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Tapan K. Nayak

Publications and source records attributed to Tapan K. Nayak.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Experiments at the CERN SPS: first signals of deconfinement

Heavy-ion experiments at the CERN SPS began in the mid-1980s to study nuclear matter at extreme temperatures and densities. The program started with light ions, such as oxygen and sulphur, at energies of 60A GeV and 200A GeV, later advancing to lead ions at 158A GeV. A series of experiments, employing novel detector technologies, explored various signatures of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation. In February 2000, these results led CERN to announce evidence for the QGP formation. Subsequently, an energy scan was conducted with lead ions from 20A GeV to 158A GeV, to locate the threshold of QGP creation.

nucl-ex↗

A Scalable NorthPole System with End-to-End Vertical Integration for Low-Latency and Energy-Efficient LLM Inference

A vertically integrated, end-to-end, research prototype system combines 288 NorthPole neural inference accelerator cards, offline training algorithms, a high-performance runtime stack, and a containerized inference pipeline to deliver a scalable and efficient cloud inference service. The system delivers 115 peta-ops at 4-bit integer precision and 3.7 PB/s of memory bandwidth across 18 2U servers, while consuming only 30 kW of power and weighing 730 kg in a 0.67 m^2 42U rack footprint. The system can run 3 simultaneous instances of the 8-billion-parameter open-source IBM Granite-3.3-8b-instruct model at 2,048 context length with 28 simultaneous users and a per-user inter-token latency of 2.8 ms. The system is scalable, modular, and reconfigurable, supporting various model sizes and context lengths, and is ideal for deploying agentic workflows for enterprise AI applications in existing data center (cloud, on-prem) environments. For example, the system can support 18 instances of a 3-billion-parameter model or a single instance of a 70-billion-parameter model.

cs.DC↗

Centrality, transverse momentum and collision energy dependence of the Tsallis parameters in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The thermodynamic properties of matter created in high-energy heavy-ion collisions have been studied in the framework of the non-extensive Tsallis statistics. The transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$)~spectra of identified charged particles (pions, kaons, protons) and all charged particles from the available experimental data of Au-Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) energies and Pb-Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies are fitted by the Tsallis distribution. The fit parameters, $q$ and $T$ measure the degree of deviation from an equilibrium state and the effective temperature of the thermalized system, respectively. The $p_{\rm T}$~spectra are well described by the Tsallis distribution function from peripheral to central collisions for the wide range of collision energies, from $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 7.7 GeV to 5.02 TeV. The extracted Tsallis parameters are found to be dependent on the particle species, collision energy, centrality, and fitting ranges in $p_{\rm T}$. For central collisions, both $q$ and $T$ depend strongly on the fit ranges in $p_{\rm T}$. For most of the collision energies, $q$ remains almost constant as a function of centrality, whereas $T$ increases from peripheral to central collisions. For a given centrality, $q$ systematically increases as a function of collision energy whereas $T$ has a decreasing trend. A profile plot of $q$ and $T$ with respect to collision energy and centrality shows an anti-correlation between the two parameters.

hep-ph↗

Multiplicity and pseudorapidity density distributions of charged particles produced in pp, pA and AA collisions at RHIC \& LHC energies

Multiplicity and pseudorapidity ($η$) density ($dN_{\rm ch}/dη$) distributions of charged hadrons provide key information towards understanding the particle production mechanisms and initial conditions of high-energy heavy-ion collisions. However, detector constraints limit the $η$-range across which charged particle measurements can be carried out. Extrapolating the measured distributions to large $η$-range by parameterizing measured distributions and by using calculations from event generators, we characterize the production of charged particles over the full kinematic range. In the present study, we use three different ans$\ddot{\mathrm a}$tze to obtain quantitative descriptions of the shape of pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons produced in pp, p-A, and A-A collisions for beam energies ($\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$) ranging from a few GeV to a few TeV corresponding to RHIC and LHC energies. We study the limiting fragmentation behavior in these collisions and report evidence for participant-scaling violations in high-energy collisions at the TeV scale. We additionally examine measured pseudorapidity distributions to constrain models describing initial conditions of particle production. We predict the centrality dependence of charged particle multiplicity distributions at FAIR and NICA energies and give an estimation of charged particle multiplicity at $η=0$ for the proposed HE-LHC and FCC energies.

nucl-ex↗

Probing the QCD phase structure using event-by-event fluctuations

Heavy-ion collisions at relativistic energies probe matter at extreme conditions of temperatures and energy densities. The study of event-by-event fluctuations of experimental observables is crucial to probe the QCD phase transition, locate the critical point, and learn about the associated critical phenomena. At the critical point, all thermodynamic quantities behave anomalously. Fluctuation measurements provide access to thermodynamic response functions. We discuss the methods for obtaining the isothermal compressibility using particle multiplicity fluctuation, and specific heat using fluctuations in mean transverse momentum, temperature, and energy. Lattice QCD calculations have predicted non-monotonic behavior in the higher-order cumulants of conserved quantities at the critical point. Fluctuations in the multiplicity of charged to neutral particles have been measured to understand the formation of domains of disoriented chiral condensates. We review the recent fluctuation results as a function of collision centrality and energy from experiments at SPS, RHIC, and LHC. In addition, we propose to map the temperature fluctuations in eta-phi plane to probe local fluctuations of temperature and energy density.

nucl-ex↗

Fabrication and beam test of a silicon-tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter

A silicon-tungsten (Si-W) sampling calorimeter, consisting of 19 alternate layers of silicon pad detectors (individual pad area of 1~cm$^2$) and tungsten absorbers (each of one radiation length), has been constructed for measurement of electromagnetic showers over a large energy range. The signal from each of the silicon pads is readout using an ASIC with a dynamic range from $-300$~fC to $+500$~fC. Another ASIC with a larger dynamic range, $\pm 600$~fC has been used as a test study. The calorimeter was exposed to pion and electron beams at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) to characterise the response to minimum ionising particles (MIP) and showers from electromagnetic (EM) interactions. Pion beams of 120 GeV provided baseline measurements towards the understanding of the MIP behaviour in the silicon pad layers, while electron beams of energy from 5 GeV to 60 GeV rendered detailed shower profiles within the calorimeter. The energy deposition in each layer, the longitudinal shower profile, and the total energy deposition have been measured for each incident electron energy. Linear behaviour of the total measured energy ($E$) with that of the incident particle energy ($E_{0}$) ensured satisfactory calorimetric performance. For a subset of the data sample, selected based on the cluster position of the electromagnetic shower of the incident electron, the dependence of the measured energy resolution on $E_{0}$ has been found to be $σ/E = (15.36/\sqrt{E_0(\mathrm{GeV)}} \oplus 2.0) \%$.

physics.ins-det↗

Optimization of multi-gigabit transceivers for high speed data communication links in HEP Experiments

The scheme of the data acquisition (DAQ) architecture in High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments consist of data transport from the front-end electronics (FEE) of the online detectors to the readout units (RU), which perform online processing of the data, and then to the data storage for offline analysis. With major upgrades of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments at CERN, the data transmission rates in the DAQ systems are expected to reach a few TB/sec within the next few years. These high rates are normally associated with the increase in the high-frequency losses, which lead to distortion in the detected signal and degradation of signal integrity. To address this, we have developed an optimization technique of the multi-gigabit transceiver (MGT) and implemented it on the state-of-the-art 20nm Arria-10 FPGA manufactured by Intel Inc. The setup has been validated for three available high-speed data transmission protocols, namely, GBT, TTC-PON and 10 Gbps Ethernet. The improvement in the signal integrity is gauged by two metrics, the Bit Error Rate (BER) and the Eye Diagram. It is observed that the technique improves the signal integrity and reduces BER. The test results and the improvements in the metrics of signal integrity for different link speeds are presented and discussed.

physics.ins-det↗

Characteristic study of a quadruple GEM detector and its comparison with a triple GEM detector

A quadruple GEM detector has been assembled in a standalone configuration and operated using Ar and CO$_2$ gas mixtures in proportions of 70:30 and 90:10. Detailed performance study of the detector has been made by using $^{106}$Ru-Rh $β$-source and X-ray spectrum of $^{55}$Fe source. Results of these measurements are presented in terms of gain, efficiency, energy and time resolutions and also compared with our earlier triple GEM results. The energy resolution has been found to be somewhat worse compared with that of the triple-GEM detector. Effect of drift field on electron transparency and time resolution has been studied in detail.

physics.ins-det↗

Isothermal compressibility of hadronic matter formed in relativistic nuclear collisions

We present the first estimates of isothermal compressibility (\kT) of hadronic matter formed in relativistic nuclear collisions ($\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 7.7$ GeV to 2.76~TeV) using experimentally observed quantities. \kT~is related to the fluctuation in particle multiplicity, temperature, and volume of the system formed in the collisions. Multiplicity fluctuations are obtained from the event-by-event distributions of charged particle multiplicities in narrow centrality bins. The dynamical components of the fluctuations are extracted by removing the contributions to the fluctuations from the number of participating nucleons. From the available experimental data, a constant value of \kT~has been observed as a function of collision energy. The results are compared with calculations from UrQMD, AMPT, and EPOS event generators, and estimations of \kT~are made for Pb-Pb collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. A hadron resonance gas (HRG) model has been used to calculate \kT~as a function of collision energy. Our results show a decrease in \kT~at low collision energies to \sNN~$\sim$~20~GeV, beyond which the \kT~values remain almost constant.

nucl-ex↗

Measurement of basic characteristics and gain uniformity of a triple GEM detector

Large area Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors have been the preferred choice for tracking devices in major nuclear and particle physics experiments. Uniformity over surface of the detector in terms of gain, energy resolution and efficiency is crucial for the optimum performance of these detectors. In the present work, detailed performance study of a 10x10 cm^2 triple GEM detector operated using Ar and CO_2 gas mixtures in proportions of 70:30 and 90:10, has been made by making a voltage scan of the efficiency with 106^Ru-Rh beta-source and cosmic rays. The gain and energy resolution of the detector were studied using the X-ray spectrum of 55^Fe source. The uniformity of the detector has been investigated by dividing the detector in 7x7 zones and measuring the gain and energy resolution at the center of each zone. The variations of the gain and energy resolution have been found to be 8.8% and 6.7%, respectively. These studies are essential to characterise GEM detectors before their final use in the experiments.

physics.ins-det↗

Diagonal and off-diagonal susceptibilities of conserved quantities in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Susceptibilities of conserved quantities, such as baryon number, strangeness and electric charge are sensitive to the onset of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) phase transition and are expected to provide information on the matter produced in heavy-ion collision experiments. A comprehensive study of the second-order diagonal susceptibilities and cross correlations has been made within a thermal model approach of the hadron resonance gas (HRG) model as well as with a hadronic transport model, UrQMD. We perform a detailed analysis of the effect of detector acceptances and choice of particle species in the experimental measurements of the susceptibilities for heavy-ion collisions corresponding to \sNN = 4 GeV to 200 GeV. The transverse momentum cutoff dependence of suitably normalised susceptibilities are proposed as useful observables to probe the properties of the medium at freezeout.

nucl-ex↗

Specific Heat of Matter Formed in Relativistic Nuclear Collisions

We report the excitation energy dependence of specific heat (\cv) of hadronic matter at freeze-out in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider energies by analyzing the published data on event-by-event mean transverse momentum (\meanpt) distributions. The \meanpt~distributions in finite \pt~ranges are converted to distributions of effective temperatures, and dynamical fluctuations in temperature are extracted by subtracting widths of the corresponding mixed event distributions. The heat capacity per particle at the kinetic freeze-out surface is presented as a function of collision energy, which shows a sharp rise in \cv~below \sNN~=~62.4~GeV. We employ the Hadron Resonance Gas (HRG) model to estimate \cv~at the chemical and kinetic freeze-out surfaces. The experimental results are compared to the HRG and other theoretical model calculations. HRG results show good agreement with data. Model predictions for \cv~at the Large Hadron Collider energy are presented.

nucl-ex↗

Fluctuations in Charged Particle Multiplicities in Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

Multiplicity distributions of charged particles and their event-by-event fluctuations have been compiled for relativistic heavy-ion collisions from the available experimental data at Brookhaven National Laboratory and CERN and also by the use of an event generator. Multiplicity fluctuations are sensitive to QCD phase transition and to the presence of critical point in the QCD phase diagram. In addition, multiplicity fluctuations provide baselines for other event-by-event measurements. Multiplicity fluctuation expressed in terms of the scaled variance of the multiplicity distribution is an intensive quantity, but is sensitive to the volume fluctuation of the system. The importance of the choice of narrow centrality bins and the corrections of centrality bin width effect for controlling volume fluctuations have been discussed. It is observed that the mean and width of the multiplicity distributions monotonically increase as a function of increasing centrality at all collision energies, whereas the multiplicity fluctuations show minimal variations with centrality. The beam energy dependence shows that the multiplicity fluctuations have a slow rise at lower collision energies and remain constant at higher energies.

nucl-ex↗

Beam energy dependence of pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles produced in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC energies

Heavy-ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN probe matter at extreme conditions of temperature and energy density. Most of the global properties of the collisions can be extracted from the measurements of charged particle multiplicity and pseudorapidity ($η$) distributions. We have shown that the available experimental data on beam energy and centrality dependence of \Eta-distributions in heavy-ion (Au+Au or Pb+Pb) collisions from \sNN=7.7 GeV to 2.76 TeV are reasonably well described by the AMPT model, which is used for further exploration. The nature of the \Eta-distributions has been described by a double Gaussian function using a set of fit parameters, which exhibit a regular pattern as a function of beam energy. By extrapolating the parameters to a higher energy of \sNN~=~5.02 TeV, we have obtained the charged particle multiplicity densities, \Eta-distributions and energy densities for various centralities. Incidentally, these results match well with some of the recently published data by the ALICE collaboration.

nucl-ex↗

Characterization of relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider through temperature fluctuations

We propose to characterize heavy-ion collisions at ultra-relativistic energies by using fluctuations of energy density and temperature. Temperature fluctuations on an event-by-event basis have been studied both in terms of global temperature of the event, and locally by constructing fluctuation maps in small phase space bins in each event. Global temperature fluctuations provide an estimation of the specific heat of the system. Local temperature fluctuations of the event may be ascribed to the remnants of initial energy density fluctuations. Together these two observables give an insight into the system created in heavy-ion collisions and its evolution. Event-by-event hydrodynamic calculations indeed provide adequate theoretical basis for understanding the origin of the fluctuations. We demonstrate the feasibility of studying global and local temperature fluctuations at the Large Hadron Collider energy by the use of AMPT event generator.

nucl-ex↗

Study of dynamical charge fluctuations in the hadronic medium

The dynamical charge fluctuations have been studied in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions by using hadronic model simulations, such as UrQMD and HIJING. The evolution of fluctuations has been calculated at different time steps during the collision as well as different observation window in pseudorapidity (\DelEta). The final state effects on the fluctuations have been investigated by varying $\bigtriangleupη$~ and the time steps with the aim of obtaining an optimum observation window for capturing maximum fluctuations. It is found that $\bigtriangleupη$~ between 2.0 and 3.5 gives the best coverage for the fluctuations studies. The results of these model calculations for Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$~=~7.7 to 200~GeV and for Pb+Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV are presented and compared with available experimental data from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

nucl-th↗

Test and characterization of a prototype silicon-tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter

New generation high-energy physics experiments demand high precision tracking and accurate measurements of a large number of particles produced in the collisions of lementary particles and heavy-ions. Silicon-tungsten (Si-W) calorimeters provide the most viable technological option to meet the requirements of particle detection in high multiplicity environments. We report a novel Si-W calorimeter design, which is optimized for $γ/π^0$ discrimination up to high momenta. In order to test the feasibility of the calorimeter, a prototype mini-tower was constructed using silicon pad detector arrays and tungsten layers. The performance of the mini-tower was tested using pion and electron beams at the CERN Proton Synchrotron (PS). The experimental results are compared with the results from a detailed GEANT-4 simulation. A linear relationship between the observed energy deposition and simulated response of the mini-tower has been obtained, in line with our expectations.

physics.ins-det↗

Maps of the Little Bangs Through Energy Density and Temperature Fluctuations

In this letter we propose for the first time to map the heavy-ion collisions at ultra-relativistic energies, similar to the maps of the cosmic microwave background radiation, using fluctuations of energy density and temperature in small phase space bins. We study the evolution of fluctuations at each stage of the collision using an event-by-event hydrodynamic framework. We demonstrate the feasibility of making fluctuation maps from experimental data and its usefulness in extracting considerable information regarding the early stages of the collision and its evolution.

nucl-th↗