arXiv subjects

P. Castera

Publications and source records attributed to P. Castera.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Cross sections of $\eta$ mesons in $p$$+$$p$ collisions at forward rapidity at $\sqrt{s}=500$ GeV and central rapidity at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV

We present the first measurements of the forward and midrapidity $\eta$-meson cross sections from $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=500$ and $510$~GeV, respectively. We also report the midrapidity $\eta/\pi^0$ ratio at 510 GeV. The forward cross section is measured differentially in $\eta$-meson transverse momentum ($p_T$) from 1.0 to 6.5~GeV/$c$ for pseudorapidity $3.0<|\eta|<3.8$. The midrapidity cross section is measured from 3.5 to 44 GeV/$c$ for pseudorapidity $|\eta|<0.35$. Both cross sections serve as critical inputs to an updated global analysis of the $\eta$-meson fragmentation functions.

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arXiv2024

Centrality dependence of L\'evy-stable two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV Au$+$Au collisions

The PHENIX experiment measured the centrality dependence of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlation functions in $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$~GeV Au$+$Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The data are well represented by L\'evy-stable source distributions. The extracted source parameters are the correlation-strength parameter $\lambda$, the L\'evy index of stability $\alpha$, and the L\'evy-scale parameter $R$ as a function of transverse mass $m_T$ and centrality. The $\lambda(m_T)$ parameter is constant at larger values of $m_T$, but decreases as $m_T$ decreases. The L\'evy scale parameter $R(m_T)$ decreases with $m_T$ and exhibits proportionality to the length scale of the nuclear overlap region. The L\'evy exponent $\alpha(m_T)$ is independent of $m_T$ within uncertainties in each investigated centrality bin, but shows a clear centrality dependence. At all centralities, the L\'evy exponent $\alpha$ is significantly different from that of Gaussian ($\alpha=2$) or Cauchy ($\alpha=1$) source distributions. Comparisons to the predictions of Monte-Carlo simulations of resonance-decay chains show that in all but the most peripheral centrality class (50%-60%), the obtained results are inconsistent with the measurements, unless a significant reduction of the in-medium mass of the $\eta'$ meson is included. In each centrality class, the best value of the in-medium $\eta'$ mass is compared to the mass of the $\eta$ meson, as well as to several theoretical predictions that consider restoration of $U_A(1)$ symmetry in hot hadronic matter.

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arXiv2022

Low-$p_T$ direct-photon production in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=39$ and 62.4 GeV

The measurement of direct photons from Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=39$ and 62.4 GeV in the transverse-momentum range $0.4<p_T<3$ Gev/$c$ is presented by the PHENIX collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. A significant direct-photon yield is observed in both collision systems. A universal scaling is observed when the direct-photon $p_T$ spectra for different center-of-mass energies and for different centrality selections at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=62.4$ GeV is scaled with $(dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta)^{\alpha}$ for $\alpha=1.21{\pm}0.04$. This scaling also holds true for direct-photon spectra from Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV measured earlier by PHENIX, as well as the spectra from Pb$+$Pb at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=2760$ GeV published by ALICE. The scaling power $\alpha$ seems to be independent of $p_T$, center of mass energy, and collision centrality. The spectra from different collision energies have a similar shape up to $p_T$ of 2 GeV/$c$. The spectra have a local inverse slope $T_{\rm eff}$ increasing with $p_T$ of $0.174\pm0.018$ GeV/$c$ in the range $0.4<p_T<1.3$ GeV/$c$ and increasing to $0.289\pm0.024$ GeV/$c$ for $0.9<p_T<2.1$ GeV/$c$. The observed similarity of low-$p_T$ direct-photon production from $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}= 39$ to 2760 GeV suggests a common source of direct photons for the different collision energies and event centrality selections, and suggests a comparable space-time evolution of direct-photon emission.

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arXiv2020

Measurement of jet-medium interactions via direct photon-hadron correlations in Au$+$Au and $d$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV

We present direct photon-hadron correlations in 200 GeV/A Au$+$Au, $d$$+$Au and $p$$+$$p$ collisions, for direct photon $p_T$ from 5--12 GeV/$c$, collected by the PHENIX Collaboration in the years from 2006 to 2011. We observe no significant modification of jet fragmentation in $d$$+$Au collisions, indicating that cold nuclear matter effects are small or absent. Hadrons carrying a large fraction of the quark's momentum are suppressed in Au$+$Au compared to $p$$+$$p$ and $d$$+$Au. As the momentum fraction decreases, the yield of hadrons in Au$+$Au increases to an excess over the yield in $p$$+$$p$ collisions. The excess is at large angles and at low hadron $p_T$ and is most pronounced for hadrons associated with lower momentum direct photons. Comparison to theoretical calculations suggests that the hadron excess arises from medium response to energy deposited by jets.

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arXiv2018

Beam-energy and centrality dependence of direct-photon emission from ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The PHENIX collaboration presents first measurements of low-momentum ($0.4 $1\,GeV/$c$) direct-photon yield $dN_{\gamma}^{\rm dir}/d\eta$ is a smooth function of $dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta$ and can be well described as proportional to $(dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta)^\alpha$ with $\alpha{\approx}1.25$. This scaling behavior holds for a wide range of beam energies at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider, for centrality selected samples, as well as for different, $A$$+$$A$ collision systems. At a given beam energy the scaling also holds for high $p_T$ ($>5$\,GeV/$c$) but when results from different collision energies are compared, an additional $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$-dependent multiplicative factor is needed to describe the integrated-direct-photon yield.

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arXiv2017

L\'evy-stable two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV Au$+$Au collisions

We present a detailed measurement of charged two-pion correlation functions in 0%-30% centrality $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV Au$+$Au collisions by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The data are well described by Bose-Einstein correlation functions stemming from L\'evy-stable source distributions. Using a fine transverse momentum binning, we extract the correlation strength parameter $\lambda$, the L\'evy index of stability $\alpha$ and the L\'evy length scale parameter $R$ as a function of average transverse mass of the pair $m_T$. We find that the positively and the negatively charged pion pairs yield consistent results, and their correlation functions are represented, within uncertainties, by the same L\'evy-stable source functions. The $\lambda(m_T)$ measurements indicate a decrease of the strength of the correlations at low $m_T$. The L\'evy length scale parameter $R(m_T)$ decreases with increasing $m_T$, following a hydrodynamically predicted type of scaling behavior. The values of the L\'evy index of stability $\alpha$ are found to be significantly lower than the Gaussian case of $\alpha=2$, but also significantly larger than the conjectured value that may characterize the critical point of a second-order quark-hadron phase transition.

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arXiv2015

Azimuthally anisotropic emission of low-momentum direct photons in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV

The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has measured 2nd and 3rd order Fourier coefficients of the azimuthal distributions of direct photons emitted at midrapidity in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV for various collision centralities. Combining two different analysis techniques, results were obtained in the transverse momentum range of $0.4<p_{T}<4.0$ GeV/$c$. At low $p_T$ the second-order coefficients, $v_2$, are similar to the ones observed in hadrons. Third order coefficients, $v_3$, are nonzero and almost independent of centrality. These new results on $v_2$ and $v_3$, combined with previously published results on yields, are compared to model calculations that provide yields and asymmetries in the same framework. Those models are challenged to explain simultaneously the observed large yield and large azimuthal anisotropies.

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arXiv2015

Transverse energy production and charged-particle multiplicity at midrapidity in various systems from $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=7.7$ to 200 GeV

Measurements of midrapidity charged particle multiplicity distributions, $dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta$, and midrapidity transverse-energy distributions, $dE_T/d\eta$, are presented for a variety of collision systems and energies. Included are distributions for Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$, 130, 62.4, 39, 27, 19.6, 14.5, and 7.7 GeV, Cu$+$Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ and 62.4 GeV, Cu$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV, U$+$U collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=193$ GeV, $d$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV, $^{3}$He$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV, and $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. Centrality-dependent distributions at midrapidity are presented in terms of the number of nucleon participants, $N_{\rm part}$, and the number of constituent quark participants, $N_{q{\rm p}}$. For all $A$$+$$A$ collisions down to $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=7.7$ GeV, it is observed that the midrapidity data are better described by scaling with $N_{q{\rm p}}$ than scaling with $N_{\rm part}$. Also presented are estimates of the Bjorken energy density, $\varepsilon_{\rm BJ}$, and the ratio of $dE_T/d\eta$ to $dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta$, the latter of which is seen to be constant as a function of centrality for all systems.

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arXiv2015

Scaling properties of fractional momentum loss of high-pT hadrons in nucleus-nucleus collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ from 62.4 GeV to 2.76 TeV

Measurements of the fractional momentum loss ($S_{\rm loss}\equiv{\delta}p_T/p_T$) of high-transverse-momentum-identified hadrons in heavy ion collisions are presented. Using $\pi^0$ in Au$+$Au and Cu$+$Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=62.4$ and 200 GeV measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and and charged hadrons in Pb$+$Pb collisions measured by the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, we studied the scaling properties of $S_{\rm loss}$ as a function of a number of variables: the number of participants, $N_{\rm part}$, the number of quark participants, $N_{\rm qp}$, the charged-particle density, $dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta$, and the Bjorken energy density times the equilibration time, $\varepsilon_{\rm Bj}\tau_{0}$. We find that the $p_T$ where $S_{\rm loss}$ has its maximum, varies both with centrality and collision energy. Above the maximum, $S_{\rm loss}$ tends to follow a power-law function with all four scaling variables. The data at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=200 GeV and 2.76 TeV, for sufficiently high particle densities, have a common scaling of $S_{\rm loss}$ with $dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta$ and $\varepsilon_{\rm Bj}\tau_{0}$, lending insight on the physics of parton energy loss.

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arXiv2015

$\phi$ meson production in the forward/backward rapidity region in Cu$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV

The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has measured $\phi$ meson production and its nuclear modification in asymmetric Cu$+$Au heavy-ion collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV at both forward Cu-going direction ($1.2<y<2.2$) and backward Au-going direction ($-2.2<y<-1.2$), rapidities. The measurements are performed via the dimuon decay channel and reported as a function of the number of participating nucleons, rapidity, and transverse momentum. In the most central events, 0\%--20\% centrality, the $\phi$ meson yield integrated over $1<p_T<5$ GeV/$c$ prefers a smaller value, which means a larger nuclear modification, in the Cu-going direction compared to the Au-going direction. Additionally, the nuclear-modification factor in Cu$+$Au collisions averaged over all centrality is measured to be similar to the previous PHENIX result in $d$$+$Au collisions for these rapidities.

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arXiv2015

Dielectron production in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV

We present measurements of $e^+e^-$ production at midrapidity in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV. The invariant yield is studied within the PHENIX detector acceptance over a wide range of mass ($m_{ee} <$ 5 GeV/$c^2$) and pair transverse momentum ($p_T$ $<$ 5 GeV/$c$), for minimum bias and for five centrality classes. The \ee yield is compared to the expectations from known sources. In the low-mass region ($m_{ee}=0.30$--0.76 GeV/$c^2$) there is an enhancement that increases with centrality and is distributed over the entire pair \pt range measured. It is significantly smaller than previously reported by the PHENIX experiment and amounts to $2.3\pm0.4({\rm stat})\pm0.4({\rm syst})\pm0.2^{\rm model}$ or to $1.7\pm0.3({\rm stat})\pm0.3({\rm syst})\pm0.2^{\rm model}$ for minimum bias collisions when the open-heavy-flavor contribution is calculated with {\sc pythia} or {\sc mc@nlo}, respectively. The inclusive mass and $p_T$ distributions as well as the centrality dependence are well reproduced by model calculations where the enhancement mainly originates from the melting of the $\rho$ meson resonance as the system approaches chiral symmetry restoration. In the intermediate-mass region ($m_{ee}$ = 1.2--2.8 GeV/$c^2$), the data hint at a significant contribution in addition to the yield from the semileptonic decays of heavy-flavor mesons.

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arXiv2015

Measurements of elliptic and triangular flow in high-multiplicity $^{3}$He$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV

We present the first measurement of elliptic ($v_2$) and triangular ($v_3$) flow in high-multiplicity $^{3}$He$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. Two-particle correlations, where the particles have a large separation in pseudorapidity, are compared in $^{3}$He$+$Au and in $p$$+$$p$ collisions and indicate that collective effects dominate the second and third Fourier components for the correlations observed in the $^{3}$He$+$Au system. The collective behavior is quantified in terms of elliptic $v_2$ and triangular $v_3$ anisotropy coefficients measured with respect to their corresponding event planes. The $v_2$ values are comparable to those previously measured in $d$$+$Au collisions at the same nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy. Comparison with various theoretical predictions are made, including to models where the hot spots created by the impact of the three $^{3}$He nucleons on the Au nucleus expand hydrodynamically to generate the triangular flow. The agreement of these models with data may indicate the formation of low-viscosity quark-gluon plasma even in these small collision systems.

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arXiv2015

Measurement of higher cumulants of net-charge multiplicity distributions in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=7.7-200$ GeV

We report the measurement of cumulants ($C_n, n=1\ldots4$) of the net-charge distributions measured within pseudorapidity ($|\eta|<0.35$) in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=7.7-200$ GeV with the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The ratios of cumulants (e.g. $C_1/C_2$, $C_3/C_1$) of the net-charge distributions, which can be related to volume independent susceptibility ratios, are studied as a function of centrality and energy. These quantities are important to understand the quantum-chromodynamics phase diagram and possible existence of a critical end point. The measured values are very well described by expectation from negative binomial distributions. We do not observe any nonmonotonic behavior in the ratios of the cumulants as a function of collision energy. The measured values of $C_1/C_2 = \mu/\sigma^2$ and $C_3/C_1 = S\sigma^3/\mu$ can be directly compared to lattice quantum-chromodynamics calculations and thus allow extraction of both the chemical freeze-out temperature and the baryon chemical potential at each center-of-mass energy.

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arXiv2014

Beam-energy and system-size dependence of the space-time extent of the pion emission source produced in heavy ion collisions

Two-pion interferometry measurements are used to extract the Gaussian radii $R_{{\rm out}}$, $R_{{\rm side}}$, and $R_{{\rm long}}$, of the pion emission sources produced in Cu$+$Cu and Au$+$Au collisions at several beam collision energies $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ at PHENIX. The extracted radii, which are compared to recent STAR and ALICE data, show characteristic scaling patterns as a function of the initial transverse size $\bar{R}$ of the collision systems and the transverse mass $m_T$ of the emitted pion pairs, consistent with hydrodynamiclike expansion. Specific combinations of the three-dimensional radii that are sensitive to the medium expansion velocity and lifetime, and the pion emission time duration show nonmonotonic $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ dependencies. The nonmonotonic behaviors exhibited by these quantities point to a softening of the equation of state that may coincide with the critical end point in the phase diagram for nuclear matter.

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arXiv2014

Inclusive cross sections, charge ratio and double-helicity asymmetries for $\pi^+$ and $\pi^-$ production in $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=200 GeV

We present the midrapidity charged pion invariant cross sections and the ratio of $\pi^-$-to-$\pi^+$ production ($5<p_T<13$ GeV/$c$), together with the double-helicity asymmetries ($5<p_T<12$ GeV/$c$) in polarized $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV. The cross section measurements are consistent with perturbative calculations in quantum chromodynamics within large uncertainties in the calculation due to the choice of factorization, renormalization, and fragmentation scales. However, the theoretical calculation of the ratio of $\pi^-$-to-$\pi^+$ production when considering these scale uncertainties overestimates the measured value, suggesting further investigation of the uncertainties on the charge-separated pion fragmentation functions is needed. Due to cancellations of uncertainties in the charge ratio, direct inclusion of these ratio data in future parameterizations should improve constraints on the flavor dependence of quark fragmentation functions to pions. By measuring charge-separated pion asymmetries, one can gain sensitivity to the sign of $\Delta G$ through the opposite sign of the up and down quark helicity distributions in conjunction with preferential fragmentation of positive pions from up quarks and negative pions from down quarks. The double-helicity asymmetries presented are sensitive to the gluon helicity distribution over an $x$ range of $\sim$0.03--0.16.

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arXiv2014

Search for dark photons from neutral meson decays in $p$$+$$p$ and $d$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=200 GeV

The standard model (SM) of particle physics is spectacularly successful, yet the measured value of the muon anomalous magnetic moment $(g-2)_\mu$ deviates from SM calculations by 3.6$\sigma$. Several theoretical models attribute this to the existence of a "dark photon," an additional U(1) gauge boson, which is weakly coupled to ordinary photons. The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has searched for a dark photon, $U$, in $\pi^0,\eta \rightarrow \gamma e^+e^-$ decays and obtained upper limits of $\mathcal{O}(2\times10^{-6})$ on $U$-$\gamma$ mixing at 90% CL for the mass range $30<m_U<90$ MeV/$c^2$. Combined with other experimental limits, the remaining region in the $U$-$\gamma$ mixing parameter space that can explain the $(g-2)_\mu$ deviation from its SM value is nearly completely excluded at the 90% confidence level, with only a small region of $29<m_U<32$ MeV/$c^2$ remaining.

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arXiv2014

Low-mass vector-meson production at forward rapidity in $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV

The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has measured low mass vector meson, $\omega$, $\rho$, and $\phi$, production through the dimuon decay channel at forward rapidity ($1.2<|y|<2.2$) in $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV. The differential cross sections for these mesons are measured as a function of both $p_T$ and rapidity. We also report the integrated differential cross sections over $1<p_T<7$ GeV/$c$ and $1.2<|y|<2.2$: $d\sigma/dy(\omega+\rho\rightarrow\mu\mu) = 80 \pm 6 \mbox{(stat)} \pm 12 \mbox{(syst)}$ nb and $d\sigma/dy(\phi\rightarrow\mu\mu) = 27 \pm 3 \mbox{(stat)} \pm 4 \mbox{(syst)}$ nb. These results are compared with midrapidity measurements and calculations.

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arXiv2014

Centrality dependence of low-momentum direct-photon production in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV

The PHENIX experiment at RHIC has measured the centrality dependence of the direct photon yield from Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV down to $p_T=0.4$ GeV/$c$. Photons are detected via photon conversions to $e^+e^-$ pairs and an improved technique is applied that minimizes the systematic uncertainties that usually limit direct photon measurements, in particular at low $p_T$. We find an excess of direct photons above the $N_{\rm coll}$-scaled yield measured in $p$$+$$p$ collisions. This excess yield is well described by an exponential distribution with an inverse slope of about 240 MeV/$c$ in the $p_T$ range from 0.6--2.0 GeV/$c$. While the shape of the $p_T$ distribution is independent of centrality within the experimental uncertainties, the yield increases rapidly with increasing centrality, scaling approximately with $N_{\rm part}^\alpha$, where $\alpha=1.48{\pm}0.08({\rm stat}){\pm}0.04({\rm syst})$.

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