S. Bharadwaj

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).