B. Erazmus

How to measure which sort of particles was emitted earlier and which later

Abstract A method allowing to directly measure delays in the emission of particles of different types at time scales as short as 10−23–10−22 s is suggested.

Mid-rapidity protons in 158A·GeV Pb+Pb collisions

Abstract Proton distributions at mid-rapidity (2 ≤ y ≤ 3) have been measured for 158A·GeV Pb+Pb collisions in the focusing spectrometer experiment NA44 at CERN. From baryon number conservation and by comparing the experimentally measured d N d y distribution with the transport model RQMD, we conclude that a rather high degree of nuclear stopping has been reached for the truly heavy-ion collisions at these energies. Transverse mass distributions exhibit characteristically thermal shapes and the slope parameters increase with the mass of the colliding system.

K(892)* resonance production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 200 GeV at RHIC

Author(s): Adams, J.; Aggarwal, M.M.; Ahammed, Z.; Amonett, J.; Anderson, B.D.; Arkhipkin, D.; Averichev, G.S.; Badyal, S.K.; Bai, Y.; Balewski, J.; Barannikova, O.; Barnby, L.S.; Baudot, J.; Bekele, S.; Belaga, V.V.; Bellwied, R.; Berger, J.; Bezverkhny, B.I.; Bharadwaj, S.; Bhasin, A.; Bhati, A.K.; Bhatia, V.S.; Bichsel, H.; Billmeier, A.; Bland, L.C.; Blyth, C.O.; Bonner, B.E.; Botje, M.; Boucham, A.; Brandin, A.V.; Bravar, A.; Bystersky, M.; Cadman, R.V.; Cai, X.Z.; Caines, H.; Calderon de la Barca Sanchez, M.; Castillo, J.; Cebra, D.; Chajecki, Z.; Chaloupka, P.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Chen, H.F.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, J.; Cherney, M.; Chikanian, A.; Christie, W.; Coffin, J.P.; Cormier, T.M.; Cramer, J.G.; Crawford, H.J.; Das, D.; Das, S.; de Moura, M.M.; Derevschikov, A.A.; Didenko, L.; Dietel, T.; Dogra, S.M.; Dong, W.J.; Dong, X.; Draper, J.E.; Du, F.; Dubey, A.K.; Dunin, V.B.; Dunlop, J.C.; Dutta Mazumdar, M.R.; Eckardt, V.; Edwards, W.R.; Efimov, L.G.; Emelianov, V.; Engelage, J.; Eppley, G.; Erazmus, B.; Estienne, M.; Fachini, P.; Faivre, J.; Fatemi, R.; Fedorisin, J.; Filimonov, K.; Filip, P.; Finch, E.; Fine, V.; Fisyak, Y.; Fomenko, K.; Fu, J.The short-lived K(892)* resonance provides an efficient tool to probe properties of the hot and dense medium produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We report measurements of K* in root s(NN)=200 GeV Au+Au and p+p collisions reconstructed via its hadronic decay channels K(892)*(0)-> K pi and K(892)*(+/-)-> K(S)(0)pi(+/-) using the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The K*(0) mass has been studied as a function of p(T) in minimum bias p+p and central Au+Au collisions. The K(*) p(T) spectra for minimum bias p+p interactions and for Au+Au collisions in different centralities are presented. The K*/K yield ratios for all centralities in Au+Au collisions are found to be significantly lower than the ratio in minimum bias p+p collisions, indicating the importance of hadronic interactions between chemical and kinetic freeze-outs. A significant nonzero K*(0) elliptic flow (v(2)) is observed in Au+Au collisions and is compared to the K(S)(0) and Lambda v(2). The nuclear modification factor of K* at intermediate p(T) is similar to that of K(S)(0) but different from Lambda. This establishes a baryon-meson effect over a mass effect in the particle production at intermediate p(T) (2 < p(T)<= 4 GeV/c).

Strange meson enhancement in PbPb collisions

Abstract The NA44 Collaboration has measured yields and differential distributions of K + , K − , π + , π − in transverse kinetic energy and rapidity, around the center-of-mass rapidity in 158 A GeV/ c Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. A considerable enhancement of K + production per π is observed, as compared to p + p collisions at this energy. To illustrate the importance of secondary hadron rescattering as an enhancement mechanism, we compare strangeness production at the SPS and AGS with predictions of the transport model RQMD.The NA44 Collaboration has measured yields and differential distributions of K+, K-, pi+, pi- in transverse kinetic energy and rapidity, around the center-of-mass rapidity in 158 A GeV/c Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. A considerable enhancement of K+ production per pi is observed, as compared to p+p collisions at this energy. To illustrate the importance of secondary hadron rescattering as an enhancement mechanism, we compare strangeness production at the SPS and AGS with predictions of the transport model RQMD.

One and two-dimensional analysis of 3π correlations measured in Pb+Pb interactions

Abstract π−π−π− correlations from Pb+Pb collisions at 158 GeV/c per nucleon are presented as measured by the focusing spectrometer of the NA44 experiment at CERN. The three-body effect is found to be stronger for Pb+Pb than for S+Pb. The two-dimensional three-particle correlation function is also measured and the longitudinal extension of the source is larger than the transverse extension.

The STAR silicon strip detector (SSD)

Abstract The STAR Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) completes the three layers of the Silicon Vertex Tracker (SVT) to make an inner tracking system located inside the Time Projection Chamber (TPC). This additional fourth layer provides two-dimensional hit position and energy loss measurements for charged particles, improving the extrapolation of TPC tracks through SVT hits. To match the high multiplicity of central Au+Au collisions at RHIC the double-sided silicon strip technology was chosen which makes the SSD a half-million channels detector. Dedicated electronics have been designed for both readout and control. Also a novel technique of bonding, the Tape Automated Bonding, was used to fulfill the large number of bounds to be done. All aspects of the SSD are shortly described here and test performances of produced detection modules as well as simulated results on hit reconstruction are given.The STAR Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) completes the three layers of the Silicon Vertex Tracker (SVT) to make an inner tracking system located inside the Time Projection Chamber (TPC). This additional fourth layer provides two dimensional hit position and energy loss measurements for charged particles, improving the extrapolation of TPC tracks through SVT hits. To match the high multiplicity of central Au+Au collisions at RHIC the double sided silicon strip technology was chosen which makes the SSD a half million channels detector. Dedicated electronics have been designed for both readout and control. Also a novel technique of bonding, the Tape Automated Bonding (TAB), was used to fullfill the large number of bounds to be done. All aspects of the SSD are shortly described here and test performances of produced detection modules as well as simulated results on hit reconstruction are given.

Coulomb effect in single particle distributions

Abstract Single particle distributions from heavy-ion collisions show the effect of Coulomb interactions on the final state. While a rather strong effect is seen in the ratio π − π + from central 158A·GeV/c Pb+Pb collisions, at most a small enhancement is found in the ratios from S+S and S+Pb collisions at 200A·GeV/c.

Particle ratios from central Pb + Pb collisions at the CERN SPS

We will address the physics of K?/K+ and /p ratios measured in 158 A GeV Pb + Pb collisions as a function of centrality and transverse momentum. We observe little significant centrality dependence in neither K?/K+ nor /p ratios and they are almost constant as a function of PT. In addition to the chemical freeze-out temperature Tch, we extract the chemical potentials for both light and strange quarks (?q and ?s) by comparing the present data with simple model predictions. Tch is greater than the thermal freeze-out temperature which is extracted from the transverse momentum distribution of charged hadrons.

TEMPERATURE AND EXCITATION-ENERGY DETERMINATION IN PB-208+AU-197 REACTIONS AT 29 MEV/U

Abstract The violence of collisions induced by 208 Pb projectiles bombarding a 197 Au target at 29 MeV/u has been deduced by detecting the accompanying neutrons. With this filter, the temperature of the projectile-like fragments formed in very dissipative collisions has been extracted from the slope of the alpha-particle energy spectra. Temperatures of the order of 7 MeV are found, in very good agreement with the energy dissipations deduced from an energy balance assuming binary kinematics. The associated neutron multiplicities are well reproduced by a standard evaporation model, despite the dissociation into intermediate mass fragments observed in previous experiments. However, the measured temperatures exceed by a significant amount the limits predicted by theoretical calculations.

Multiboson effects in multiparticle production

The influence of multiboson effects on pion multiplicities, single-pion spectra and two-pion correlation functions is discussed in terms of an analytically solvable model. The applicability of its basic factorization assumption is clarified. An approximate scaling of the basic observables with the phase space density is demonstrated in the low density (gas) limit. This scaling and also its violation at high densities due to the condensate formation is described by approximate analytical formulae which allow, in principle, for the identification of the multiboson effects among others. For moderate densities indicated by the experimental data, a fast saturation of multiboson effects with the number of contributing cumulants is obtained, allowing for the account of these effects in realistic transport code simulations. At high densities, the spectra are mainly determined by the universal condensate term and the initially narrow Poisson multiplicity distribution approaches a wide Bose-Einstein one. As a result, the intercepts of the inclusive and fixed-