arXiv subjects

E. L. Bratkovskaya

Publications and source records attributed to E. L. Bratkovskaya.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Dilepton production in the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma

Dilepton production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions is studied within the microscopic Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM) matched to reproduce lattice QCD results in thermodynamic equilibrium. A comparison to the data of the NA60 Collaboration for In+In collisions at 158 AGeV shows that the dilepton spectra are well described by the sum of hadronic and partonic sources, if a collisional broadening of vector mesons is taken into account as well as the off-shell quark-antiquark annihilation (q+qbar->l^+l^- and q+qbar->gl^+l^-) in the QGP. In particular, the observed softening of the mT spectra at intermediate masses is reproduced. The data of the PHENIX collaboration on dilepton production in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV for masses above 1 GeV are found to be dominated by the contributions of the QGP radiation and the charm meson decays, while the measured spectrum is underestimated in the mass range from 0.2 to 0.6 GeV.

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arXiv2010

Signatures of the strongly interacting QGP in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The transition from hadronic to partonic degrees of freedom in the course of a relativistic heavy-ion collision is described by the microscopic covariant Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach. Studying Pb+Pb reactions from 40 to 158 AGeV and comparing the PHSD results to those of the Hadron-String Dynamics (HSD) approach without a phase transition to the QGP, we observe that the existence of the partonic phase has a sizable influence on the transverse mass distribution of final kaons due to the repulsive partonic mean fields. Furthermore, we find a significant effect of the QGP on the production of multi-strange antibaryons due to a slightly enhanced ssbar pair production in the partonic phase from massive time-like gluon decay and to a more abundant formation of strange antibaryons in the hadronization process. Another evidence for pre-hadronization dynamics is gained from a study of di-jet correlations in Au+Au collisions at the top RHIC energy of sqrt(S)=200 GeV. Within the HSD transport approach, the reaction of the hadronic medium to the jet energy loss is calculated. In comparison with the data of the STAR, PHOBOS and PHENIX Collaborations differentially in azimuthal angle and pseudorapidity, the HSD results do not show enough suppression for the `away-side' jet. In addition, the HSD results exhibit neither a `Mach-cone' structure for the angular distribution in the away-side jet nor the `ridge' long-range rapidity correlations for the near-side jet as observed by the STAR and PHOBOS Collaborations, thus suggesting a partonic origin of these structures.

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arXiv2010

Jets propagation through a hadron-string medium

Di-jet correlations in nucleus-nucleus collisions are studied within the Hadron-String-Dynamics (HSD) transport approach taking into account the reaction of the medium on the jet energy loss nonperturbatively. A comparison with the STAR and PHENIX data in central Au+Au collisions at the RHIC energy $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV is performed differentially, i.e. with respect to correlations in azimuthal angle $Δϕ$ and pseudorapidity $Δη$. The HSD results do not show enough suppression for the `away-side' jets in accordance with earlier perturbative studies. Furthermore, the `Mach-cone' structure for the angle distribution in the `away-side' jet as well as `ridge' long rapidity correlations in the `near-side' jet - observed by the STAR and PHOBOS Collaborations - are not seen in the HSD results, thus suggesting a partonic origin.

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arXiv2010

Covariant transport approach for strongly interacting partonic systems

The dynamics of partons, hadrons and strings in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is analyzed within the novel Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model for partons (DQPM) matched to reproduce recent lattice-QCD results - including the partonic equation of state - in thermodynamic equilibrium. Scalar- and vector-interaction densities are extracted from the DQPM as well as effective scalar- and vector-mean fields for the partons. The transition from partonic to hadronic degrees of freedom is described by covariant transition rates for the fusion of quark-antiquark pairs or three quarks (antiquarks), respectively, obeying flavor current-conservation, color neutrality as well as energy-momentum conservation. Since the dynamical quarks and antiquarks become very massive close to the phase transition, the formed resonant 'pre-hadronic' color-dipole states ($q\bar{q}$ or $qqq$) are of high invariant mass, too, and sequentially decay to the groundstate meson and baryon octets increasing the total entropy. When applying the PHSD approach to Pb+Pb colllisions at 158 A$\cdot$GeV we find a significant effect of the partonic phase on the production of multi-strange antibaryons due to a slightly enhanced $s{\bar s}$ pair production from massive time-like gluon decay and a larger formation of antibaryons in the hadronization process.

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arXiv2010

Dileptons from the nonequilibrium Quark-Gluon Plasma

According to the dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM) -- matched to reproduce lattice QCD results in thermodynamic limit, -- the constituents of the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma (sQGP) are massive and off-shell quasi-particles (quarks and gluons) with broad spectral functions. In order to address the electromagnetic radiation of the sQGP, we derive off-shell cross sections of $q\bar q\toγ^*$, $q\bar q\toγ^*+g$ and $qg\toγ^*q$($\bar q g\toγ^* \bar q$) reactions taking into account the effective propagators for quarks and gluons from the DQPM. Dilepton production in In+In collisions at 158 AGeV is studied by implementing these processes into the parton-hadron-string dynamics (PHSD) transport approach. The microscopic PHSD transport approach describes the full evolution of the heavy-ion collision: from the dynamics of quasi-particles in the sQGP phase (when the local energy density is above $\sim 1$ GeV/fm$^3$) through hadronization and to the following hadron interactions and off-shell propagation after the hadronization. A comparison to the data of the NA60 Collaboration shows that the low mass dilepton spectra are well described by including a collisional broadening of vector mesons, while the spectra in the intermediate mass range are dominated by off-shell quark-antiquark annihilation, quark Bremsstrahlung and gluon-Compton scattering in the nonperturbative QGP. In particular, the observed softening of the $m_T$ spectra at intermediate masses (1 GeV $\le M \le$ 3 GeV) is approximately reproduced.

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arXiv2010

Dilepton radiation by vector mesons and off-shell partons in the hot and dense medium

According to the dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM) - matched to reproduce lattice QCD results in thermodynamic limit, - the constituents of the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma (sQGP) are massive and off-shell quasi-particles (quarks and gluons) with broad spectral functions. In order to address the electromagnetic radiation of the sQGP, we derive off-shell cross sections of q+qbar->gamma*, q+qbar->gamma*+glue and q+glue->gamma*+q(qbar+glue->gamma*qbar) reactions taking into account the effective propagators for quarks and gluons from the DQPM. Dilepton production in In+In collisions at 158 AGeV is studied by implementing these processes into the parton-hadron-string dynamics (PHSD) transport approach. The microscopic PHSD transport approach describes the full evolution of the heavy-ion collision: from the dynamics of quasi-particles in the sQGP phase (when the local energy density is above ~1 GeV/fm^3) through hadronization and to the following hadron interactions and off-shell propagation after the hadronization. A comparison to the data of the NA60 Collaboration shows that the low mass dilepton spectra are well described by including a collisional broadening of vector mesons, while the spectra in the intermediate mass range are dominated by off-shell quark-antiquark annihilation, quark Bremsstrahlung and gluon-Compton scattering in the nonperturbative QGP. In particular, the observed softening of the mT spectra at intermediate masses (1 GeV < M < 3 GeV) is approximately reproduced.

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arXiv2010

Fluctuations and Correlations in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions within Transport Models

Particle number fluctuations and correlations in nucleus-nucleus collisions at SPS and RHIC energies are studied within microscopic transport approaches. In this review we focus on the Hadron-String-Dynamics (HSD) and Ultra-relativistic-Quantum-Molecular-Dynamics (UrQMD) models The obtained results are compared with the available experimental data as well as with the statistical models and the model of independent sources. In particular the role of the experimental centrality selection and acceptance is discussed in detail for a variety of experimental fluctuations and correlation observables with the aim to extract information on the critical point in the $(T,μ_B)$ plane of strongly interacting matter.

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arXiv2010

Strangeness production within Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD)

The Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach consistently simulates the full evolution of a relativistic heavy-ion collision from the initial hard scatterings string formation through the dynamical deconfinement phase transition to the quark gluon plasma (QGP), to the hadronization and to subsequent interactions in the hadronic phase. The transport theoretical description of quarks and gluons is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model for partons matched to reproduce recent lattice QCD results in thermodynamic equilibrium. The transition from partonic to hadronic degrees of freedom is described by covariant transition rates for the fusion of quark-antiquark pairs or three quarks (antiquarks). Studying Pb+Pb reactions from 40 to 158 A GeV, we find that at most 40% of the collision energy is stored in the dynamics of the partons. This implies that a large fraction of non-partonic, i.e. hadronic or string-like matter, which can be viewed as a hadronic corona, is present in these reactions, thus neither hadronic nor purely partonic models can be employed to extract physical conclusions in comparing model results with data. On the other hand, comparing the PHSD results to those of the Hadron-String Dynamics (HSD) approach without the phase transition to QGP, we observe that the existence of the partonic phase has a sizeable influence on the transverse mass distribution of final kaons due to the repulsive partonic mean fields and initial partonic scattering. Furthermore, we find a significant effect of the QGP on the production of multi-strange antibaryons due to a slightly enhanced s+sbar pair production in the partonic phase from massive time-like gluon decay and to a more abundant formation of strange antibaryons in the hadronization process.

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arXiv2009

Fluctuations and Correlations from Microscopic Transport Theory

The multiplicity fluctuations in A+A collisions at SPS and RHIC energies are studied within the HSD transport approach. We find a dominant role of the fluctuations in the nucleon participant number for the final fluctuations. In order to extract physical fluctuations one should decrease the fluctuations in the participants number. This can be done considering very central collisions. The system size dependence of the multiplicity fluctuations in central A+A collisions at the SPS energy range -- obtained in the HSD and UrQMD transport models -- is presented. The results can be used as a `background' for experimental measurements of fluctuations as a signal of the critical point. Event-by-event fluctuations of the $K/π$, $K/p$ and $p/π$ ratios in A+A collisions are also studied. Event-by-event fluctuations of the kaon to pion number ratio in nucleus-nucleus collisions are studied for SPS and RHIC energies. We find that the HSD model can qualitatively reproduce the measured excitation function for the $K/π$ ratio fluctuations in central Au+Au (or Pb+Pb) collisions from low SPS up to top RHIC energies. The forward-backward correlation coefficient measured by the STAR Collaboration in Au+Au collisions at RHIC is also studied. We discuss the effects of initial collision geometry and centrality bin definition on correlations in nucleus-nucleus collisions. We argue that a study of the dependence of correlations on the centrality bin definition as well as the bin size may distinguish between these `trivial' correlations and correlations arising from `new physics'.

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arXiv2009

$K/π$, $K/p$ and $p/π$ Ratio Fluctuations within the HSD Transport Approach

Particle number fluctuations and correlations in nucleus-nucleus collisions at SPS and RHIC energies have been studied within the Hadron-String-Dynamics (HSD) transport approach. Event-by-event fluctuations of pion-to-kaon, proton-to-pion and kaon-to-proton number ratios are calculated for the samples of most central collision events and compared with the available experimental data. It has been found that the HSD model can qualitatively reproduce the measured excitation function for the $K/π$ ratio fluctuations in central Au+Au (or Pb+Pb) collisions from low SPS up to top RHIC energies. These predictions impose a challenge for future experiments.

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arXiv2009

Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics: an off-shell transport approach for relativistic energies

The dynamics of partons, hadrons and strings in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is analyzed within the novel Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is applied to Pb+Pb collisions from 20 to 160 A GeV in order to explore the space-time regions of 'partonic matter'. We find that even central collisions at the top-SPS energy of 158 A GeV show a large fraction of non-partonic, i.e. hadronic or string-like matter, which can be viewed as a hadronic corona. Furthermore, we observe that the partonic phase has a very low impact on rapidity distributions of hadrons but a sizeable influence on the transverse mass distribution of final kaons due to the repulsive partonic mean fields. We also find a significant effect on the production of multi-strange antibaryons due to a slightly enhanced $s{\bar s}$ pair production in the partonic phase from massive time-like gluon decay and a larger formation of antibaryons in the hadronization process. All differential hadron spectra are analyzed in comparison to the data of experimental collaborations.

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arXiv2009

Dileptons from the strongly-interacting Quark-Gluon Plasma within the Parton-Hadron-String-Dynamics (PHSD) approach

Dilepton production in In+In collisions at 158 AGeV is studied within the microscopic Parton-Hadron-Strings Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM) matched to reproduce lattice QCD results in thermodynamic equilibrium. A comparison to the data of the NA60 Collaboration shows that the low mass dilepton spectra are well described by including a collisional broadening of vector mesons, while the spectra in the intermediate mass range are dominated by off-shell quark-antiquark annihilation in the nonperturbative QGP. In particular, the observed softening of the mT spectra at intermediate masses is reproduced.

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arXiv2009

Particle Number Fluctuations and Correlations in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

Particle number fluctuations and correlations in nucleus-nucleus collisions at SPS and RHIC energies are studied within the statistical hadron-resonance gas model in different statistical ensembles and in the Hadron-String-Dynamics (HSD) transport approach. Event-by-event fluctuations of the proton to pion and kaon to proton number ratios are calculated in the HSD model for the samples of most central collision events and compared with the available experimental data. The role of the experimental acceptance and centrality selection is discussed.

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arXiv2009

Fluctuations of the $K/π$ Ratio in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions: Statistical and Transport Models

Event-by-event fluctuations of the kaon to pion number ratio in nucleus-nucleus collisions are studied within the statistical hadron-resonance gas model (SM) for different statistical ensembles and in the Hadron-String-Dynamics (HSD) transport approach. We find that the HSD model can qualitatively reproduce the measured excitation function for the $K/π$ ratio fluctuations in central Au+Au (or Pb+Pb) collisions from low SPS up to top RHIC energies. Substantial differences in the HSD and SM results are found for the fluctuations and correlations of the kaon and pion numbers. These predictions impose a challenge for future experiments.

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arXiv2008

Forward-backward correlations in nucleus-nucleus collisions: baseline contributions from geometrical fluctuations

We discuss the effects of initial collision geometry and centrality bin definition on correlation and fluctuation observables in nucleus-nucleus collisions. We focus on the forward-backward correlation coefficient recently measured by the STAR Collaboration in Au+Au collisions at RHIC. Our study is carried out within two models: the Glauber Monte Carlo code with a `toy' wounded nucleon model and the hadron-string dynamics (HSD) transport approach. We show that strong correlations can arise due to averaging over events in one centrality bin. We, furthermore, argue that a study of the dependence of correlations on the centrality bin definition as well as the bin size may distinguish between these `trivial' correlations and correlations arising from `new physics'.

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arXiv2008

Low mass dilepton production at ultrarelativistic energies

Dilepton production in $pp$ and $Au+Au$ nucleus-nucleus collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV as well as in $In+In$ and $Pb+Au$ at 158 A$\cdot$GeV is studied within the microscopic HSD transport approach. A comparison to the data from the PHENIX Collaboration at RHIC shows that standard in-medium effects of the $ρ, ω$ vector mesons - compatible with the NA60 data for $In+In$ at 158 A$\cdot$GeV and the CERES data for $Pb+Au$ at 158 A$\cdot$GeV - do not explain the large enhancement observed in the invariant mass regime from 0.2 to 0.5 GeV in $Au+Au$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV relative to $pp$ collisions.

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arXiv2008

Charmed hadron signals of partonic medium

We present a short review of our results on the collectivity and the suppression pattern of charmed mesons in heavy-ion collisions based on the microscopic Hadron-String Dynamics (HSD) transport approach for different scenarios of charm interactions with the surrounding matter - the 'comover' dissociation by mesons with further recreation by D+Dbar channels and 'pre-hadronic' interaction scenarios. While at SPS energies the hadronic 'comover' absorption scenario is found to be compatible with the experimental data, the dynamics of c and cbar quarks at RHIC are dominated by partonic or 'pre-hadronic' interactions in the strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma stage and cannot be modeled by pure hadronic interactions. We find that the collective flow of charm in the purely hadronic scenario appears compatible with the data at SPS energies but underestimates the data at top RHIC energies. Thus, the large elliptic flow v2 of D mesons and the low R_AA(pT) of J/Psi seen experimentally at RHIC have to be attributed to early interactions of non-hadronic degrees of freedom. Simultaneously, we observe that non-hadronic interactions are mandatory in order to describe the narrowing of the J/Psi rapidity distribution from p+p to central Au+Au collisions at the top RHIC energy. We demonstrate additionally that the strong quenching of high-pT J/Psi's in central Au+Au collisions indicates that a fraction of final J/Psi mesons is created by a coalescence mechanism close to the phase boundary.

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arXiv2008

Parton dynamics and hadronization from the sQGP

The hadronization of an expanding partonic fireball is studied within the Parton-Hadron-Strings Dynamics (PHSD) approach which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM) matched to reproduce lattice QCD results in thermodynamic equilibrium. Apart from strong parton interactions the expansion and development of collective flow is found to be driven by strong gradients in the parton mean-fields. An analysis of the elliptic flow $v_2$ demonstrates a linear correlation with the spatial eccentricity $ε$ as in case of ideal hydrodynamics. The hadronization occurs by quark-antiquark fusion or 3 quark/3 antiquark recombination which is described by covariant transition rates. Since the dynamical quarks become very massive, the formed resonant 'pre-hadronic' color-dipole states ($q\bar{q}$ or $qqq$) are of high invariant mass, too, and sequentially decay to the groundstate meson and baryon octets increasing the total entropy. This solves the entropy problem in hadronization in a natural way. Hadronic particle ratios turn out to be in line with those from a grandcanonical partition function at temperature $T \approx 170$ MeV.

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