arXiv subjects

Aihong Tang

Publications and source records attributed to Aihong Tang.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The High Level Trigger and Express Data Production at STAR

To meet the demands of the Beam Energy Scan phase-II (BES-II) program, the STAR experiment at RHIC developed a dual real-time framework consisting of a High Level Trigger (HLT) and an Express Data Production system (xProduction). The HLT operates online within the Data Acquisition (DAQ) chain on a multicore CPU cluster, with optional acceleration using Xeon Phi coprocessors. It employs parallelized algorithms, such as the Cellular Automaton track finder, for fast tracking, vertexing, and event filtering, enabling real-time event selection and detector monitoring. In parallel, xProduction runs independently of the DAQ loop and performs near offline-quality calibration and reconstruction within hours. Using the express data stream, enhanced by HLT selections, and the STAR calibration framework, it enables early physics analysis and provides collaboration-wide access to analysis-ready datasets. Together, HLT and xProduction form a complementary system combining real-time selection with rapid high-quality reconstruction. This framework has enabled prompt reconstruction of the ${}^5_Λ\mathrm{He}$ hypernucleus and efficient processing of large datasets, demonstrating scalability for future high-luminosity experiments.

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arXiv2025

A Review on Intense Electromagnetic Fields in Heavy-Ion Collisions: Theoretical Predictions and Experimental Results

In heavy-ion collisions at relativistic energies, the incident nuclei travel at nearly the speed of light. These collisions deposit kinetic energy into the overlap region and create a high-temperature environment where hadrons ``melt'' into deconfined quarks and gluons. The spectator nucleons, which do not undergo scatterings, generate an ultra-intense electromagnetic field -- on the order of $10^{18}$ Gauss at Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider, and $10^{19}$ Gauss at the Large Hadron Collider. These powerful electromagnetic fields have a significant impact on the produced particles, not only complicating the study of particle interactions but also inducing novel physical phenomena. To explore the nature of these fields and their interactions with deconfined quarks, we provide a detailed overview, encompassing theoretical estimations of their generation and evolution, as well as experimental efforts to detect them. We also provide physical interpretations of the discovered results and discuss potential directions for future investigations.

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arXiv2025

Comment on "Exploring Data-Driven Corrections for $ϕ$-Meson Global Spin Alignment Measurements" (arXiv:2508.18409)

The method in arXiv:2508.18409 constructs a ``data-driven correction'' from combinatorial (pseudo-$ϕ$) pairs and applies it to the signal. An explicit decomposition shows that the construction calibrates the background response rather than the signal: it is defined by the difference between an acceptance-free pseudo-$ϕ$ surrogate and its data-level realization. Promoting a background-derived correction to a signal correction requires a strong physics proof that signal and background share identical detector response at the pair level -- including acceptance-anisotropy couplings and dependencies on parent kinematics -- which the manuscript does not establish. Consequently, local numerical proximity in a restricted region of phase space is incidental rather than evidentiary; validation must rest on mechanism, not numerical coincidence. Moreover, the pseudo-$ϕ$ background is non-unique: with infinitely many admissible constructions, any apparent agreement for a few cases would not be dispositive -- no finite scan can substitute for a mechanism-level response equivalence. In the absence of such a demonstrated equivalence, the construction should be regarded as a background calibration rather than a signal correction.

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arXiv2025

Probing Spin and Lifetime Correlations in Entangled Hyperon-AntiHyperon Pairs

Quantum entanglement has now been demonstrated in several hadronic systems, revealing that non-classical spin correlations survive even through the strong-interaction hadronization process. To date, however, all studies have focused exclusively on angular observables, leaving the possibility untouched that quantum coherence might also influence the decay times of entangled partners. In this work we propose data-driven tests of spin-lifetime and lifetime-lifetime correlations for Lambda-antiLambda pairs produced in high-energy collisions. By examining the opening-angle distribution in slices of Delta t, constructing a pair-wise spin-lifetime correlator, and testing a simple lifetime-lifetime covariance, we search for deviations from independent exponential decay that align with known spin correlations. Observation of nonzero lifetime correlations would compel a reassessment of how entanglement manifests in decaying systems, revealing hitherto unexplored temporal coherence.

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arXiv2025

A Novel Inverter Control Strategy with Power Decoupling for Microgrid Operations in Grid-Connected and Islanded Modes

Grid-forming, particularly those utilizing droop control and virtual synchronous generators (VSG), can actively regulate the frequency and voltage of microgrid systems, exhibiting dynamic characteristics akin to those of synchronous generators. Although droop control and VSG control each have distinct benefits, neither can fully meet the diverse, dynamic needs of both grid-connected (GC) and islanded (IS) modes. Additionally, the coupling between active and reactive power can negatively impact microgrids' dynamic performance and stability. To solve these problems, this paper introduces a unified dynamic power coupling (UDC) model. This model's active power control loop can be tailored to meet diverse requirements. By implementing a well-designed control loop, the system can harness the advantages of both droop control and VSG control. In islanded mode, the proposed model can provide virtual inertia and damping properties, while in grid-connected mode, the inverter's active power output can follow the changed references without significant overshoot or oscillation. Furthermore, the model incorporates coupling compensation and virtual impedance based on a relative gain array in the frequency domain to facilitate quantitative analysis of power coupling characteristics. This paper outlines a distinct design process for the unified model. Finally, the proposed control method has been validated through simulation.

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arXiv2024

Effect of vector meson spin coherence on the measurements of chiral magnetic effect in heavy-ion collisions

The chiral magnetic effect (CME) in heavy-ion collisions reflects the local violation of ${\cal P}$ and ${\cal CP}$ symmetries in strong interactions and manifests as electric charge separation along the direction of the magnetic field created by the wounded nuclei. The experimental observables for the CME, such as the $γ_{112}$ correlator, the $R_{Ψ_2}(ΔS)$ correlator, and the signed balance functions, however, are also subject to non-CME backgrounds, including those from resonance decays. A previous study showed that the CME observables are affected by the diagonal component of the spin density matrix, the $ρ_{00}$ for vector mesons. In this work, we study the contributions from the other elements of the spin density matrix using a toy model and a multiphase transport model. We find that the real part of the $ρ_{1-1}$ component, $\mathrm{Re}\,ρ_{1-1}$, affects the CME observables in a manner opposite to that of the $ρ_{00}$. All three aforementioned CME observables show a linear dependence on $\mathrm{Re}\,ρ_{1-1}$ in the model calculations, supporting our analytical derivations. The rest elements of the spin density matrix do not contribute to the CME observables. The off-diagonal terms in the spin density matrix indicate spin coherence and may be nonzero in heavy-ion collisions due to local spin polarization or spin-spin correlations. Thus, $\mathrm{Re}\,ρ_{1-1}$, along with $ρ_{00}$, could play a significant role in interpreting measurements in search of the CME.

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arXiv2024

Considerations on measuring spin-spin correlation of hyeprons in heavy-ion experiments

The significant global spin alignment observed for $ϕ$ mesons in heavy-ion collisions has sparked intense discussions about its origin and implications. One explanation suggests that fluctuations in the strong force field may introduce strong spin correlations between strange ($s$) and anti-strange ($\bar{s}$) quarks, leading to the global spin alignment of $ϕ$ mesons. Extending this line of research, the theoretical community has proposed studying the spin correlation between $Λ$ and $\barΛ$ hyperons. In this paper, we construct experimental observables and make connections between them and the theoretical proposed quantities.

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arXiv2024

Properties of the QCD Matter -- An Experimental Review of Selected Results from RHIC BES Program

In the paper, we discuss the development of the multi-gap resistive plate chamber Time-of-Flight (TOF) technology and the production of the STAR TOF detector in China at the beginning of the 21st century. Then we review recent experimental results from the first beam energy scan program (BES-I) at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Topics cover measurements of collectivity, chirality, criticality, global polarization, strangeness, heavy-flavor, di-lepton and light nuclei productions.

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arXiv2023

Event Shape Selection Method in Search of the Chiral Magnetic Effect in Heavy-ion Collisions

The search for the chiral magnetic effect (CME) in heavy-ion collisions has been impeded by the significant background arising from the anisotropic particle emission pattern, particularly elliptic flow. To alleviate this background, the event shape selection (ESS) technique categorizes collision events according to their shapes and projects the CME observables to a class of events with minimal flow. In this study, we explore two event shape variables to classify events and two elliptic flow variables to regulate the background. Each type of variable can be calculated from either single particles or particle pairs, resulting in four combinations of event shape and elliptic flow variables. By employing a toy model and the realistic event generator, event-by-event anomalous-viscous fluid dynamics (EBE-AVFD), we discover that the elliptic flow of resonances exhibits correlations with both the background and the potential CME signal, making the resonance flow unsuitable for background control. Through the EBE-AVFD simulations of Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV with various input scenarios, we ascertain that the optimal ESS strategy for background control entails utilizing the single-particle elliptic flow in conjunction with the event shape variable based on particle pairs.

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arXiv2023

Fourier coefficients of noninterdependent collective motions in heavy-ion collisions

We present a scenario in heavy-ion collisions where different modes of collective motions are noninterdependent, driven by factorized actions in the created nuclear medium. Such physics mechanisms could each dominate at a distinct evolution stage, or coexist simultaneously. If the probability of particle emission is modulated by each nondependent collective motion with a single-harmonic Fourier expansion, the particle azimuthal distribution should be the product of all these expansions. Consequently, nonleading cross terms between collectivity modes appear, and their contributions to experimental observables could be significant. In particular, we argue that the chiral magnetic effect (CME) and elliptic flow can develop separately, with their convolution affecting the observable that is sensitive to the shear-induced CME. We will use the event-by-event anomalous-viscous fluid dynamics model to illustrate the effects of this scenario. Besides giving insights into searches for the CME, we also propose feasible experimental tests based on conventional flow harmonics, and demonstrate the emergence of nonleading cross terms with a multiphase transport model.

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arXiv2022

Impact of globally spin-aligned vector mesons on the search for the chiral magnetic effect in heavy-ion collisions

In high-energy heavy-ion collisions, the chiral magnetic effect (CME) is predicted to arise from the interplay between the chirality imbalance of quarks in the nuclear medium and the intense magnetic field, and will cause a charge separation along the magnetic field direction. While the search for the CME is still ongoing in experiments at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the CME-sensitive observables need to be scrutinized to exclude the non-CME contributions. In this work, we examine the influence of globally spin-aligned $ρ$ mesons on the $γ_{112}$ correlator, the $R_{Ψ_2}(ΔS)$ correlator, and the signed balance functions, via a toy model and a multiphase transport model (AMPT). The global spin alignment of vector mesons could originate from non-CME mechanisms in heavy-ion collisions, and is characterized by the 00-component of the spin density matrix, $ρ_{00}$. We find that the CME observables show similar dependence on $ρ_{00}$, and could receive a positive (negative) contribution from $ρ$-decay pions, if the $ρ_{00}$ of $ρ$ mesons is larger (smaller) than 1/3. Since pions are the most abundant particles in such collisions, the $ρ_{00}$ measurements for $ρ$ mesons become crucial to the interpretation of the CME data.

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arXiv2021

Investigation of Experimental Observables in Search of the Chiral Magnetic Effect in Heavy-ion Collisions in the STAR experiment

The chiral magnetic effect (CME) is a novel transport phenomenon, arising from the interplay between quantum anomalies and strong magnetic fields in chiral systems. In high-energy nuclear collisions, the CME may survive the expansion of the quark-gluon plasma fireball and be detected in experiments. Over the past decade, the experimental searches for the CME have aroused extensive interest at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The main goal of this article is to investigate three pertinent experimental approaches: the $γ$ correlator, the $R$ correlator and the signed balance functions. We will exploit both simple Monte Carlo simulations and a realistic event generator (EBE-AVFD) to verify the equivalence in the kernel-component observables among these methods and to ascertain their sensitivities to the CME signal for the isobaric collisions at RHIC.

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arXiv2018

Antinuclei in Heavy-Ion Collisions

We review progress in the study of antinuclei, starting from Dirac's equation and the discovery of the positron in cosmic-ray events. The development of proton accelerators led to the discovery of antiprotons, followed by the first antideuterons, demonstrating that antinucleons bind into antinuclei. With the development of heavy-ion programs at the Brookhaven AGS and CERN SPS, it was demonstrated that central collisions of heavy nuclei offer a fertile ground for research and discoveries in the area of antinuclei. In this review, we emphasize recent observations at Brookhaven's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, namely, the antihypertriton and the antihelium-4, as well as measurements of the mass difference between light nuclei and antinuclei, and the interaction between antiprotons. Physics implications of the new observations and different production mechanisms are discussed. We also consider implications for related fields, such as hypernuclear physics and space-based cosmic-ray experiments.

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arXiv2014

Beam Energy Dependence of Clan Multiplicity at RHIC

In this paper, STAR's measurement of clan multiplicity is presented for AuAu collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4 and 200 GeV, for a variety of centrality classes. The mean number of particles per clan is found to decrease with decreasing centrality. Within the same centrality class, the mean number of particles per clan exhibits a reduction between 19.6 GeV and 62 GeV, with the minimum around 27 GeV. The structure is visible for most centralities, and most prominent for central collisions.

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arXiv2013

Possibility to disentangle anisotropic flow, flow fluctuation, and nonflow assuming Gaussian fluctuations

We suggest the possibility to disentangle anisotropic flow, flow fluctuation, and nonflow using two-, four-, and six-particle azimuthal moments assuming Gaussian fluctuations. We show that such disentanglement is possible when the flow fluctuations are large, comparable to the average flow magnitude. When fluctuations are small, the disentanglement becomes difficult. We verify our results with a toy-model Monte Carlo simulation.

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arXiv2012

The Study of Noncollectivity by the Forward-Backward Multiplicity Correlation Function

We propose a forward-backward multiplicity correlation function $C^N_{FB}$, which is experimentally accessible, to measure the noncollectivity contribution. We find that $C^N_{FB}$ is sensitive to the jet contribution for the particle-rich case. Surprisingly, it will automatically decrease for the particle-rare case. Our study indicates that similar decreasing trend observed previously is mainly driven by particle scarcity instead of jets. The function is studied in Au+Au collision at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV with a multiphase transport model (AMPT). We find that the jet fraction is about 10% at transverse momentum ($p_T$) around 2.5 GeV/$c$ and reaches up to 30% at 3.5 GeV/$c$. The implication of this study in the investigation of the noncollectivity contribution in elliptic anisotropy parameter $v_2$ is also discussed.

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arXiv2012

Directed flow of transported and non-transported protons in Au+Au collisions from UrQMD model

The directed flow of inclusive, transported and non-transported (including produced) protons, as well as antiprotons, has been studied in the framework of Ultra-Relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics approach (UrQMD model) for Au+Au collisions at\surdsNN =7.7, 11.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4 and 200 GeV. The rapidity, centrality and energy dependence of directed flow for various proton groups are presented. It is found that the integrated directed flow decreases monotonically as a function of collision energy for\surdsNN =11.5 GeV and beyond. However, the sign-change of directed flow of inclusive protons, seen in experimental data as a function of centrality and collision energy, can be explained by the competing effect of directed flow between transported and non-transported protons. Similarly the difference in directed flow between protons and antiprotons can be explained. Our study offers a conventional explanation on the cause of the v1 sign-change other than the antiflow component of protons alone which is argued to be linked to a phase transition.

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arXiv2011

Study of γ-charge correlation in heavy ion collisions, various approaches

Event-by-event γ-charge correlation is used in studying systems going through QCD chiral phase transition. In this paper various methods for measuring γ-charge correlation in heavy ion collisions have been discussed. Dynamical fluctuation due to formation of domains of DCC that can affect γ-charge correlation has been discussed. We study known detector and statistical effects involved in these measurements and suggest suitable robust observables Δν_{dyn} and r_{m,1} sensitive to small γ-charge correlation signal. These variables are constructed based on moments of multiplicity distributions of photon and charged particles. Estimations of expected measurable signals of γ-charge correlation from various available models such as for ideal Boltzmann gas of pions, monte-carlo models based on transport and mini-jets have been discussed. Collision centrality dependence of the observables have been estimated from Central Limit Theorem and found to be consistent with the model predictions. We find that observables show high sensitivity to fraction of DCC events and have nonlinear dependence on fraction of pions carrying DCC signals. Variation of r_{m,1} with orders of its higher moments m is an observable to extract the nature and strength of γ-charge correlation.

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