arXiv subjects

A. Glenn

Publications and source records attributed to A. Glenn.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Measurements at forward rapidity of elliptic flow of charged hadrons and open-heavy-flavor muons in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV

We present the first forward-rapidity measurements of elliptic anisotropy of open-heavy-flavor muons at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The measurements are based on data samples of Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV collected by the PHENIX experiment in 2014 and 2016 with integrated luminosity of 14.5~nb$^{-1}$. The measurements are performed in the pseudorapidity range $1.2<|η|<2$ and cover transverse momenta $1<p_T<4$~GeV/$c$. The elliptic flow of charged hadrons as a function of transverse momentum is also measured in the same kinematic range. We observe significant elliptic flow for both charged hadrons and heavy-flavor muons. The results show clear mass ordering of elliptic flow of light- and heavy-flavor particles. The magnitude of the measured $v_2$ is comparable to that in the midrapidity region. This indicates that there is no strong longitudinal dependence in the quark-gluon-plasma evolution between midrapidity and the rapidity range of this measurement at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$~GeV.

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arXiv2025

Low-mass vector-meson production at forward rapidity in $p$$+$$p$ and Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$~GeV

The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has measured low-mass vector-meson ($ω+ρ$ and $ϕ$) production through the dimuon decay channel at forward rapidity $(1.2<|\mbox{y}|<2.2)$ in $p$$+$$p$ and Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$~GeV. The low-mass vector-meson yield and nuclear-modification factor were measured as a function of the average number of participating nucleons, $\langle N_{\rm part}\rangle$, and the transverse momentum $p_T$. These results were compared with those obtained via the kaon decay channel in a similar $p_T$ range at midrapidity. The nuclear-modification factors in both rapidity regions are consistent within the uncertainties. A comparison of the $ω+ρ$ and $J/ψ$ mesons reveals that the light and heavy flavors are consistently suppressed across both $p_T$ and ${\langle}N_{\rm part}\rangle$. In contrast, the $ϕ$ meson displays a nuclear-modification factor consistent with unity, suggesting strangeness enhancement in the medium formed.

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arXiv2025

Azimuthal anisotropy of direct photons in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV

The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider measured the second Fourier component $v_2$ of the direct-photon azimuthal anisotropy at midrapidity in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. The results are presented in 10\% wide bins of collision centrality and cover the transverse-momentum range of $1<p_T<20$ GeV/$c$, and are in quantitative agreement with findings published earlier, but provide better granularity and higher $p_T$ reach. Above a $p_T$ of 8--10 GeV/$c$, where hard scattering dominates the direct-photon production, $v_2$ is consistent with zero. Below that in each centrality bin $v_2$ as a function of $p_T$ is comparable to the $π^0$ anisotropy albeit with a tendency of being somewhat smaller. The results are compared to recent theory calculations that include, in addition to thermal radiation from the quark-gluon plasma and hadron gas, sources of photons from pre-equilibrium, strong magnetic fields, or radiative hadronization. While the newer theoretical calculations describe the data better than previous models, none of them alone can fully explain the results, particularly in the region of $p_T=4$--8 GeV/$c$.

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arXiv2024

Measurement of elliptic flow of J$/ψ$ in $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV Au$+$Au collisions at forward rapidity

We report the first measurement of the azimuthal anisotropy of J$/ψ$ at forward rapidity ($1.2<|η|<2.2$) in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The data were collected by the PHENIX experiment in 2014 and 2016 with integrated luminosity of 14.5~nb$^{-1}$. The second Fourier coefficient ($v_2$) of the azimuthal distribution of $J/ψ$ is determined as a function of the transverse momentum ($p_T$) using the event-plane method. The measurements were performed for several selections of collision centrality: 0\%--50\%, 10\%--60\%, and 10\%-40\%. We find that in all cases the values of $v_2(p_T)$, which quantify the elliptic flow of J$/ψ$, are consistent with zero. The results are consistent with measurements at midrapidity, indicating no significant elliptic flow of the J$/ψ$ within the quark-gluon-plasma medium at collision energies of $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV.

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arXiv2024

Nonprompt direct-photon production in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV

The measurement of the direct-photon spectrum from Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV is presented by the PHENIX collaboration using the external-photon-conversion technique for 0\%--93\% central collisions in a transverse-momentum ($p_T$) range of 0.8--10 GeV/$c$. An excess of direct photons, above prompt-photon production from hard-scattering processes, is observed for $p_T<6$ GeV/$c$. Nonprompt direct photons are measured by subtracting the prompt component, which is estimated as $N_{\rm coll}$-scaled direct photons from $p$$+$$p$ collisions at 200 GeV, from the direct-photon spectrum. Results are obtained for $0.8<p_T<6.0$ GeV/$c$ and suggest that the spectrum has an increasing inverse slope from ${\approx}0.2$ to 0.4 GeV/$c$ with increasing $p_T$, which indicates a possible sensitivity of the measurement to photons from earlier stages of the evolution of the collision. In addition, like the direct-photon production, the $p_T$-integrated nonprompt direct-photon yields also follow a power-law scaling behavior as a function of collision-system size. The exponent, $α$, for the nonprompt component is found to be consistent with 1.1 with no apparent $p_T$ dependence.

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arXiv2024

Charm- and Bottom-Quark Production in Au$+$Au Collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV

The invariant yield of electrons from open-heavy-flavor decays for $1<p_T<8$ GeV/$c$ at midrapidity $|y|<0.35$ in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV has been measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. A displaced-vertex analysis with the PHENIX silicon-vertex detector enables extraction of the fraction of charm and bottom hadron decays and unfolding of the invariant yield of parent charm and bottom hadrons. The nuclear-modification factors $R_{AA}$ for electrons from charm and bottom hadron decays and heavy-flavor hadrons show both a centrality and a quark-mass dependence, indicating suppression in the quark-gluon plasma produced in these collisions that is medium sized and quark-mass dependent.

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arXiv2023

Measurement of Direct-Photon Cross Section and Double-Helicity Asymmetry at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV in $\vec{p}+\vec{p}$ Collisions

We present measurements of the cross section and double-helicity asymmetry $A_{LL}$ of direct-photon production in $\vec{p}+\vec{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV. The measurements have been performed at midrapidity ($|η|<0.25$) with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. At relativistic energies, direct photons are dominantly produced from the initial quark-gluon hard scattering and do not interact via the strong force at leading order. Therefore, at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV, where leading-order-effects dominate, these measurements provide clean and direct access to the gluon helicity in the polarized proton in the gluon-momentum-fraction range $0.02<x<0.08$, with direct sensitivity to the sign of the gluon contribution.

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arXiv2023

Measurements of second-harmonic Fourier coefficients from azimuthal anisotropies in $p$$+$$p$, $p$$+$Au, $d$$+$Au, and $^3$He$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV

Recently, the PHENIX Collaboration has published second- and third-harmonic Fourier coefficients $v_2$ and $v_3$ for midrapidity ($|η|<0.35$) charged hadrons in 0\%--5\% central $p$$+$Au, $d$$+$Au, and $^3$He$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV utilizing three sets of two-particle correlations for two detector combinations with different pseudorapidity acceptance [Phys. Rev. C {\bf 105}, 024901 (2022)]. This paper extends these measurements of $v_2$ to all centralities in $p$$+$Au, $d$$+$Au, and $^3$He$+$Au collisions, as well as $p$$+$$p$ collisions, as a function of transverse momentum ($p_T$) and event multiplicity. The kinematic dependence of $v_2$ is quantified as the ratio $R$ of $v_2$ between the two detector combinations as a function of event multiplicity for $0.5$$<$$p_T$$<$$1$ and $2$$<$$p_T$$<$$2.5$ GeV/$c$. A multiphase-transport (AMPT) model can reproduce the observed $v_2$ in most-central to midcentral $d$$+$Au and $^3$He$+$Au collisions. However, the AMPT model systematically overestimates the measurements in $p$$+$$p$, $p$$+$Au, and peripheral $d$$+$Au and $^3$He$+$Au collisions, indicating a higher nonflow contribution in AMPT than in the experimental data. The AMPT model fails to describe the observed $R$ for $0.5$$<$$p_T$$<$$1$ GeV/$c$, but there is qualitative agreement with the measurements for $2$$<$$p_T$$<$$2.5$ GeV/$c$.

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arXiv2022

Study of $ϕ$-meson production in $p$$+$Al, $p$$+$Au, $d$$+$Au, and $^3$He$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV

Small nuclear collisions are mainly sensitive to cold-nuclear-matter effects; however, the collective behavior observed in these collisions shows a hint of hot-nuclear-matter effects. The identified-particle spectra, especially the $ϕ$ mesons which contain strange and antistrange quarks and have a relatively small hadronic-interaction cross section, are a good tool to study these effects. The PHENIX experiment has measured $ϕ$ mesons in a specific set of small collision systems $p$$+$Al, $p$$+$Au, and $^3$He$+$Au, as well as $d$$+$Au [Phys. Rev. C {\bf 83}, 024909 (2011)], at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. The transverse-momentum spectra and nuclear-modification factors are presented and compared to theoretical-model predictions. The comparisons with different calculations suggest that quark-gluon plasma may be formed in these small collision systems at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. However, the volume and the lifetime of the produced medium may be insufficient for observing strangeness-enhancement and jet-quenching effects. Comparison with calculations suggests that the main production mechanisms of $ϕ$ mesons at midrapidity may be different in $p$$+$Al versus $p/d/$$^3$He$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. While thermal quark recombination seems to dominate in $p/d/$$^3$He$+$Au collisions, fragmentation seems to be the main production mechanism in $p$$+$Al collisions.

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arXiv2022

Kinematic dependence of azimuthal anisotropies in $p$$+$Au, $d$$+$Au, $^3$He+Au at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV

There is strong evidence for the formation of small droplets of quark-gluon plasma in $p/d/^{3}$He+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and in $p$+$p$/Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. In particular, the analysis of data at RHIC for different geometries obtained by varying the projectile size and shape has proven insightful. In the present analysis, we find excellent agreement with the previously published PHENIX at RHIC results on elliptical and triangular flow with an independent analysis via the two-particle correlation method, which has quite different systematic uncertainties and an independent code base. In addition, the results are extended to other detector combinations with different kinematic (pseudorapidity) coverage. These results provide additional constraints on contributions from nonflow and longitudinal decorrelations.

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arXiv2020

Production of $π^0$ and $η$ mesons in U$+$U collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=192$ GeV

The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider measured $π^0$ and $η$ mesons at midrapidity in U$+$U collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=192$ GeV in a wide transverse momentum range. Measurements were performed in the $π^0(η)\rightarrowγγ$ decay modes. A strong suppression of $π^0$ and $η$ meson production at high transverse momentum was observed in central U$+$U collisions relative to binary scaled $p$$+$$p$ results. Yields of $π^0$ and $η$ mesons measured in U$+$U collisions show similar suppression pattern to the ones measured in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV for similar numbers of participant nucleons. The $η$/$π^0$ ratios do not show dependence on centrality or transverse momentum, and are consistent with previously measured values in hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, nucleus-nucleus, and $e^+e^-$ collisions.

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arXiv2020

Measurements of Higher-Order Flow Harmonics in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV

Flow coefficients v_n for n = 2, 3, 4, characterizing the anisotropic collective flow in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV, are measured relative to event planes Ψ_n determined at large rapidity. We report v_n as a function of transverse momentum and collision centrality, and study the correlations among the event planes of different order n. The v_n are well described by hydrodynamic models which employ a Glauber Monte Carlo initial state geometry with fluctuations, providing additional constraining power on the interplay between initial conditions and the effects of viscosity as the system evolves. This new constraint improves precision of the extracted viscosity to entropy density ratio eta/s.

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arXiv2020

Polarization and cross section of midrapidity J/$ψ$ production in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV

The PHENIX experiment has measured the spin alignment for inclusive $J/ψ\rightarrow e^{+}e^{-}$ decays in $p$+$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV at midrapidity. The angular distributions have been measured in three different polarization frames, and the three decay angular coefficients have been extracted in a full two-dimensional analysis. Previously, PHENIX saw large longitudinal net polarization at forward rapidity at the same collision energy. This analysis at midrapidity, complementary to the previous PHENIX results, sees no sizable polarization in the measured transverse momentum range of $0.0<p_T<10.0$ GeV/$c$. The results are consistent with a previous one-dimensional analysis at midrapidity at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV. The transverse-momentum-dependent cross section for midrapidity $J/ψ$ production has additionally been measured, and after comparison to world data we find a simple logarithmic dependence of the cross section on $\sqrt{s}$.

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arXiv2020

Production of $b\bar{b}$ at forward rapidity in $p$+$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV

The cross section of bottom quark-antiquark ($b\bar{b}$) production in $p$+$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV is measured with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The results are based on the yield of high mass, like-sign muon pairs measured within the PHENIX muon arm acceptance ($1.2<|y|<2.2$). The $b\bar{b}$ signal is extracted from like-sign dimuons by utilizing the unique properties of neutral $B$ meson oscillation. We report a differential cross section of $dσ_{b\bar{b}\rightarrow μ^\pmμ^\pm}/dy = 0.16 \pm 0.01~(\mbox{stat}) \pm 0.02~(\mbox{syst}) \pm 0.02~(\mbox{global})$ nb for like-sign muons in the rapidity and $p_T$ ranges $1.2<|y|<2.2$ and $p_T>1$ GeV/$c$, and dimuon mass of 5--10 GeV/$c^2$. The extrapolated total cross section at this energy for $b\bar{b}$ production is $13.1 \pm 0.6~(\mbox{stat}) \pm 1.5~(\mbox{syst}) \pm 2.7~(\mbox{global})~μ$b. The total cross section is compared to a perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculation and is consistent within uncertainties. The azimuthal opening angle between muon pairs from $b\bar{b}$ decays and their $p_T$ distributions are compared to distributions generated using {\sc ps pythia 6}, which includes next-to-leading order processes. The azimuthal correlations and pair $p_T$ distribution are not very well described by {\sc pythia} calculations, but are still consistent within uncertainties. Flavor creation and flavor excitation subprocesses are favored over gluon splitting.

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arXiv2020

Evolution of pi^0 suppression in Au+Au collisions from sqrt(s_NN) = 39 to 200 GeV

Neutral-pion, pi^0, spectra were measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.35) in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 39 and 62.4 GeV and compared to earlier measurements at 200 GeV in the 1<p_T<10 GeV/c transverse-momentum (p_T) range. The high-p_T tail is well described by a power law in all cases and the powers decrease significantly with decreasing center-of-mass energy. The change of powers is very similar to that observed in the corresponding p+p-collision spectra. The nuclear-modification factors (R_AA) show significant suppression and a distinct energy dependence at moderate p_T in central collisions. At high p_T, R_AA is similar for 62.4 and 200 GeV at all centralities. Perturbative-quantum-chromodynamics calculations that describe R_AA well at 200 GeV, fail to describe the 39 GeV data, raising the possibility that the relative importance of initial-state effects and soft processes increases at lower energies. A conclusion that the region where hard processes are dominant is reached only at higher p_T, is also supported by the x_T dependence of the x_T-scaling power-law exponent.

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arXiv2020

Measurement of charged pion double spin asymmetries at midrapidity in longitudinally polarized $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV

The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has measured the longitudinal double spin asymmetries, $A_{LL}$, for charged pions at midrapidity ($|η|<0.35$) in longitudinally polarized $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV. These measurements are sensitive to the gluon spin contribution to the total spin of the proton in the parton momentum fraction $x$ range between 0.04 and 0.09. One can infer the sign of the gluon polarization from the ordering of pion asymmetries with charge alone. The asymmetries are found to be consistent with global quantum-chromodynamics fits of deep-inelastic scattering and data at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV, which show a nonzero positive contribution of gluon spin to the proton spin.

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arXiv2020

Measurement of $J/ψ$ at forward and backward rapidity in $p$+$p$, $p$$+A$l, $p$$+A$u, and $^3$He+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200~{\rm GeV}$

Charmonium is a valuable probe in heavy-ion collisions to study the properties of the quark gluon plasma, and is also an interesting probe in small collision systems to study cold nuclear matter effects, which are also present in large collision systems. With the recent observations of collective behavior of produced particles in small system collisions, measurements of the modification of charmonium in small systems have become increasingly relevant. We present the results of $J/ψ$ measurements at forward and backward rapidity in various small collision systems, $p$$+$$p$, $p$$+$Al, $p$$+$Au and $^3$He$+$Au, at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=200 GeV. The results are presented in the form of the observable $R_{AB}$, the nuclear modification factor, a measure of the ratio of the $J/ψ$ invariant yield compared to the scaled yield in $p$$+$$p$ collisions. We examine the rapidity, transverse momentum, and collision centrality dependence of nuclear effects on $J/ψ$ production with different projectile sizes $p$ and $^3$He, and different target sizes Al and Au. The modification is found to be strongly dependent on the target size, but to be very similar for $p$$+$Au and $^{3}$He$+$Au. However, for 0%--20% central collisions at backward rapidity, the modification for $^{3}$He$+$Au is found to be smaller than that for $p$$+$Au, with a mean fit to the ratio of $0.89\pm0.03$(stat)${\pm}0.08$(syst), possibly indicating final state effects due to the larger projectile size.

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arXiv2020

$J/ψ$ and $ψ(2S)$ production at forward rapidity in $p$+$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV

The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has measured the differential cross section, mean transverse momentum, mean transverse momentum squared of inclusive $J/ψ$ and cross-section ratio of $ψ(2S)$ to $J/ψ$ at forward rapidity in \pp collisions at \sqrts = 510 GeV via the dimuon decay channel. Comparison is made to inclusive $J/ψ$ cross sections measured at \sqrts = 200 GeV and 2.76--13 TeV. The result is also compared to leading-order nonrelativistic QCD calculations coupled to a color-glass-condensate description of the low-$x$ gluons in the proton at low transverse momentum ($p_T$) and to next-to-leading order nonrelativistic QCD calculations for the rest of the $p_T$ range. These calculations overestimate the data at low $p_T$. While consistent with the data within uncertainties above $\approx3$ GeV/$c$, the calculations are systematically below the data. The total cross section times the branching ratio is BR $dσ^{J/ψ}_{pp}/dy (1.2<|y|<2.2, 0<p_T<10~\mbox{GeV/$c$}) =$ 54.3 $\pm$ 0.5 (stat) $\pm$ 5.5 (syst) nb.

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