118375394
Coalescence Models for Hadron Formation from Quark-Gluon Plasma
We review hadron formation from a deconfined quark-gluon plasma (QGP) via coalescence or recombination of quarks and gluons. We discuss the abundant experimental evidence for coalescence from the R...
118574179
Beam energy dependence of Elliptic and Triangular flow with the AMPT model
Abstract A beam energy scan has been carried out at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory to search for the onset of deconfinement and a possible critical point where the transition from a Quark Gluon Plasma to a hadronic phase changes from a rapid cross-over to a first order phase transition. Anisotropy in the azimuthal distribution of produced particles such as the second and third harmonics v 2 and v 3 are expected to be sensitive to the existence of a Quark Gluon Plasma phase and the Equation of State of the system. For this reason, they are of great experimental interests. In this Letter we report on calculations of v 2 and v 3 from the AMPT model in the Default (Def.) and String Melting (SM) mode to provide a reference for the energy dependence of v 2 and v 3 for s NN from 7.7 GeV to 2.76 TeV. We expect that in the case that collisions cease to produce QGP at lower colliding energies, data will deviate from the AMPT String Melting calculations and come in better agreement with the Default calculations.
17495479
Identified Particle Measurements at RHIC: Elucidating Hadronization Mechanisms for Bulk Partonic Matter
Measurements of identified particle momentum spectra at √{sNN} = 200 GeV are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on the azimuthal dependence and the centrality dependence of hadron yields at intermediate transverse momentum (1.5 < pT < 5 GeV/c). The first measurements of the fourth harmonic term (v4) in the azimuthal variation of identified particle yields are shown. The recombination mechanism of hadron formation provides a consistent description of the dependence of these measurements on particle-type.
118502088
The Sound of the Little Bangs
Measurements of particles emitted from collisions of heavy ions at relativistic energies show evidence for temperature-fluctuations on the freeze-out surface of the expanding fireball. These can be understood as remnants of the density inhomogeneities in the initial collision overlap region. In this paper we present an analysis of heavy-ion collisions analogous to the analysis of the cosmic microwave background radiation. We use data on transverse momentum correlations to extract a power-spectrum from heavy-ion collisions and use a Glauber model for eccentricity to extract the transfer function needed to produce the observed correlations. We also discuss the acoustic signal, the sound that an observer inside the matter would hear.
8293894
Particle dependence of elliptic flow in Au + Au collisions at s(NN)**(1/2) = 200-GeV
The elliptic flow parameter (v 2 ) for K 0 S and Λ+Λ has been measured at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at √s NN = 200 GeV by the STAR Collaboration. The υ 2 values for both K 0 S and Λ+Λ saturate at moderate p T , deviating from the hydrodynamic behaviour observed in the lower p T region. The saturated v 2 values and the p T scales where the deviation begins are particle dependent. The particle-type dependence of v 2 shows features expected from the hadronization of a partonic ellipsoid by coalescence of co-moving quarks. These results will be discussed in relation to the nuclear modification factor (R CP ) which has also been measured for K 0 S and Λ+Λ by the STAR Collaboration.
118478180
Implications of space–momentum correlations and geometric fluctuations in heavy-ion collisions
The standard picture of heavy-ion collisions includes a collective expansion. If the initial energy density in the collisions is lumpy, then the expansion can convert the spatial lumpiness into correlations between final-state particles. Correlations in heavy-ion collisions show prominent features not present in p+p collisions. I argue that many features of these correlations are related to the transference of over-densities from the initial overlap region into momentum–space during the QGP phase of the expansion. I show results from a toy Monte Carlo model to illustrate the consequences of lumpy initial conditions and a collective expansion.
56164482
Nuclear recoil energy scale in liquid xenon with application to the direct detection of dark matter
We show for the first time that the quenching of electronic excitation from nuclear recoils in liquid xenon is well-described by Lindhard theory, if the nuclear recoil energy is reconstructed using the combined (scintillation and ionization) energy scale proposed by Shutt et al.. We argue for the adoption of this perspective in favor of the existing preference for reconstructing nuclear recoil energy solely from primary scintillation. We show that signal partitioning into scintillation and ionization is well-described by the Thomas-Imel box model. We discuss the implications for liquid xenon detectors aimed at the direct detection of dark matter.
119186611
Anisotropic diffusion of electrons in liquid xenon with application to improving the sensitivity of direct dark matter searches
Electron diffusion in a liquid xenon time projection chamber has recently been used to infer the z coordinate of a particle interaction, from the width of the electron signal. The goal of this technique is to reduce the background event rate by discriminating edge events from bulk events. Analyses of dark matter search data which employ it would benefit from increased longitudinal electron diffusion. We show that a significant increase is expected if the applied electric field is decreased. This observation is trivial to implement but runs contrary to conventional wisdom and practice. We also extract a first measurement of the longitudinal diffusion coefficient, and confirm the expectation that electron diffusion in liquid xenon is highly anisotropic under typical operating conditions.
126147907
The XENON dark matter search experiment
46522188
The spin-orbit angles of the transiting exoplanets WASP-1b, WASP-24b, WASP-38b and HAT-P-8b from Rossiter–McLaughlin observations
We present observations of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for the transiting exoplanet systems WASP-1, WASP-24, WASP-38 and HAT-P-8, and deduce the orientations of the planetary orbits with respect to the host stars’ rotatio n axes. The planets WASP-24b, WASP-38b and HAT-P-8b appear to move in prograde orbits and be well aligned, having sky-projected spin orbit angles consistent with zero: � = 4:7 ± 4:0 � , � =15 +33 � −43� and� = 9:7 +9.0 � −7.7� , respectively. The host stars have Teff < 6250 K and conform with the trend of cooler stars having low obliquities. WASP-38b is a massive planet on a moderately long period, eccentric orbit so may be expected to have a misaligned orbit given the high obliquities measured in similar systems. However, we find no evidence for a large spinorbit angle. By contrast, WASP-1b joins the growing number of misaligned systems and has an almost polar orbit, � = 79:0 +4.5 � −4.3� . It is neither very massive, eccentric nor orbiting a hot host star, and therefore does not share the properties of many other misaligned systems.
119719187
Dark Matter in Light of the LUX Results
The landscape of dark matter direct detection has been profoundly altered by the slew of recent experiments. While some have claimed signals consistent with dark matter, others have seen few, if any, events consistent with dark matter. The results of the putative detections are often incompatible with each other in the context of naive spin-independent scattering, as well as with the null results. In particular, in light of the conflicts between the DM interpretation of the three events recently reported by the CDMS-Si experiment and the first results of the LUX experiment, there is a strong need to revisit the assumptions that go into the DM interpretations of both signals and limits. We attempt to reexamine a number of particle physics, astrophysics and experimental uncertainties. Specifically, we examine exothermic scattering, isospin-dependent couplings, modified halo models through astrophysics independent techniques, and variations in the assumptions about the scintillation light in liquid Xenon. We find that only a highly tuned isospin-dependent scenario remains as a viable explanation of the claimed detections, unless the scintillation properties of LXe are dramatically different from the assumptions used by the LUX experiment.