-nucleus and proton-nucleus collisions

A multi-step setup for heavy-flavor studies in high-energy nucleus-nucleus (AA) and proton-nucleus (pA) collisions is presented. The propagation of the heavy quarks in the medium is described in a framework provided by the relativistic Langevin equation, here solved using weak-coupling transport coefficients. Successively, the heavy quarks hadronize in the medium. We compute the nuclear modification factor and the elliptic flow parameter of the final Dmesons both in AA and in pA collisions and compare our results to experimental data.

Nucleon-gold collisions at200AGeV using taggedd + Auinteractions in the PHOBOS detector

Forward calorimetry in the PHOBOS detector has been used to study charged hadron production in d+Au, p+Au and n+Au collisions at sqrt(s_nn) = 200 GeV. The forward proton calorimeter detectors are described and a procedure for determining collision centrality with these detectors is detailed. The deposition of energy by deuteron spectator nucleons in the forward calorimeters is used to identify p+Au and n+Au collisions in the data. A weighted combination of the yield of p+Au and n+Au is constructed to build a reference for Au+Au collisions that better matches the isospin composition of the gold nucleus. The p_T and centrality dependence of the yield of this improved reference system is found to match that of d+Au. The shape of the charged particle transverse momentum distribution is observed to extrapolate smoothly from pbar+p to central d+Au as a function of the charged particle pseudorapidity density. The asymmetry of positively- and negatively-charged hadron production in p+Au is compared to that of n+Au. No significant asymmetry is observed at mid-rapidity. These studies augment recent results from experiments at the LHC and RHIC facilities to give a more complete description of particle production in p+A and d+A collisions, essential for the understanding the medium produced in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions.

Relationship between quark-antiquark potential and quark-antiquark free energy in hadronic matter**Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11175111)

In high-temperature quark-gluon plasma and its subsequent hadronic matter created in a high-energy nucleus-nucleus collision, the quark-antiquark potential depends on the temperature. The temperature-dependent potential is expected to be derived from the free energy obtained in lattice gauge theory calculations. This requires one to study the relationship between the quark-antiquark potential and the quark-antiquark free energy. When the system's temperature is above the critical temperature, the potential of a heavy quark and a heavy antiquark almost equals the free energy, but the potential of a light quark and a light antiquark, of a heavy quark and a light antiquark and of a light quark and a heavy antiquark is substantially larger than the free energy. When the system's temperature is below the critical temperature, the quark-antiquark free energy can be taken as the quark-antiquark potential. This allows one to apply the quark-antiquark free energy to study hadron properties and hadron-hadron reactions in hadronic matter.

Heavy flavours in high-energy nuclear collisions: quenching, flow and correlations

We present results for the quenching, elliptic flow and azimuthal correlations of heavy flavour particles in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions obtained through the POWLANG transport setup, developed in the past to study the propagation of heavy quarks in the Quark-Gluon Plasma and here extended to include a modeling of their hadronization in the presence of a medium. Hadronization is described as occurring via the fragmentation of strings with endpoints given by the heavy (anti-)quark and a thermal parton from the medium. The flow of the light quarks is shown to affect significantly the RAA and v2 of the final D mesons, leading to a better agreement with the experimental data.

Heavy flavors in heavy-ion collisions: quenching, flow and correlations

We present results for the quenching, elliptic flow and azimuthal correlations of heavy-flavor particles in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions obtained through the POWLANG transport setup, developed in the past to study the propagation of heavy quarks in the Quark–Gluon Plasma and here extended to include a modeling of their hadronization in the presence of a medium. Hadronization is described as occurring via the fragmentation of strings with endpoints given by the heavy (anti-) quark \(Q(\overline{Q})\) and a thermal parton \(\overline{q}(q)\) from the medium. The flow of the light quarks is shown to affect significantly the \(R_\mathrm{AA}\) and \(v_2\) of the final \(D\) mesons, leading to a better agreement with the experimental data. The approach allows also predictions for the angular correlation between heavy-flavor hadrons (or their decay electrons) and the charged particles produced in the fragmentation of the heavy-quark strings.

Forward-Backward Emission of Target Evaporated Fragments at High Energy Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

The multiplicity distribution, multiplicity moments, scaled variance and entropy of target evaporated fragment emitted in forward and backward hemispheres in relativistic heavy ions induced emulsion heavy targets (AgBr) interactions are investigated. It is found that the multiplicity distribution can be fitted by the Gaussian distribution, and the fitting parameters are different between two hemispheres for all the interactions. The multiplicity moment increases with the order of the moment q, and second-order multiplicity moment is energy independent over the entire energy for all the interactions. The scaled variance is close to one for all the interactions. The entropy in forward hemisphere is greater than that in backward hemisphere for all the interactions.

ALICE results on quarkonium production in pp, p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions

The study of quarkonia, bound states of heavy (charm or bottom) quark-antiquark pairs such as the J/ψ or the ϒ, provides insight into the earliest and hottest stages of high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions where the formation of a Quark-Gluon Plasma is expected. High-precision data from proton-proton collisions represent an essential baseline for the measurement of nuclear modifications in nucleus-nucleus collisions and serve also as a crucial test for models of quarkonium hadroproduction. Another fundamental tool to understand the quarkonium production in nucleus-nucleus collisions is the the study of proton-nucleus interactions, which allows one to investigate cold nuclear matter effects, such as parton shadowing or gluon saturation. The ALICE detector provides excellent capabilities to study quarkonium production at the Large Hadron Collider at both central and forward rapidity. An overview on ALICE results on quarkonium production in pp, p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions is presented. Results are compared to theoretical model predictions.

Extended Glauber model of antiproton-nucleus annihilation for all energies and mass numbers

Previous analytical formulas in the Glauber model for high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions developed by Wong are utilized and extended to study antiproton-nucleus annihilations for both high and low energies, after taking into account the effects of Coulomb and nuclear interactions, and the change of the antiproton momentum inside a nucleus. The extended analytical formulas capture the main features of the experimental antiproton-nucleus annihilation cross sections for all energies and mass numbers. At high antiproton energies, they exhibit the granular property for the lightest nuclei and the black-disk limit for the heavy nuclei. At low antiproton energies, they display the effect of the antiproton momentum increase due to the nuclear interaction for the light nuclei, and the effect of the magnification due to the attractive Coulomb interaction for the heavy nuclei.

The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment is a next-generation fixed target detector which will operate at the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt. The goal of this experiment is to explore the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net baryon densities using high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. Its research program includes the study of the equation-of-state of nuclear matter at high baryon densities, the search for the deconfinement and chiral phase transitions and the search for the QCD critical point. The CBM detector is designed to measure both bulk observables with a large acceptance and rare diagnostic probes such as charm particles, multi-strange hyperons, and low mass vector mesons in their di-leptonic decay. The physics program of CBM will be summarized, followed by an overview of the detector concept, a selection of the expected physics performance, and the status of preparation of the experiment.

Dynamical formation of disoriented chiral condensates

We study the dynamical formation of disoriented chiral condensates in very high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions using Bjorken hydrodynamics and relativistic nucleation theory. It is the dynamics of the first order confinement phase transition which controls the evolution of the system. Every bubble or fluctuation of the new, hadronic, phase obtains its own chiral condensate with a probability determined by the Boltzmann weight of the finite temperature effective potential of the linear sigma model. We evaluate domain size and chiral angle distributions, which can be used as initial conditions for the solution of semiclassical field equations.

Quarkonium production in pp, p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions with ALICE at LHC

The hadroproduction of heavy quarkonium states plays a key role to understand the properties of matter created in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. In this paper, the nuclear modification factors for J/ ѱ,ѱ (2S) and ϒ(1S) measured with ALICE at LHC energies are discussed.

Exploring the QCD phase diagram through relativistic heavy ion collisions

We present a review of the studies related to establishing the QCD phase diagram through high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. We particularly focus on the experimental results related to the formation of a quark-gluon phase, crossover transition and search for a critical point in the QCD phase diagram.

Heavy flavors in nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC

A multi-step setup for heavy-flavor studies in high-energy nucleus-nucleus (AA) collisions — addressing within a comprehensive framework the initial QQ produc- tion, the propagation in the hot medium until decoupling and the final hadronization and decays — is presented. The propagation of the heavy quarks in the medium is described in a framework provided by the relativistic Langevin equation and the corresponding numerical results are compared to experimental data from RHIC and the LHC. In partic- ular, outcomes for the nuclear modification factor RAA and for the elliptic flow v2 of D/B mesons, heavy-flavor electrons and non-prompt J/ψ's are displayed.

Early thermalization of quark-gluon matter initially created in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions

Elastic parton-parton-parton scattering is briefly reviewed and is included in transport equations of quark-gluon matter. We solve the transport equations and get thermal states from initially produced quark-gluon matter. Both gluon matter and quark matter take early thermalization, but gloun matter has a shorter thermalization time than quark matter.

Heavy flavors in AA collisions: production, transport and final spectra

A multi-step setup for heavy-flavour studies in high-energy nucleus-nucleus (AA) collisions --- addressing within a comprehensive framework the initial Q-Qbar production, the propagation in the hot medium until decoupling and the final hadronization and decays --- is presented. The initial hard production of Q-Qbar pairs is simulated using the POWHEG pQCD event generator, interfaced with the PYTHIA parton shower. Outcomes of the calculations are compared to experimental data in pp collisions and are used as a validated benchmark for the study of medium effects. In the AA case, the propagation of the heavy quarks in the medium is described in a framework provided by the relativistic Langevin equation. For the latter, different choices of transport coefficients are explored (either provided by a perturbative calculation or extracted from lattice-QCD simulations) and the corresponding numerical results are compared to experimental data from RHIC and the LHC. In particular, outcomes for the nuclear modification factor R_AA and for the elliptic flow v_2 of D/B mesons, heavy-flavour electrons and non-prompt J/\psi's are displayed.

Strong and Electromagnetic Forces in Heavy Ion Collisions

The interplay between the strong and electromagnetic force in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions was studied experimentally and theoretically in our earlier works. This effect appeared to result in very large distortions in spectra of charged pions produced in the collision. It was also found to bring new, independent information on the space-time evolution of the non-perturbative process of particle production. In this paper, we present our new results on the influence of the spectator-induced electromagnetic force on spectra of charged particles produced in two different Pb-induced reactions. For the first time, we also address the topic of p+A collisions in view of obtaining information about their centrality and nuclear break-up, both subjects being of importance in the context of the new p+A data collected at the LHC.