11.
Adare, A., et al.
(author)
Measurement of transverse-single-spin asymmetries for midrapidity and forward-rapidity production of hadrons in polarized p plus p collisions at root s=200 and 62.4 GeV
2014
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 90:1
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
Measurements of transverse-single-spin asymmetries (A(N)) in p + p collisions at root s = 62.4 and 200 GeV with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider are presented. At midrapidity, A(N) is measured for neutral pion and eta mesons reconstructed from diphoton decay, and, at forward rapidities, neutral pions are measured using both diphotons and electromagnetic clusters. The neutral-pion measurement of A(N) at midrapidity is consistent with zero with uncertainties a factor of 20 smaller than previous publications, which will lead to improved constraints on the gluon Sivers function. At higher rapidities, where the valence quark distributions are probed, the data exhibit sizable asymmetries. In comparison with previous measurements in this kinematic region, the new data extend the kinematic coverage in root s and p(T), and it is found that the asymmetries depend only weakly on root s. The origin of the forward A(N) is presently not understood quantitatively. The extended reach to higher p(T) probes the transition between transverse momentum dependent effects at low p(T) and multiparton dynamics at high p(T).
12.
Adare, A., et al.
(author)
Cold Nuclear Matter Effects on J/psi Yields as a Function of Rapidity and Nuclear Geometry in d plus A Collisions at root S-NN=200 GeV
2011
In: Physical Review Letters. - 1079-7114. ; 107:14
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
We present measurements of J/psi yields in d + Au collisions at root S-NN = 200 GeV recorded by the PHENIX experiment and compare them with yields in p + p collisions at the same energy per nucleon-nucleon collision. The measurements cover a large kinematic range in J/psi rapidity (-2.2 < y < 2.4) with high statistical precision and are compared with two theoretical models: one with nuclear shadowing combined with final state breakup and one with coherent gluon saturation effects. In order to remove model dependent systematic uncertainties we also compare the data to a simple geometric model. The forward rapidity data are inconsistent with nuclear modifications that are linear or exponential in the density weighted longitudinal thickness, such as those from the final state breakup of the bound state.
13.
Adare, A., et al.
(author)
Ground and excited state charmonium production in p plus p collisions at root s=200 GeV
2012
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:9
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
We report on charmonium measurements [J/psi (1S), psi' (2S), and chi(c) (1P)] in p + p collisions at root s = 200 GeV. We find that the fraction of J/psi coming from the feed-down decay of psi' and chi(c) in the midrapidity region (vertical bar y vertical bar < 0: 35) is 9.6 +/- 2.4% and 32 +/- 9%, respectively. We also present the p(T) and rapidity dependencies of the J/psi yield measured via dielectron decay at midrapidity (vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.35) and via dimuon decay at forward rapidity (1.2 < vertical bar y vertical bar < 2.2). The statistical precision greatly exceeds that reported in our previous publication [Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 232002 (2007)]. The new results are compared with other experiments and discussed in the context of current charmonium production models.
14.
Adare, A., et al.
(author)
Measurement of transverse single-spin asymmetries for J/psi production in polarized p plus p collisions at root s=200 GeV
2010
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 82:11
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
We report the first measurement of transverse single-spin asymmetries in J/psi production from transversely polarized p + p collisions at root s = 200 GeV with data taken by the PHENIX experiment in 2006 and 2008. The measurement was performed over the rapidity ranges 1.2 < vertical bar y vertical bar < 2.2 and vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.35 for transverse momenta up to 6 GeV/c. J/psi production at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider is dominated by processes involving initial-state gluons, and transverse single-spin asymmetries of the J/psi can provide access to gluon dynamics within the nucleon. Such asymmetries may also shed light on the long-standing question in QCD of the J/psi production mechanism. Asymmetries were obtained as a function of J/psi transverse momentum and Feynman-x, with a value of -0.086 +/- 0.026(stat) +/- 0.003(syst) in the forward region. This result suggests possible nonzero trigluon correlation functions in transversely polarized protons and, if well defined in this reaction, a nonzero gluon Sivers distribution function.
15.
Adare, A., et al.
(author)
Azimuthal correlations of electrons from heavy-flavor decay with hadrons in p plus p and Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV
2011
In: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 83:4
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
Measurements of electrons from the decay of open-heavy-flavor mesons have shown that the yields are suppressed in Au+Au collisions compared to expectations from binary-scaled p+p collisions. These measurements indicate that charm and bottom quarks interact with the hot dense matter produced in heavy-ion collisions much more than expected. Here we extend these studies to two-particle correlations where one particle is an electron from the decay of a heavy-flavor meson and the other is a charged hadron from either the decay of the heavy meson or from jet fragmentation. These measurements provide more detailed information about the interactions between heavy quarks and the matter, such as whether the modification of the away-side-jet shape seen in hadron-hadron correlations is present when the trigger particle is from heavy-meson decay and whether the overall level of away-side-jet suppression is consistent. We statistically subtract correlations of electrons arising from background sources from the inclusive electron-hadron correlations and obtain two-particle azimuthal correlations at root s(NN) = 200 GeV between electrons from heavy-flavor decay with charged hadrons in p+p and also first results in Au+Au collisions. We find the away-side-jet shape and yield to be modified in Au+Au collisions compared to p+p collisions.
16.
Adare, A., et al.
(author)
Centrality categorization Rp(d)+A in high-energy collisions
2014
In: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 90:3
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
High-energy proton- and deuteron-nucleus collisions provide an excellent tool for studying a wide array of physics effects, including modifications of parton distribution functions in nuclei, gluon saturation, and color neutralization and hadronization in a nuclear environment, among others. All of these effects are expected to have a significant dependence on the size of the nuclear target and the impact parameter of the collision, also known as the collision centrality. In this article, we detail a method for determining centrality classes in p(d) + A collisions via cuts on the multiplicity at backward rapidity (i.e., the nucleus-going direction) and for determining systematic uncertainties in this procedure. For d + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV we find that the connection to geometry is confirmed by measuring the fraction of events in which a neutron from the deuteron does not interact with the nucleus. As an application, we consider the nuclear modification factors Rp(d)+A, for which there is a bias in the measured centrality-dependent yields owing to auto correlations between the process of interest and the backward-rapidity multiplicity. We determine the bias-correction factors within this framework. This method is further tested using the HIJING Monte Carlo generator. We find that for d + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV, these bias corrections are small and vary by less than 5% (10%) up to p(T) = 10 (20) GeV/c. In contrast, for p + Pb collisions at v root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV we find that these bias factors are an order of magnitude larger and strongly pT dependent, likely attributable to the larger effect of multiparton interactions.
17.
Adare, A., et al.
(author)
Cross section and double helicity asymmetry for eta mesons and their comparison to pi(0) production in p plus p collisions at root s=200 GeV
2011
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 83:3
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
Measurements of double-helicity asymmetries in inclusive hadron production in polarized p + p collisions are sensitive to helicity-dependent parton distribution functions, in particular, to the gluon helicity distribution, Delta g. This study focuses on the extraction of the double-helicity asymmetry in eta production ((p) over right arrow + (p) over right arrow -> eta + X), the eta cross section, and the eta/pi(0) cross section ratio. The cross section and ratio measurements provide essential input for the extraction of fragmentation functions that are needed to access the helicity-dependent parton distribution functions.
18.
Adare, A., et al.
(author)
Double-spin asymmetry of electrons from heavy-flavor decays in p plus p collisions at root s=200 GeV
2013
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 87:1
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
We report on the first measurement of the double-spin asymmetry, A(LL), of electrons from the decays of hadrons containing heavy flavor in longitudinally polarized p + p collisions at root s = 200 GeV for p(T) = 0.5 to 3.0 GeV/c. The asymmetry was measured at midrapidity (vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.35) with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The measured asymmetries are consistent with zero within the statistical errors. We obtained a constraint for the polarized gluon distribution in the proton of vertical bar Delta g/g(log(10)(x) = -1.6(-0.4)(+0.5), mu = m(T)(c)vertical bar(2) < 0.030 (1 sigma) based on a leading-order perturbative quantum chromodynamics model, using the measured asymmetry. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.87.012011
19.
Adare, A., et al.
(author)
High p(T) direct photon and pi(0) triggered azimuthal jet correlations and measurement of k(T) for isolated direct photons in p plus p collisions at root s=200 GeV
2010
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 82:7
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
Correlations of charged hadrons of 1< p(T) < 10 Gev/c with high pT direct photons and pi(0) mesons in the range 5< p(T) < 15 Gev/c are used to study jet fragmentation in the gamma + jet and dijet channels, respectively. The magnitude of the partonic transverse momentum, k(T), is obtained by comparing to a model incorporating a Gaussian kT smearing. The sensitivity of the associated charged hadron spectra to the underlying fragmentation function is tested and the data are compared to calculations using recent global fit results. The shape of the direct photon-associated hadron spectrum as well as its charge asymmetry are found to be consistent with a sample dominated by quark-gluon Compton scattering. No significant evidence of fragmentation photon correlated production is observed within experimental uncertainties.
20.
Adare, A., et al.
(author)
Identified charged hadron production in p plus p collisions at root s=200 and 62.4 GeV
2011
In: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 83:6
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
Transverse momentum distributions and yields for pi(+/-), K-+/-, p, and (p) over bar in p + p collisions at root s = 200 and 62.4 GeV at midrapidity are measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). These data provide important baseline spectra for comparisons with identified particle spectra in heavy ion collisions at RHIC. We present the inverse slope parameter T-inv, mean transverse momentum < p(T)>, and yield per unit rapidity dN/dy at each energy, and compare them to other measurements at different root s in p + p and p + (p) over bar collisions. We also present the scaling properties such as m(T) scaling and x(T) scaling on the p(T) spectra between different energies. To discuss the mechanism of the particle production in p + p collisions, the measured spectra are compared to next-to-leading-order or next-to-leading-logarithmic perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations.
