Elliptic flow of light nuclei in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV

Abstract

We present the elliptic flow ($v_2$) of light nuclei at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV. The results are measured in the STAR experiment at RHIC. The $v_2$ measurement for light nuclei as a function of transverse momentum $p_T$ is found to follow an approximate atomic mass number ($A$) scaling. We compare the measured nuclei $v_2$ to results from a dynamical coalescence model calculation. The $v_2$ values for light nuclei are further scaled to the number of constituent quarks (NCQ) of their constituent nucleons and are consistent with NCQ scaled $v_2$ for baryons and mesons. The dominance of partonic collectivity in the transverse expansion dynamics in these collisions naturally produces such a consistent picture. Similar to other hadrons, an increase of $p_T$-integrated $v_2$ scaled by the participant eccentricity as a function of collision centrality has been observed.

arXiv comment4 pages, 6 figures, To appear in the proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Physics and Astrophysics of Quark Gluon Plasma (ICPAQGP 2010)

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