A study is reported of the same- and opposite-sign charge-dependent azimuthal correlations with respect to the event plane in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV. The charge multiplicity asymmetries between the up/down and left/right hemispheres relative to the event plane are utilized. The contributions from statistical fluctuations and detector effects were subtracted from the (co-)variance of the observed charge multiplicity asymmetries. In the mid- to most-central collisions, the same- (opposite-) sign pairs are preferentially emitted in back-to-back (aligned on the same-side) directions. The charge separation across the event plane, measured by the difference, Δ, between the like- and unlike-sign up/down-left/right correlations, is largest near the event plane. The difference is found to be proportional to the event-by-event final-state particle ellipticity (via the observed second-order harmonic v2obs), where Δ=[1.3±1.4(stat)-1.0+4.0(syst)]×10- 5+[3.2±0.2(stat)-0.3+0.4(syst)]×10-3v2obs for 20-40% Au+Au collisions. The implications for the proposed chiral magnetic effect are discussed. © 2014 American Physical Society.

The QCD phase diagram lies at the heart of what the RHIC Physics Program is all about. While RHIC has been operating very successfully at or close to its maximum energy for almost a decade, it has become clear that this collider can also be operated at lower energies down to 5 GeV without extensive upgrades. An exploration of the full region of beam energies available at the RHIC facility is imperative. The STAR detector, due to its large uniform acceptance and excellent particle identification capabilities, is uniquely positioned to carry out this program in depth and detail. The first exploratory beam energy scan (BES) run at RHIC took place in 2010 (Run 10), since several STAR upgrades, most importantly a full barrel Time of Flight detector, are now completed which add new capabilities important for the interesting physics at BES energies. In this document we discuss current proposed measurements, with estimations of the accuracy of the measurements given an assumed event count at each beam energy.

Production of π0 and η mesons has been measured at midrapidity in Cu+Au collisions at sNN=200GeV. Measurements were performed in π0(η)→γγ decay channel in the 1(2)-20GeV/c transverse momentum range. A strong suppression is observed for π0 and η meson production at high transverse momentum in central Cu+Au collisions relative to the p+p results scaled by the number of nucleon-nucleon collisions. In central collisions the suppression is similar to Au+Au with comparable nuclear overlap. The η/π0 ratio measured as a function of transverse momentum is consistent with mT-scaling parametrization down to pT=2GeV/c, its asymptotic value is constant and consistent with Au+Au and p+p and does not show any significant dependence on collision centrality. Similar results were obtained in hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions as well as in e+e- collisions in a range of collision energies sNN=3-1800 GeV. This suggests that the quark-gluon-plasma medium produced in Cu+Cu collisions either does not affect the jet fragmentation into light mesons or it affects the π0 and η the same way.

STAR measurements of dihadron azimuthal correlations (Δφ) are reported in midcentral (20-60%) Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV as a function of the trigger particle's azimuthal angle relative to the event plane, φs=|φt-ψEP|. The elliptic (v2), triangular (v3), and quadratic (v4) flow harmonic backgrounds are subtracted using the zero yield at minimum (ZYAM) method. The results are compared to minimum-bias d+Au collisions. It is found that a finite near-side (|Δφ|<π/2) long-range pseudorapidity correlation (ridge) is present in the in-plane direction (φs∼0). The away-side (|Δφ|>π/2) correlation shows a modification from d+Au data, varying with φs. The modification may be a consequence of path-length-dependent jet quenching and may lead to a better understanding of high-density QCD. © 2014 American Physical Society.

The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has measured the differential cross section of φ(1020)-meson production at forward rapidity in p+p collisions at s=510 GeV via the dimuon decay channel. The partial cross section in the rapidity and pT ranges 1.2<|y|<2.2 and 2

We report a measurement of e+e- pairs from semileptonic heavy-flavor decays in d+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV. By exploring the mass and transverse-momentum dependence of the yield, the bottom decay contribution can be isolated from charm, and quantified by comparison to pythia and mc@nlo simulations. The resulting bb¯-production cross section is σbb¯dAu=1.37±0.28(stat)±0.46(syst) mb, which is equivalent to a nucleon-nucleon cross section of σbbNN=3.4±0.8(stat)±1.1(syst)μb.

Dihadron azimuthal correlations containing a high transverse momentum (pT) trigger particle are sensitive to the properties of the nuclear medium created at RHIC through the strong interactions occurring between the traversing parton and the medium, i.e. jet-quenching. Previous measurements revealed a strong modification to dihadron azimuthal correlations in Au+Au collisions with respect to p+p and d+Au collisions. The modification increases with the collision centrality, suggesting a path-length or energy density dependence to the jet-quenching effect. This paper reports STAR measurements of dihadron azimuthal correlations in mid-central (20%-60%) Au+Au collisions at GeV as a function of the trigger particle's azimuthal angle relative to the event plane, . The azimuthal correlation is studied as a function of both the trigger and associated particle . The subtractions of the combinatorial background and anisotropic flow, assuming Zero Yield At Minimum (ZYAM), are described. The correlation results are first discussed with subtraction of the even harmonic (elliptic and quadrangular) flow backgrounds. The away-side correlation is strongly modified, and the modification varies with , with a double-peak structure for out-of-plane trigger particles. The near-side ridge (long range pseudo-rapidity correlation) appears to drop with increasing while the jet-like component remains approximately constant. The correlation functions are further studied with the subtraction of odd harmonic triangular flow background arising from fluctuations. It is found that the triangular flow, while responsible for the majority of the amplitudes, is not sufficient to explain the -dependence of the ridge or the away-side double-peak structure. The dropping ridge with could be attributed to a -dependent elliptic anisotropy; however, the physics mechanism of the ridge remains an open question. Even with a -dependent elliptic flow, the away-side correlation structure is robust. These results, with extensive systematic studies of the dihadron correlations as a function of , trigger and associated particle , and the pseudo-rapidity range , should provide stringent inputs to help understand the underlying physics mechanisms of jet-medium interactions in high energy nuclear collisions.

The PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has measured second- and third-order Fourier coefficients of the azimuthal distributions of direct photons emitted at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV for various collision centralities. Combining two different analysis techniques, results were obtained in the transverse momentum range of 0.4

The PHENIX collaboration presents first measurements of low-momentum (0.41  GeV/c) direct-photon yield dN_{γ}^{dir}/dη is a smooth function of dN_{ch}/dη and can be well described as proportional to (dN_{ch}/dη)^{α} with α≈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.