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Charm in PHENIX—a signal or a background?

  • Charm: A Flavour Signal at RHIC
  • Published:
Acta Physica Hungarica New Series Heavy Ion Physics

Abstract

Charm, as well as Strangeness, plays an important role in searches for the Quark Gluon Plasma.J/Φ Suppression and Strangeness Enhancement are two of the earliest proposed QGP signatures. Recent theoretical work on charm in Relativistic Heavy Ion collisions has focussed on di-lepton production. However, even before the discovery of theJ/Ψ, evidence of open charm was seen in hadron collisions via the observation of promptsingle leptons “resulting from the semi-leptonic decays of charm particles.” [1] The ‘copious’ yield of direct (i.e. not from Dalitz decays) single electrons and muons—at a levele/π∼10−4 forpT≥1.3 GeV/c—observed in the early 1970’s was explained by Hinchliffe and Llewellyn-Smith and Bourquin and Gaillard as evidence of open-charm production. It is likely thate/π at RHIC is large and is a good measure of charm production. Thus, a measurement of single electrons with moderatepT>1.5 GeV/c at RHIC should give a clean charm signal in heavy ion collisions,with no combinatoric background.

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  1. Brookhaven National Laboratory, 11973-5000, Upton, NY, USA

    M. J. Tannenbaum

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  1. M. J. Tannenbaum
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Tannenbaum, M.J. Charm in PHENIX—a signal or a background?. APH N.S., Heavy Ion Physics 4, 139–148 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03155609

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03155609

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