Measurements of e+e− pairs from open heavy flavor in p+p and d+A collisions at sNN=200 GeV
We report a measurement of e+e− pairs from semileptonic heavy-flavor decays in p+p collisions at sNN=200 GeV. The e+e− pair yield from bb¯ and cc¯ is separated by exploiting a double differential fit done simultaneously in dielectron invariant mass and pT. We used three different event generators, pythia, mc@nlo, and powheg, to simulate the e+e− spectra from cc¯ and bb¯ production. The data can be well described by all three generators within the detector acceptance. However, when using the generators to extrapolate to 4π, significant differences are observed for the total cross section. These difference are less pronounced for bb¯ than for cc¯. The same model dependence was observed in alr…
Measurement of the higher-order anisotropic flow coefficients for identified hadrons in Au + Au collisions atsNN=200GeV
Measurements of the anisotropic flow coefficients v2{Ψ2},v3{Ψ3},v4{Ψ4}, and v4{Ψ2} for identified particles (π±,K±, and p+p) at midrapidity, obtained relative to the event planes Ψm at forward rapidities in Au + Au collisions at sNN=200GeV, are presented as a function of collision centrality and particle transverse momenta pT. The vn coefficients show characteristic patterns consistent with hydrodynamical expansion of the matter produced in the collisions. For each harmonic n, a modified valence quark-number Nq scaling [plotting vn{Ψm}/(Nq)n/2 versus transverse kinetic energies (KET)/Nq] is observed to yield a single curve for all the measured particle species for a broad range of KET. A si…
Measurement of jet-medium interactions via direct photon-hadron correlations in Au+Au and d+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV
We present direct photon-hadron correlations in 200 GeV/A Au+Au, d+Au, and p+p collisions, for direct photon pT from 5–12 GeV/c, collected by the PHENIX Collaboration in the years from 2006 to 2011. We observe no significant modification of jet fragmentation in d+Au collisions, indicating that cold nuclear matter effects are small or absent. Hadrons carrying a large fraction of the quark's momentum are suppressed in Au+Au compared to p+p and d+Au. As the momentum fraction decreases, the yield of hadrons in Au+Au increases to an excess over the yield in p+p collisions. The excess is at large angles and at low hadron pT and is most pronounced for hadrons associated with lower momentum direct …
Charged-pion cross sections and double-helicity asymmetries in polarizedp+pcollisions ats=200 GeV
We present midrapidity charged-pion invariant cross sections, the ratio of the pi(-) to pi(+) cross sections and the charge-separated double-spin asymmetries in polarized p + p collisions at root s = p + 200 GeV. While the cross section measurements are consistent within the errors of next-to-leading-order (NLO) perturbative quantum chromodynamics predictions (pQCD), the same calculations overestimate the ratio of the charged-pion cross sections. This discrepancy arises from the cancellation of the substantial systematic errors associated with the NLO-pQCD predictions in the ratio and highlights the constraints these data will place on flavor-dependent pion fragmentation functions. The char…