Neutral Pion Production in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt sNN = 200 GeV

Journal Article · Fri Oct 23 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review C

OSTI ID:983037

Abelev, B I

The results of mid-rapidity (0 < y < 0.8) neutral pion spectra over an extended transverse momentum range (1 < p{sub T} < 12 GeV/c) in {radical}s{sub NN} = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions, measured by the STAR experiment, are presented. The neutral pions are reconstructed from photons measured either by the STAR Barrel Electro-Magnetic Calorimeter (BEMC) or by the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) via tracking of conversion electron-positron pairs. Our measurements are compared to previously published {pi}{sup {+-}} and {pi}{sup 0} results. The nuclear modification factors R{sub CP} and R{sub AA} of {pi}{sup 0} are also presented as a function of p{sub T}. In the most central Au+Au collisions, the binary collision scaled {pi}{sup 0} yield at high p{sub T} is suppressed by a factor of about 5 compared to the expectation from the yield of p+p collisions. Such a large suppression is in agreement with previous observations for light quark mesons and is consistent with the scenario that partons suffer considerable energy loss in the dense medium formed in central nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC.

• Research Organization: Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: Nuclear Science Division
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 983037
• Report Number(s): LBNL-3187E
• Journal Information: Physical Review C, Journal Name: Physical Review C
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
CALORIMETERS
MESONS
MODIFICATIONS
PHOTONS
PIONS
PRODUCTION
QUARKS
SPECTRA
TIME PROJECTION CHAMBERS
TRANSVERSE MOMENTUM