The gold flashlight: Coherent photons (and Pomerons) at RHIC
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., CA (United States). Nuclear Science Div.
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) will be the first heavy ion accelerator energetic enough to produce hadronic final states via coherent {gamma}{gamma}, {gamma}P, and PP interactions. Because the photon flux scales as Z{sup 2}, up to an energy of about {gamma}{h_bar}c/R {approx} 3 GeV/c, the {gamma}{gamma} interaction rates are large. RHIC {gamma}P interactions test how Pomerons couple to nuclei and measure how different vector mesons, including the J/{psi}, interact with nuclear matter. PP collisions can probe Pomeron couplings. Because these collisions can involve identical initial states, for identical final states, the {gamma}{gamma}, {gamma}P, and PP channels may interfere, producing new effects. The authors review the physics of these interactions and discuss how these signals can be detected experimentally, in the context of the STAR detector. Signals can be separated from backgrounds by using isolation cuts (rapidity gaps) and p{perpendicular}. The authors present Monte Carlo studies of different backgrounds, showing that representative signals can be extracted with good rates and signal to noise ratios.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 505355
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-40457; CONF-9705136-1; ON: DE97007350; TRN: 97:013314
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Photon `97, Egmond aan Zee (Netherlands), 10-15 May 1997; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Coherent photons and pomerons in heavy ion collisions
Outlook
Related Subjects
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
44 INSTRUMENTATION
INCLUDING NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE DETECTORS
BROOKHAVEN RHIC
PARTICLE IDENTIFICATION
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
FINAL-STATE INTERACTIONS
PHOTON-PHOTON INTERACTIONS
POMERANCHUK PARTICLES
RADIATION DETECTORS
PHOTON-MESON INTERACTIONS
MESON-MESON INTERACTIONS
HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS
PARTICLE PRODUCTION