A Reaction Plane Detector for PHENIX at RHIC

Abstract

A plastic scintillator paddle detector with embedded fiber light guides and photomultiplier tube readout, referred to as the Reaction Plane Detector (RXNP), was designed and installed in the PHENIX experiment prior to the 2007 run of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The RXNP's design is optimized to accurately measure the reaction plane (RP) angle of heavy-ion collisions, where, for mid-central $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions, it achieved a $2^{nd}$ harmonic RP resolution of $\sim$0.75, which is a factor of $\sim$2 greater than PHENIX's previous capabilities. This improvement was accomplished by locating the RXNP in the central region of the PHENIX experiment, where, due to its large coverage in pseudorapidity ($1.0<|\eta |<2.8$) and $\varphi$ (2$\pi$), it is exposed to the high particle multiplicities needed for an accurate RP measurement. To enhance the observed signal, a 2-cm Pb converter is located between the nominal collision region and the scintillator paddles, allowing neutral particles produced in the heavy-ion collisions to contribute to the signal through conversion electrons. This paper discusses the design, operation and performance of the RXNP during the 2007 RHIC run.

28 authors from 10 institutions, 24 pages, 16 figures and 3 tables. Published in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A

References in corpus (5)

• Scaling properties of azimuthal anisotropy in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV
• System-size independence of directed flow at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider
• Azimuthal anisotropy of neutral pion production in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV: Path-length dependence of jet quenching and the role of initial geometry
• A Detailed Study of High-pT Neutral Pion Suppression and Azimuthal Anisotropy in Au+Au Collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV
• Suppression of away-side jet fragments with respect to the reaction plane in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV

Cited by in corpus (17)

• Measurements of Higher-Order Flow Harmonics in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV
• Observation of direct-photon collective flow in sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV Au+Au collisions
• Measurement of long-range angular correlation and quadrupole anisotropy of pions and (anti)protons in central $d$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{}_{NN}}}$=200 GeV
• Neutral pion production with respect to centrality and reaction plane in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV
• Azimuthally anisotropic emission of low-momentum direct photons in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{}_{NN}}}=200$ GeV
• Transverse energy production and charged-particle multiplicity at midrapidity in various systems from $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=7.7$ to 200 GeV
• Measurement of higher cumulants of net-charge multiplicity distributions in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{}_{NN}}}=7.7-200$ GeV
• Deviation from quark-number scaling of the anisotropy parameter v_2 of pions, kaons, and protons in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV
• The STAR Event Plane Detector
• Measurement of the higher-order anisotropic flow coefficients for identified hadrons in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{}_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV
• Systematic study of charged-pion and kaon femtoscopy in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{}_{NN}}}$=200 GeV
• Azimuthal anisotropy of pi^0 and eta mesons in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV
• Measurement of two-particle correlations with respect to second- and third-order event planes in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{}_{NN}}}=200$ GeV
• Suppression of away-side jet fragments with respect to the reaction plane in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV
• Direct photons in Au+Au collisions measured with the PHENIX detector at RHIC
• Heavy-quark production and elliptic flow in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{}_{NN}}}=62.4$ GeV
• Neutral pion production in Au+Au collisions at RHIC