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.
119402907
Suppression of nonphotonic electrons from enhancement of charm baryons in heavy ion collisions
In Au+Au collisions at 2<p{sub T}<6 GeV/c baryon production is enhanced compared to p+p collisions. Since charm baryon decays produce electrons less frequently than charm meson decays, the nonphotonic electron spectrum is sensitive to the {lambda}{sub c}/D ratio. In this report we study the dependence of the nonphotonic electron spectrum on the baryon-to-meson ratio for charm hadrons. As an example, we take the {lambda}{sub c}/D ratio to have the same form as the {lambda}/K{sub S}{sup 0} ratio. In this case, even if the total charm quark yield in Au+Au collisions scales with the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions (N{sub bin}), the electron spectrum at 2<p{sub T}<5 GeV/c is suppressed by as much as 20% relative to N{sub bin} scaled p+p collisions.
17939619
RHIC CRITICAL POINT SEARCH: ASSESSING STARs CAPABILITIES.
In this report we discuss the capabilities and limitations of the STAR detector to search for signatures of the QCD critical point in a low energy scan at RHIC. We find that a RHIC low energy scan will cover a broad region of interest in the nuclear matter phase diagram and that the STAR detector--a detector designed to measure the quantities that will be of interest in this search--will provide new observables and improve on previous measurements in this energy range.
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.
125578392
Azimuthal anisotropy of K0(S) and Lambda + anti-Lambda production at mid-rapidity from Au + Au collisions at S(NN)**(1/2) = 130-GeV
118494907
Importance of upgraded energy reconstruction for direct dark matter searches with liquid xenon detectors
The usual nuclear recoil energy reconstruction employed by liquid xenon dark matter search experiments relies only on the primary scintillation photon signal. Energy reconstruction based on both the photon and electron signals yields a more accurate representation of search results. For a dark matter particle mass m~10 GeV, a nuclear recoil from a scattering event is more likely to be observed in the lower left corner of the typical search box, rather than near the nuclear recoil calibration centroid. In this region of the search box, the actual nuclear recoil energies are smaller than the usual energy scale suggests, by about a factor x2. Recent search results from the XENON100 experiment are discussed in light of these considerations.
14131974
First direct detection limits on sub-GeV dark matter from XENON10.
The first direct detection limits on dark matter in the MeV to GeV mass range are presented, using XENON10 data. Such light dark matter can scatter with electrons, causing ionization of atoms in a detector target material and leading to single- or few-electron events. We use 15  kg day of data acquired in 2006 to set limits on the dark-matter-electron scattering cross section. The strongest bound is obtained at 100 MeV where σ(e)<3×10(-38)  cm2 at 90% C.L., while dark-matter masses between 20 MeV and 1 GeV are bounded by σ(e)<10(-37)  cm2 at 90% C.L. This analysis provides a first proof of principle that direct detection experiments can be sensitive to dark-matter candidates with masses well below the GeV scale.
121037084
BACKGROUNDS AND THRESHOLD OF XENON10 DARK MATTER EXPERIMENT
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.
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.