D. P. Morrison

Azimuthal Angle Correlations for Rapidity Separated Hadron Pairs in d+Au Collisions at {radical}(s{sub NN})=200 GeV

Deuteron-gold (d+Au) collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider provide ideal platforms for testing QCD theories in dense nuclear matter at high energy. In particular, models suggesting strong saturation effects for partons carrying small nucleon momentum fraction (x) predict modifications to jet production at forward rapidity (deuteron-going direction) in d+Au collisions. We report on two-particle azimuthal angle correlations between charged hadrons at forward/backward (deuteron/gold going direction) rapidity and charged hadrons at midrapidity in d+Au and p+p collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV. Jet structures observed in the correlations are quantified in terms of the conditional yield and angular width of away-side partners. The kinematic region studied here samples partons in the gold nucleus with x similar to 0.1 to similar to 0.01. Within this range, we find no x dependence of the jet structure in d+Au collisions.

System, centrality, and transverse mass dependence of two-pion correlation radii in heavy ion collisions at 11.6A and 14.6A GeV/c

Two-pion correlation functions are analyzed at mid-rapidity for three systems (14.6 A-GeV Si+Al, Si+Au, and 11.6 A-GeV Au+Au), seven distinct centrality conditions, and different kT bins in the range 0.1--0.5 GeV/c. Source reference frames are determined from fits to the Yano-Koonin source parameterization. Bertsch-Pratt radius parameters are shown to scale linearly with both number of projectile and total participants as obtained from a Glauber model calculation. A finite emission duration that increases linearly with system/centrality is also reported. The mT dependence of the Bertsch-Pratt radii is measured for the central Si+Au and Au+Au systems. The system/centrality dependence is investigated separately for both high and low mT regions.

PHENIX on-line and off-line computing

Data handling in PHENIX is carried out by the On-Line Computing System (ONCS) and Off-Line Computing System (Off-Line). ONCS provides the overall control and monitoring of the front-end electronics, trigger and data acquisition system and detector ancillary systems. It configures and initializes the on-line system, monitors and controls the data flow, coordinates calibration processes, interlocks the data acquisition process with the slow control subsystems and performs a number of other functions. ONCS uses CORBA software to monitor and control the hardware. Off-Line provides all aspects of data handling not directly connected to the collection of data and monitoring, such as event simulation and reconstruction, data analysis and information management. The impact of the unprecedented data volumes on the design is presented, along with a detailed discussion of the tasks and methods of simulating, obtaining and monitoring the data.

Single Electrons from Heavy-Flavor Decays in p+p Collisions at {radical}(s)=200 GeV

The invariant differential cross section for inclusive electron production in p+p collisions at [FORMULA: SEE TEXT] has been measured by the PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over the transverse momentum range 0.4<or=pT<OR=5.0 GeV/c in the central rapidity region ([FORMULA: SEE TEXT]). The contribution to the inclusive electron spectrum from semileptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy flavor, i.e., charm quarks or, at high , bottom quarks, is determined via three independent methods. The resulting electron spectrum from heavy-flavor decays is compared to recent leading and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations. The total cross section of charm quark-antiquark pair production is determined to be [FORMULA: SEE TEXT].

Measurement of Identified {pi}{sup 0} and Inclusive Photon Second-Harmonic Parameter v{sub 2} and Implications for Direct Photon Production in {radical}(s{sub NN})=200 GeV Au+Au

The azimuthal distribution of identified pi^0 and inclusive photons has been measured in sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions with the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The second harmonic parameter (v_2) was measured to describe the observed anisotropy of the azimuthal distribution. The measured inclusive photon v_2 is consistent with the value expected for the photons from hadron decay and is also consistent with the lack of direct photon signal over the measured p_T range 1-6 GeV/c. An attempt is made to extract v_2 of direct photons.

Nuclear Modification of Electron Spectra and Implications for Heavy Quark Energy Loss in Au+Au Collisions at {radical}(s{sub NN})=200 GeV

The PHENIX experiment has measured midrapidity ([FORMULA: SEE TEXT]) transverse momentum spectra ([FORMULA: SEE TEXT]) of electrons as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at [FORMULA: SEE TEXT]. Contributions from photon conversions and from light hadron decays, mainly Dalitz decays of pi0 and eta mesons, were removed. The resulting nonphotonic electron spectra are primarily due to the semileptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy quarks. Nuclear modification factors were determined by comparison to nonphotonic electrons in p+p collisions. A significant suppression of electrons at high pT is observed in central Au+Au collisions, indicating substantial energy loss of heavy quarks.

J/{psi} Production and Nuclear Effects for d+Au and p+p Collisions at {radical}(s{sub NN})=200 GeV

J/psi production in d + Au and p + p collisions at square root of S(NN) = 200 GeV has been measured by the PHENIX experiment at rapidities -2.2 < y < +2.4. The cross sections and nuclear dependence of J/psi production versus rapidity, transverse momentum, and centrality are obtained and compared to lower energy p + A results and to theoretical models. The observed nuclear dependence in d + Au collisions is found to be modest, suggesting that the absorption in the final state is weak and the shadowing of the gluon distributions is small and consistent with Dokshitzer-Gribov-Lipatov-Altarelli-Parisi-based parametrizations that fit deep-inelastic scattering and Drell-Yan data at lower energies.

Common Suppression Pattern of {eta} and {pi}{sup 0} Mesons at High Transverse Momentum in Au+Au Collisions at {radical}(s{sub NN})=200 GeV

Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of eta mesons have been measured within p(T)=2-10 GeV/c at midrapidity by the PHENIX experiment in Au+Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. In central Au+Au the eta yields are significantly suppressed compared to peripheral Au+Au, d+Au, and p+p yields scaled by the corresponding number of nucleon-nucleon collisions. The magnitude, centrality, and p(T) dependence of the suppression is common, within errors, for eta and pi(0). The ratio of eta to pi(0) spectra at high p(T) amounts to 0.40 < R-eta/pi(0)< 0.48 for the three systems, in agreement with the world average measured in hadronic and nuclear reactions and, at large scaled momentum, in e(+)e(-) collisions.

Nuclear effects on hadron production in d+Au collisions at {radical}(s{sub NN})=200 GeV revealed by comparison with p+p data

PHENIX has measured the centrality dependence of midrapidity pion, kaon, and proton transverse momentum distributions in d+Au and p+p collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. The p+p data provide a reference for nuclear effects in d+Au and previously measured Au+Au collisions. Hadron production is enhanced in d+Au, relative to independent nucleon-nucleon scattering, as was observed in lower energy collisions. The nuclear modification factor for (anti)protons is larger than that for pions. The difference increases with centrality but is not sufficient to account for the abundance of baryon production observed in central Au+Au collisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The centrality dependence in d+Au shows that the nuclear modification factor increases gradually with the number of collisions encountered by each participant nucleon. We also present comparisons with lower energy data as well as with parton recombination and other theoretical models of nuclear effects on particle production.

Production of {phi} mesons at midrapidity in {radical}(s{sub NN})=200 GeV Au+Au collisions at relativistic energies

We present the results of phi meson production in the K+K- decay channel from Au+Au collisions at root s(NN) =200 GeV as measured at midrapidity by the PHENIX detector at Brookhaven National Laboratorys Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Precision resonance centroid and width values are extracted as a function of collision centrality. No significant variation from the Particle Data Group accepted values is observed, contrary to some model predictions. The phi transverse mass spectra are fitted with a linear exponential function for which the derived inverse slope parameter is seen to be constant as a function of centrality. However, when these data are fitted by a hydrodynamic model the result is that the centrality-dependent freeze-out temperature and the expansion velocity values are consistent with the values previously derived from fitting identified charged hadron data. As a function of transverse momentum the collisions scaled peripheral-to-central yield ratio R-CP for the phi is comparable to that of pions rather than that of protons. This result lends support to theoretical models that distinguish between baryons and mesons instead of particle mass for explaining the anomalous (anti) proton yield.