Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

A. Andronic

Publications and source records attributed to A. Andronic.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2018

Particle identification studies with a full-size 4-GEM prototype for the ALICE TPC upgrade

A large Time Projection Chamber is the main device for tracking and charged-particle identification in the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC. After the second long shutdown in 2019/20, the LHC will deliver Pb beams colliding at an interaction rate of about 50 kHz, which is about a factor of 50 above the present readout rate of the TPC. This will result in a significant improvement on the sensitivity to rare probes that are considered key observables to characterize the QCD matter created in such collisions. In order to make full use of this luminosity, the currently used gated Multi-Wire Proportional Chambers will be replaced. The upgrade relies on continuously operated readout detectors employing Gas Electron Multiplier technology to retain the performance in terms of particle identification via the measurement of the specific energy loss by ionization d$E$/d$x$. A full-size readout chamber prototype was assembled in 2014 featuring a stack of four GEM foils as an amplification stage. The performance of the prototype was evaluated in a test beam campaign at the CERN PS. The d$E$/d$x$ resolution complies with both the performance of the currently operated MWPC-based readout chambers and the challenging requirements of the ALICE TPC upgrade program. Detailed simulations of the readout system are able to reproduce the data.

physics.ins-det↗
arXiv2017

Challenges in QCD matter physics - The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at FAIR

Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC energies, QCD matter is studied at very high temperatures and nearly vanishing net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100 (sqrt(s_NN) = 2.7 - 4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials (mu_B > 500 MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation-of-state at high density as it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including activities before the start of data taking in 2022, in the context of the worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2016

Hadron yields, the chemical freeze-out and the QCD phase diagram

We present the status of the chemical freeze-out, determined from fits of hadron yields with the statistical hadronization (thermal) model, with focus on the data at the LHC. A description of the yields of hadrons containing light quarks as well as the application of the model for the production of the J/$ψ$ meson is presented. The implications for the QCD phase diagram are discussed.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2016

Heavy ions at the Future Circular Collider

The Future Circular Collider (FCC) Study is aimed at assessing the physics potential and the technical feasibility of a new collider with centre-of-mass energies, in the hadron-hadron collision mode, seven times larger than the nominal LHC energies. Operating such machine with heavy ions is an option that is being considered in the accelerator design studies. It would provide, for example, Pb-Pb and p-Pb collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 39 and 63 TeV, respectively, per nucleon-nucleon collision, with integrated luminosities above 30 nb^-1 per month for Pb-Pb. This is a report by the working group on heavy-ion physics of the FCC Study. First ideas on the physics opportunities with heavy ions at the FCC are presented, covering the physics of the Quark-Gluon Plasma, of gluon saturation, of photon-induced collisions, as well as connections with other fields of high-energy physics.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2016

Centrality dependence of subthreshold $ϕ$ meson production in Ni+Ni collisions at 1.9A GeV

We analysed the $ϕ$ meson production in central Ni+Ni collisions at the beam kinetic energy of 1.93A GeV with the FOPI spectrometer and found the production probability per event of $[8.6 ~\pm~ 1.6 ~(\text{stat}) \pm 1.5 ~(\text{syst})] \times 10^{-4}$. This new data point allows for the first time to inspect the centrality dependence of the subthreshold $ϕ$ meson production in heavy-ion collisions. The rise of $ϕ$ meson multiplicity per event with mean number of participants can be parameterized by the power function with exponent $α= 1.8 \pm 0.6$. The ratio of $ϕ$ to $\text{K}^-$ production yields seems not to depend within the experimental uncertainties on the collision centrality, and the average of measured values was found to be $0.36 \pm 0.05$.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2016

Strange meson production in Al+Al collisions at 1.9A GeV

The production of K$^+$, K$^-$ and $φ$(1020) mesons is studied in Al+Al collisions at a beam energy of 1.9A GeV which is close or below the production threshold in NN reactions. Inverse slopes, anisotropy parameters, and total emission yields of K$^{\pm}$ mesons are obtained. A comparison of the ratio of kinetic energy distributions of K$^-$ and K$^+$ mesons to the HSD transport model calculations suggests that the inclusion of the in-medium modifications of kaon properties is necessary to reproduce the ratio. The inverse slope and total yield of $ϕ$ mesons are deduced. The contribution to K$^-$ production from $ϕ$ meson decays is found to be [17 $\pm$ 3 (stat) $^{+2}_{-7}$ (syst)] %. The results are in line with previous K$^{\pm}$ and $ϕ$ data obtained for different colliding systems at similar incident beam energies.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2015

Heavy-flavour and quarkonium production in the LHC era: from proton-proton to heavy-ion collisions

This report reviews the study of open heavy-flavour and quarkonium production in high-energy hadronic collisions, as tools to investigate fundamental aspects of Quantum Chromodynamics, from the proton and nucleus structure at high energy to deconfinement and the properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma. Emphasis is given to the lessons learnt from LHC Run 1 results, which are reviewed in a global picture with the results from SPS and RHIC at lower energies, as well as to the questions to be addressed in the future. The report covers heavy flavour and quarkonium production in proton-proton, proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions. This includes discussion of the effects of hot and cold strongly interacting matter, quarkonium photo-production in nucleus-nucleus collisions and perspectives on the study of heavy flavour and quarkonium with upgrades of existing experiments and new experiments. The report results from the activity of the SaporeGravis network of the I3 Hadron Physics programme of the European Union 7th Framework Programme.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2014

Influence of $ϕ$ mesons on negative kaons in Ni+Ni collisions at 1.91A GeV beam energy

$ϕ$ and K$^-$ mesons from Ni+Ni collisions at the beam energy of 1.91A GeV have been measured by the FOPI spectrometer, with a trigger selecting central and semi-central events amounting to 51% of the total cross section. The phase space distributions, and the total yield of K$^-$, as well as the kinetic energy distribution and the total yield of $ϕ$ mesons are presented. The $ϕ$\K$^-$ ratio is found to be $0.44 \pm 0.07(\text{stat}) ^{+0.18}_{-0.12} (\text{syst})$, meaning that about 22% of K$^-$ mesons originate from the decays of $ϕ$ mesons, occurring mostly in vacuum. The inverse slopes of direct kaons are up to about 15 MeV larger than the ones extracted within the one-source model, signalling that a considerable share of gap between the slopes of K$^+$ and K$^-$ could be explained by the contribution of $ϕ$ mesons to negative kaons.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2014

Azimuthal Emission Patterns of $K^{+}$ and of $ K^{-} $ Mesons in Ni + Ni Collisions near the Strangeness Production Threshold

Azimuthal emission patterns of $K^\pm$ mesons have been measured in Ni + Ni collisions with the FOPI spectrometer at a beam kinetic energy of 1.91 A GeV. The transverse momentum $p_{T}$ integrated directed and elliptic flow of $K^{+}$ and $K^{-}$ mesons as well as the centrality dependence of $p_{T}$ - differential directed flow of $K^{+}$ mesons are compared to the predictions of HSD and IQMD transport models. The data exhibits different propagation patterns of $K^{+}$ and $K^{-}$ mesons in the compressed and heated nuclear medium and favor the existence of a kaon-nucleon in-medium potential, repulsive for $K^{+}$ mesons and attractive for $K^{-}$ mesons.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2013

A database for quarkonium and open heavy-flavour production in hadronic collisions with HepData

We report on the creation of a database for quarkonium and open heavy-flavour production in hadronic collisions. This database, made as a collaboration between HepData and the ReteQuarkonii network of the integrating activity I3HP2 of the 7th Framework Programme, provides an up-to-date review on quarkonia and open heavy-flavour existing data. We first present the physics motivation for this project, which is connected to the aim of the ReteQuarkonii network, studies of open heavy-flavour hadrons and quarkonia in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Then we give a general overview of the database and describe the HepData database for particle physics, which is the framework of the quarkonia database. Finally we describe the functionalities of the database with as example the comparison of the production cross section for the J/$ψ$ meson at different energies.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2012

Inclusive J/psi production in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV

The ALICE Collaboration has measured inclusive J/psi production in pp collisions at a center of mass energy sqrt(s)=2.76 TeV at the LHC. The results presented in this Letter refer to the rapidity ranges |y|<0.9 and 2.5<y<4 and have been obtained by measuring the electron and muon pair decay channels, respectively. The integrated luminosities for the two channels are L^e_int=1.1 nb^-1 and L^mu_int=19.9 nb^-1, and the corresponding signal statistics are N_J/psi^e+e-=59 +/- 14 and N_J/psi^mu+mu-=1364 +/- 53. We present dsigma_J/psi/dy for the two rapidity regions under study and, for the forward-y range, d^2sigma_J/psi/dydp_t in the transverse momentum domain 0<p_t<8 GeV/c. The results are compared with previously published results at sqrt(s)=7 TeV and with theoretical calculations.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2012

The statistical model in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC

We briefly review the predictions of the thermal model for hadron production in comparison to latest data from RHIC and extrapolate the calculations to LHC energy. Our main emphasis is to confront the model predictions with the recently released data from ALICE at the LHC. This comparison reveals an apparent anomaly for protons and anti-protons which we discuss briefly. We also demonstrate that our statistical hadronization predictions for J/$ψ$ production agree very well with the most recent LHC data, lending support to the picture in which there is complete charmonium melting in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) followed by statistical generation of J/$ψ$ mesons at the phase boundary.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2012

Interacting hadron resonance gas meets lattice QCD

We present, in the framework of the interacting hadron resonance gas, an evaluation of thermodynamical quantities. The interaction is modelled via a correction for the finite size of the hadrons. We investigate the sensitivity of the model calculations on the radius of the hadrons, which is a parameter of the model. Our calculations for thermodynamical quantities as energy and entropy densities and pressure are confronted with predictions using the lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) formalism.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2012

Elliptic flow of charged pions, protons and strange particles emitted in Pb+Au collisions at top SPS energy

Differential elliptic flow spectra v2(pT) of π-, K0short, p, Λhave been measured at \sqrt(s NN)= 17.3 GeV around midrapidity by the CERN-CERES/NA45 experiment in mid-central Pb+Au collisions (10% of σ(geo)). The pT range extends from about 0.1 GeV/c (0.55 GeV/c for Λ) to more than 2 GeV/c. Protons below 0.4 GeV/c are directly identified by dE/dx. At higher pT, proton elliptic flow v2(pT) is derived as a constituent, besides π+ and K+, of the elliptic flow of positive pion candidates. The retrieval requires additional inputs: (i) of the particle composition, and (ii) of v2(pT) of positive pions. For (i), particle ratios obtained by NA49 were adapted to CERES conditions; for (ii), the measured v2(pT) of negative pions is substituted, assuming π+ and π- elliptic flow magnitudes to be sufficiently close. The v2(pT) spectra are compared to ideal-hydrodynamics calculations. In synopsis of the series π- - K0short - p - Λ, flow magnitudes are seen to fall with decreasing pT progressively even below hydro calculations with early kinetic freeze-out (Tf= 160 MeV) leaving not much time for hadronic evolution. The proton v2(pT) data show a downward swing towards low pT with excursions into negative v2 values. The pion-flow isospin asymmetry observed recently by STAR at RHIC, invalidating in principle our working assumption, is found in its impact on proton flow bracketed from above by the direct proton flow data, and not to alter any of our conclusions. Results are discussed in perspective of recent viscous dynamics studies which focus on late hadronic stages.

nucl-ex↗