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Spencer Klein

Publications and source records attributed to Spencer Klein.

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Measuring the Astrophysical $\bar{\nu}:\nu$ Ratio with IceCube

Recent measurements of astrophysical neutrinos have expanded our understanding of their nature and origin. However, very little is still known about the astrophysical $\bar{\nu}:\nu$ ratio. The only prior measurement is the recent, single Glashow event seen by IceCube. Understanding the astrophysical $\bar{\nu}:\nu$ ratio has a bearing on multiple questions, including the astrophysical spectral shape and neutrino production mechanisms. This analysis uses a new approach to measuring the astrophysical muon $\bar{\nu}:\nu$ ratio at various energies. It uses inelasticity, the fraction of the initial neutrino energy carried away by the hadronic shower. Inelasticity probes the $\bar{\nu}:\nu$ ratio due to the fact that at energies below roughly 100 TeV, valence quarks dominate in deep inelastic scattering interactions, leading to different neutrino and antineutrino inelasticities and cross-sections. We use 10.3 years of IceCube data consisting of starting tracks at energies between 1 TeV and 1 PeV with a self-veto selection that enhances astrophysical event purity in the down-going direction. Based on this sample and analysis method, we present the first measurement of the astrophysical $\bar{\nu}:\nu$ ratio at sub-PeV energies.

astro-ph.HE

Lepton Pair Production Through Two Photon Process in Heavy Ion Collisions

This paper investigates the electromagnetic production of lepton pairs with low transverse momentum in relativistic heavy ion collisions. We estimate the initial photons' transverse momentum contributions by employing models where the average transverse momentum squared of the incoming photon can be calculated in the equivalent photon approximation. We further derive an all order QED resummation for the soft photon radiation, which gives an excellent description of the ATLAS data in ultra-peripheral collisions at the LHC. For peripheral and central collisions, additional $p_T$-broadening effects from multiple interaction with the medium and the magnetic field contributions from the quark-gluon plasma are also discussed.

hep-ph

Photonuclear and Two-photon Interactions at High-Energy Nuclear Colliders

Ultra-peripheral collisions of heavy ions and protons are the energy frontier for electromagnetic interactions. Both photonuclear and two-photon collisions are studied, at collision energies that are far higher than are available elsewhere. In this review, we will discuss physics topics that can be addressed with UPCs, including nuclear shadowing and nuclear structure and searches for beyond-standard-model physics.

nucl-ex

Acoplanarity of Lepton Pair to Probe the Electromagnetic Property of Quark Matter

We investigate the $P_T$-broadening effects in dilepton production through photon-photon scattering in heavy ion collisions. The QED multiple interaction effects with the medium is found to be consistent with a recent observation of low transverse momentum lepton pair from ATLAS collaboration at the LHC. We further comment on the magnetic effects and point out a number of ways to disentangle these two mechanisms. In particular, the rapidity dependence of the $P_T$-broadening effects provide a unique probe to the magnetic effects.

hep-ph

Exclusive vector meson production at an electron-ion collider

Coherent exclusive vector meson electroproduction is a key physics channel at an electron-ion collider. It probes the gluon structure of nuclei over a wide range of $Q^2$, and can be used to measure nuclear shadowing and to search for gluon saturation and/or the colored glass condensate. In this paper, we present calculations of the kinematic distributions for a variety of exclusive vector meson final states: the $ρ$, $ϕ$, J/$ψ$, $ψ'$ and the $Υ$ states. The cross-sections for light and $c\overline c$ mesons are large, while $Υ$ states should be produced in moderate numbers at a medium energy EIC (the proposed U.S. designs) and in large numbers at the LHeC. We investigate the acceptances for these states, as a function of detector rapidity coverage. A large-acceptance detector is needed to cover the full range photon-nucleon collision energies produced at an EIC; a forward detector is required to observe vector mesons from the most energetic photon interactions, and thereby probe gluons at the lowest possible Bjorken-$x$ values.

nucl-ex

Study of High pT Muons in IceCube

Muons with a high transverse momentum (p_T) are produced in cosmic ray air showers via semileptonic decay of heavy quarks and the decay of high p_T kaons and pions. These high p_T muons have a large lateral separation from the shower core muon bundle. IceCube is well suited for the detection of high p_T muons. The surface shower array can determine the energy, core location and direction of the cosmic ray air shower while the in-ice array can reconstruct the energy and direction of the high p_T muon. This makes it possible to measure the decoherence function (lateral separation spectrum) at distances greater than 150 meters. The muon p_T can be determined from the muon energy (measured by dE/dx) and the lateral separation. The high p_T muon spectrum may also be calculated in a perturbative QCD framework; this spectrum is sensitive to the cosmic-ray composition.

astro-ph.HE

Coherent $ρ^0$ photoproduction in bulk matter at high energies

The momentum transfer $Δk$ required for a photon to scatter from a target and emerge as a $ρ^0$ decreases as the photon energy $k$ rises. For $k>3\times10^{14}$ eV, $Δk$ is small enough that the interaction cannot be localized to a single nucleus. At still higher energies, photons may coherently scatter elastically from bulk matter and emerge as a $ρ^0$, in a manner akin to kaon regeneration. Constructive interference from the different nuclei coherently raises the cross section and the interaction probability rises linearly with energy. At energies above $10^{23}$ eV, coherent conversion is the dominant process; photons interact predominantly as $ρ^0$. We compute the coherent scattering probabilities in slabs of lead, water and rock, and discuss the implications of the increased hadronic interaction probabilities for photons on ultra-high energy shower development.

nucl-th

Dark Matter in Nuclear Physics

This White Paper was prepared for the Nuclear Science Town Meeting on "Neutrinos, Neutrons and Fundamental Symmetries, held in Chicago on Jan. 17-19, 2007.

nucl-ex

Photoproduction of $J/ψ$ and $Υ$ in pp and $\bar{p}p$ Collisions

Exclusive vector meson photoproduction, $pp\to ppV$ and $\bar pp\to\bar ppV$ occurs with significant rates at hadron colliders. The reaction can be used to study the gluon distribution of protons. Vector mesons may be produced with either proton as a target; because of interference between the two production channels, the $p_T$ spectra of vector mesons produced in $pp$ and $\bar pp$ collisions are quite different. Because of the unique event signature, vector meson photoproduction can be separated from hadroproduction events, despite the small ratio of cross sections. We consider production of $J/ψ$ and $Υ$ at RHIC, the Tevatron and the LHC.

hep-ph

Ultra-Peripheral Collisions with STAR at RHIC

The strong electromagnetic fields of heavy nuclei can produce a wide variety of two-photon and photonuclear reactions at relativistic ion colliders. We present recent results from the STAR collaboration on these `ultra-peripheral' interactions, focusing on vector meson production and interferometry, and on $e^+e^-$ pair production. The vector meson interferometry occurs because of the symmetric initial state: nucleus 1 can emit a photon which scatters from nucleus 2, emerging as a vector meson, or vice-versa. The two processes are indistinguishable, and so interfere, even though the production points are separated enough that the produced mesons decay before their wave functions can overlap, so the system can be used for interesting tests of quantum mechanics.

nucl-ex

Deuteron Photodissociation in Ultraperipheral Relativistic Heavy-Ion on Deuteron Collisions

In ultraperipheral relativistic deuteron on heavy-ion collisions, a photon emitted from the heavy nucleus may dissociate the deuterium ion. We find deuterium breakup cross sections of 1.38 barns for deuterium-gold collisions at a center of mass energy of 200 GeV per nucleon, as studied at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, and 2.49 barns for deuterium-lead collisions at a center of mass energy of 6.2 TeV, as proposed for the Large Hadron Collider. This cross section includes an energy-independent 140 mb contribution from hadronic diffractive dissociation. At the LHC, the cross section is as large as that of hadronic interactions. The estimated error is 5%. Deuteron dissociation could be used as a luminosity monitor and a `tag' for moderate impact parameter collisions.

nucl-ex

Observation of $Au + Au \to Au + Au + ρ^0$ and $Au + Au \to Au^* + Au^* + ρ^0$ with STAR

We report the first observation of the reactions $Au + Au \to Au + Au + ρ^0$ and $Au + Au \to Au^* + Au^* + ρ^0$ with the STAR detector. The $ρ$ are produced at small perpendicular momentum, as expected if they couple coherently to both nuclei. We discuss models of vector meson production and the correlation with nuclear breakup, and present a fundamental test of quantum mechanics that is possible with the system.

nucl-ex

Exclusive Vector Meson Production in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

Exclusive vector meson production reactions such as $Au + Au \to Au + Au + V$, where $V=ρ, ω, ϕ$ or $J/ψ$ can proceed through photon-Pomeron and photon-meson interactions. Photons from the electromagnetic field of one nucleus interact coherently with the other nucleus. Photonuclear cross sections are scaled from $γp$ data, and convoluted with the photon spectrum to find the exclusive rates. The cross sections at the RHIC and LHC heavy ion colliders are huge, 10% of the total hadronic cross section at RHIC, and 50% at LHC. These accelerators may be useful as vector meson factories. With iodine beams at RHIC, 640 $ρ$ are produced each second (10^{10}/year); with calcium at the LHC the rate is 240 kHz. The $ϕ$ rates are 39 Hz at RHIC and 15 kHz at LHC, while the $J/ψ$ rate is 0.3 Hz at RHIC and 780 Hz at the LHC. Because of the coherent couplings, the reactions kinematics are similar to coherent two-photon interactions; we discuss the interplay between the two reactions.

hep-ph

Two-Photon Physics in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions at RHIC

Ultra-relativistic heavy-ions carry strong electromagnetic and nuclear fields. Interactions between these fields in peripheral nucleus-nucleus collisions can probe many interesting physics topics. This presentation will focus on coherent two-photon and photonuclear processes at RHIC. The rates for these interactions will be high. The coherent coupling of all the protons in the nucleus enhances the equivalent photon flux by a factor Z^2 up to an energy of ~3 GeV. The plans for studying coherent interactions with the STAR experiment will be discussed. Experimental techniques for separating signal from background will be presented.

nucl-ex

Coherent Photons and Pomerons in Heavy Ion Collisions

Ultrarelativistic heavy ion beams carry large electromagnetic and strong absorptive fields, allowing exploration of a variety of physics. Two-photon, photon-Pomeron, and double Pomeron interactions can probe a huge variety of couplings and final states. RHIC will be the first heavy ion accelerator energetic enough to produce hadronic final states via coherent couplings. Virtual photons from the nuclear EM fields can interact in two-photon interactions, which can be exploited to study many particle spectroscopy and QCD topics. Because the photon flux scales as $Z^2$, Two-photon luminosities are large up to an energy of about γ\hbar c/R~ 3 GeV/c. Photon-Pomeron interactions are sensitive to how different vector mesons, including the $J/ψ$, interact with nuclear matter. $PP$ collisions rates are sensitive to the range of the Pomeron. Signals can be separated from backgrounds by using cuts on final state isolation (rapidity gaps) and $p_\perp$. We present Monte Carlo studies of different backgrounds, showing that representative signals can be extracted with good rates and signal to noise ratios.

nucl-th

The Gold Flashlight: Coherent Photons (and Pomerons) at RHIC

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) will be the first heavy ion accelerator energetic enough to produce hadronic final states via coherent \gamgam, \gampom, and \pompom interactions. Because the photon flux scales as $Z^2$, up to an energy of about $γ\hbar c/R\approx 3$ GeV/c, the \gamgam\ interaction rates are large. RHIC $γP$ interactions test how Pomerons couple to nuclei and measure how different vector mesons, including the $J/ψ$, interact with nuclear matter. $PP$ collisions can probe Pomeron couplings. Because these collisions can involve identical initial states, for identical final states, the \gamgam, \gampom, and \pompom channels may interfere, producing new effects. We review the physics of these interactions and discuss how these signals can be detected experimentally, in the context of the STAR detector. Signals can be separated from backgrounds by using isolation cuts (rapidity gaps) and $p_\perp$. We present Monte Carlo studies of different backgrounds, showing that representative signals can be extracted with good rates and signal to noise ratios.

hep-ph