Energy Dependance of Azimuthal Correlations (and more) in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions at the CERN SPS

Abstract

Analysing two-particle azimuthal and pseudorapidity-azimuth correlations of high-pT hadrons, experiments at the RHIC have obtained results - "the double hump", "the ridge" etc. - which provide interesting information about properties of the hot, dense medium produced in central high-energy heavy-ion collisions as well as of its interaction with products of hard scattering. However, not all of the observed effects have been fully explained by theory or models yet; such explanations are hampered in part by the lack of good reference from lower collision energies. In an attempt to further our understanding of angular dihadron correlations NA49 has, as one of the first experiments at the SPS, performed a number of scans of these correlations in Pb+Pb, Si+Si and p+p collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 17.3 GeV, as well as central Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 12.3, 8.8, 7.6 and 6.3 GeV. Results of these scans have been compared to UrQMD simulations. Our experimental results from two-particle azimuthal correlations show a flattened away-side peak in central Pb+Pb (Au+Au) collisions, only weakly depends on collision energy over the whole investigated energy range - suggesting this effect originates from sources other than jet-medium interactions. This hypothesis is reinforced by good agreement with UrQMD regardless of whether jet production was enabled in the model or not. On the other hand, the amplitude of the near-side peak in central Pb+Pb (Au+Au) collisions drops visibly with decreasing collision energy, flattening out around sqrt(sNN) = 8.8 GeV and turning into a depletion below that energy - possibly an effect related to the onset of deconfinement. Finally, hints of the ridge structure can be observed in pseudorapidity-azimuth correlation functions from central Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 17.3 GeV.