Signatures of QGP at RHIC and the LHC

The progress over the 30 years since the first high-energy heavy-ion collisions at the BNL-AGS and CERN-SPS has been truly remarkable. Rigorous experimental and theoretical studies have revealed a new state of the matter in heavy-ion collisions, the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Many signatures supporting the formation of the QGP have been reported. Among them are jet quenching, the non-viscous flow, direct photons, and Debye screening effects. In this article, selected signatures of the QGP observed at RHIC and the LHC are reviewed.

Direct Photons from Hot Quark Matter in Renormalized Finite-Time-Path QED

Within the finite-time-path out-of-equilibrium quantum field theory (QFT), we calculate direct photon emission from early stages of heavy ion collisions, from a narrow window, in which uncertainty relations are still important and they provide a new mechanism for production of photons. The basic difference with respect to earlier calculations, leading to diverging results, is that we use renormalized QED of quarks and photons. Our result is a finite contribution that is consistent with uncertainty relations.

Reconstruction of neutral-triggered charged recoil jets in √s = 200 GeV p+p collisions at the STAR experiment

Jets — collimated sprays of hadrons — are produced by hard-scattered partons during the early stages of heavy ion collisions. Hence, they provide a valuable probe of the complex multi-particle dynamics within the hot, dense medium produced in such collisions. In particular, the study of jets recoiling from direct photons (γdir+jet) and those recoiling from energetic π0 (π0+jet) may shed light on the path-length and initial flavor (quark vs. gluon) dependence of the energy-loss experienced by a parton as it traverses the medium. We present here measurements of the yields of charged recoil jets tagged by γdir and π0 in p+p collisions at √S = 200 GeV. These measurements will serve as a vacuum fragmentation reference for an upcoming measurement in Au + Au collisions.

Thermal photons at PHENIX experiment

Direct photons are a unique probe to study the properties of the medium created in heavy ion collisions. In particular low pT direct photons are of great importance since one expects that they are predominantly of thermal origin. In A+A systems PHENIX has observed a large yield of low pT direct photon that are emitted with a significant azimuthal anisotropy with respect to the reaction plane (v2). The mechanism responsible for the large yield and large v2 is not understood yet. Following recent evidence for collective behavior of charged particle production from small systems like p+A, d+Au, and 3He+Au, PHENIX has made systematic measurements of direct pho- tons with different collision energies and system configurations. It has been found that the low pT direct photon yield dNγ/dη is proportional to (dNch/dη)α. This behavior holds for beam energies measured both at RHIC and at the LHC in large-on-large systems, while data from small systems suggest an onset of QGP formation at low dNch/dα. In this talk, I will report recent measurements of thermal photon and related observables.

Direct Photons at the PHENIX Experiment: From Large to Small Systems

Direct photons are a unique probe to study the properties of the medium created in heavy ion collisions. Low transverse momentum ( p T ) direct photons are of special interest since thermal photons are supposed to be dominant, while at high p T direct photons come from initial hard scattering (pQCD). PHENIX has observed a large excess of direct photon yield as well as large azimuthal anisotropy at low p T in Au+Au collisions at the c.m.s energy per nucleon pair s N N = 200 GeV. The mechanism to produce a large direct photon yield with a large elliptic anisotropy ( v 2 ) is not well understood yet. PHENIX has made systematic measurements of direct photons with different collision energies and system configurations. It has been found that direct photon yield d N γ / d η is proportional to charge particle multiplicity ( d N c h / d η ) 1 . 25 . This behavior holds for beam energies measured both at RHIC and at the LHC in large systems. This scaling suggests that there is a transition from p+p to A+A system which could be understood with the analysis of smaller systems like p+Au and d+Au.

Direct Photon Measurements with the ALICE Experiment at the LHC

In high-energy hadron collisions, direct photons can be produced in various processes andare of particular interest to study the hot QCD medium since they escape it without being affected.These proceedings present the latest ALICE experiment results concerning direct photon productionin proton-proton (pp), proton-lead (p–Pb) and lead-lead (Pb–Pb) collisions. All measurements agreewith pQCD calculations at high transverse momentum (pT) and show no direct photon excess at lowpT in small systems while a low-pT signal is found in central Pb–Pb collisions.