New Results From Ags Heavy Ion Experiments

We review the most recent data from Experiments 802, 810 and 814 of the heavy-ion program at the Brookhaven Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS).

High-energy collisions of heavy ions provide a means to study QCD in a regime of high parton density, and may provide insight into its phme structure. Results from the four experiments at RHIC (BRAHMS, PHENIX, PHOBOS and STAR) are presented, and placed in context with the lower energy data from the AGS and SPS accelerators. The focus is on the insights these measurements provide into the time history of the collision process. Taken together, the data point to the creation of a deconfined state of matter that forms quickly, expands rapidly and freezes out suddenly. With the new RHIC data, systematic data now exists for heavy ion collisions as a function of (square root)s over several orders of magnitude and as a function of impact parameter. These data test the interplay between hard and soft processes in a large-volume system where nucleons are struck multiple times. The data is consistent with creating a deconfined state (jet quenching) that forms quickly (saturation models), expands rapidly (radial and elliptic flow) and freezes out suddenly (single freezeout and blast wave fits). There are also intriguing connections with particle production in elementary systems, which point to the role of the energy available for particle production on the features of the final state. Many in this field are optimistic that the careful understanding of this experimental data may lead t o the theoretical breakthroughs that will connect these complex systems to the fundamental lattice predict ions.

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The universal motivation for colliding large nuclei at relativistic energies is the expectation that a small volume of the primordial quark soup, generally referred to as the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), can be created and studied. The QGP is formed via a phase transition caused by either the extreme baryon densities and/or the extreme temperatures achieved in the overlap zone of the two colliding nuclei. Experiments at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) using a beam of Si nuclei at 14.6 GeV per nucleon on various nuclear targets have been completed. These same experiments are now actively searching for signatures of QGP formation using a beam of Au nuclei at 11.7 GeV per nucleon. This paper briefly summarizes some of the key results from the Si beam program and the current status of the experimental Au beam program at the AGS.

This book represents the proceedings of a symposium held during the centennial meeting of the American Physical Society. It covers the latest results in experimental heavy ion physics from the Alternating Gradient Accelerator in the US and the SpS at CERN, and summarizes the current theoretical and experimental state of the field before the commissioning of RHIC. Among the highlights are the theoretical predictions made for what the experimentalists will see in the high temperature matter expected to be formed at the new machine.

This book attempts to cover the fascinating field of physics of relativistic heavy ions, mainly from the experimentalist's point of view. After the introductory chapter on quantum chromodynamics, basic properties of atomic nuclei, sources of relativistic nuclei, and typical detector set-ups are described in three subsequent chapters. Experimental facts on collisions of relativistic heavy ions are systematically presented in 15 consecutive chapters, starting from the simplest features like cross sections, multiplicities, and spectra of secondary particles and going to more involved characteristics like correlations, various relatively rare processes, and newly discovered features: collective flow, high pT suppression and jet quenching. Some entirely new topics are included, such as the difference between neutron and proton radii in nuclei, heavy hypernuclei, and electromagnetic effects on secondary particle spectra.Phenomenological approaches and related simple models are discussed in parallel with the presentation of experimental data. Near the end of the book, recent ideas about the new state of matter created in collisions of ultrarelativistic nuclei are discussed. In the final chapter, some predictions are given for nuclear collisions in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), now in construction at the site of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva. Finally, the appendix gives us basic notions of relativistic kinematics, and lists the main international conferences related to this field. A concise reference book on physics of relativistic heavy ions, it shows the present status of this field.

During the past year, the Pittsburgh group has continued to work with the E814 collaboration in carrying out AGS Experiment 814. We present here a brief history of the experiment, followed by a detailed report of the analysis work being pursued at the University of Pittsburgh. As originally proposed, Experiment 814 is a study of both extreme peripheral collisions and the transition from peripheral to central collisions in relativistic heavy ion-nucleus interactions. We are studying relativistic heavy ion interactions with nuclei in two types of collisions: (a) extreme peripheral collisions of large impact parameter, and (b) central collisions with high transverse energy in the final state. The experiment emphasizes the measurement of overall event characteristics, in particular energy flow measurements and a precise measurement of the particle charge, momentum, and energy in the forward direction. This permits measurements of cross sections and rapidity densities as a function of the transverse energy for leading baryons emitted into regions of larger rapidity. Combining the energy flow measurements as a function of rapidity with the spectra of leading baryons provides information on the impact parameter dependence of the nuclear stopping of the projectile in relativistic heavy ion collisions. In 1988, the scope of Experiment 814 was enlarged to include a search for strange matter in central collisions, the first results of which have been published, and analysis on a longer run taken in 1990 is still under way.