Recent Results from PHENIX Experiment at RHIC: Exploring the QCD Medium
arXiv:1210.5295 · doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2011.05.021
Abstract
We review some important results from the PHENIX experiment at RHIC. They were obtained in a unique environment for studying QCD bulk matter at temperatures and densities that sur- pass the limits where hadrons exist as individual entities, so raising to prominence the quark- gluon degrees of freedom. We present measurements of nuclear modification factors for neutral pions, light favors (strange hadrons), direct-photons and non-photonic electrons from decays of particles carrying charm or beauty quarks. We interpret the large suppression of hadron produc- tion at high transverse momenta as resulting from a large energy loss by the precursor parton on its path through the dense matter, primarily driven by gluon radiation. This dense QCD matter responds to energy loss in a pattern consistent with that expected from a hydrodynamic fluid. Further, its elliptic flow measurements suggest that the hadronization of bulk partonic matter exhibits collectivity with effective partonic degrees of freedom. The results are shown as a function of transverse momentum, centrality in different collision systems and energies.
10 pages, 7 figures. The 6th International Conference on Physics and Astrophysics of Quark Gluon Plasma (ICPAQGP 2010) will take place during 6-10 December 2010 in Goa, India
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