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Campbell, J. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Campbell, J. M..

At least 19 records

Event generators for high-energy physics experiments

We provide an overview of the status of Monte-Carlo event generators for high-energy particle physics. Guided by the experimental needs and requirements, we highlight areas of active development, and opportunities for future improvements. Particular emphasis is given to physics models and algorithms that are employed across a variety of experiments. These common themes in event generator development lead to a more comprehensive understanding of physics at the highest energies and intensities, and allow models to be tested against a wealth of data that have been accumulated over the past decades. A cohesive approach to event generator development will allow these models to be further improved and systematic uncertainties to be reduced, directly contributing to future experimental success. Event generators are part of a much larger ecosystem of computational tools. They typically involve a number of unknown model parameters that must be tuned to experimental data, while maintaining the integrity of the underlying physics models. Making both these data, and the analyses with which they have been obtained accessible to future users is an essential aspect of open science and data preservation. It ensures the consistency of physics models across a variety of experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Flow and interferometry results from Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 4.5 GeV

In this study, the beam energy scan (BES) program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) was extended to energies below $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 7.7 GeV in 2015 by successful implementation of the fixed-target mode of operation in the STAR (Solenoidal Tracker At RHIC) experiment. In this mode, ions circulate in one ring of the collider and interact with a stationary target at the entrance of the STAR Time Projection Chamber. The first results for Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 4.5 GeV are presented, demonstrating good performance of all the relevant detector subsystems in fixed-target mode. Results presented here include directed and elliptic flow of identified hadrons, and radii from pion femtoscopy. The latter, together with recent HADES results, reveal a long-sought peak structure that may be caused by the system evolving through a first-order phase transition from quark-gluon plasma to the hadronic phase. Directed and elliptic flow for pions are presented for the first time at this beam energy. Pion and proton elliptic flow show behavior which hints at constituent quark scaling, and demonstrate that a definitive conclusion will be achievable using the full statistics of the on-going second phase of BES (BES-II). In particular, BES-II to date has recorded fixed-target data sets with two orders of magnitude more events at each of nine energies between $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 3.0 and 7.7 GeV.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Harmonic decomposition of three-particle azimuthal correlations at energies available at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

Here, we present measurements of three-particle correlations for various harmonics in Au+Au collisions at energies ranging from √ s NN=7.7 to 200 GeV using the STAR detector. The quantity < cos(mΦ 1 +nΦ 2 –(m+n)Φ 3 ) >, with Φ being the azimuthal angles of the particles is evaluated as a function of √ s NN, collision centrality, transverse momentum, p T , pseudorapidity difference, Δη, and harmonics (m and n). These data provide detailed information on global event properties such as the three-dimensional structure of the initial overlap region, the expansion dynamics of the matter produced in the collisions, and the transport properties of the medium. A strong dependence on Δη is observed for most harmonic combinations, which is consistent with breaking of longitudinal boost invariance. An interesting energy dependence is observed when one of the harmonics m,n, or m+n is equal to two, for which the correlators are dominated by the two-particle correlations relative to the second-harmonic event plane. These measurements can be used to constrain models of heavy-ion collisions over a wide range of temperature and baryon chemical potential.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Measurement of the H Λ 3 lifetime in Au+Au collisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider [Measurement of the H Λ 3 lifetime in Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider]

Here, an improved measurement of the 3 Λ H lifetime is presented. In this paper, the mesonic decay modes 3 Λ H → 3 He + π – and 3 Λ H → d + p + π – are used to reconstruct the 3 Λ H from Au+Au collision data collected by the STAR collaboration at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). A minimum χ2 estimation is used to determine the lifetime of τ = 142 +24 –21 (stat.) ± 29 (syst.) ps. This lifetime is about 50% shorter than the lifetime τ = 263 ± 2 ps of a free Λ, indicating strong hyperon-nucleon interaction in the hypernucleus system. The branching ratios of the mesonic decay channels are also determined to satisfy B.R. ( 3 He+π – )/( B.R. ( 3 He+π – ) + B.R. (d+p+π – ) ) = 0.32 ± 0.05 (stat.) ± 0.08 (syst.). Our ratio result favors the assignment J( 3 Λ H) = 1/2 over J( 3 Λ H) = 3/2. These measurements will help to constrain models of hyperon-baryon interactions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Precise predictions for $V+$jets dark matter backgrounds

High-energy jets recoiling against missing transverse energy (MET) are powerful probes of dark matter at the LHC. Searches based on large MET signatures require a precise control of the $Z(\nu\bar\nu)+$jet background in the signal region. This can be achieved by taking accurate data in control regions dominated by $Z(\ell^+\ell^-)+$jet, $W(\ell\nu)+$jet and $\gamma+$jet production, and extrapolating to the $Z(\nu\bar\nu)+$jet background by means of precise theoretical predictions. In this context, recent advances in perturbative calculations open the door to significant sensitivity improvements in dark matter searches. In this spirit, we present a combination of state-of-the art calculations for all relevant $V+$jets processes, including throughout NNLO QCD corrections and NLO electroweak corrections supplemented by Sudakov logarithms at two loops. Predictions at parton level are provided together with detailed recommendations for their usage in experimental analyses based on the reweighting of Monte Carlo samples. Particular attention is devoted to the estimate of theoretical uncertainties in the framework of dark matter searches, where subtle aspects such as correlations across different $V+$jet processes play a key role. In conclusion, the anticipated theoretical uncertainty in the $Z(\nu\bar\nu)+$jet background is at the few percent level up to the TeV range.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Coherent diffractive photoproduction of ρ 0 mesons on gold nuclei at 200 GeV/nucleon-pair at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

Here, the STAR Collaboration reports on the photoproduction of π + π - pairs in goldgold collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 200 GeV/nucleon-pair. These pion pairs are produced when a nearly-real photon emitted by one ion scatters from the other ion. We fit the π + π - invariant mass spectrum with a combination of 0 and ! resonances and a direct π + π - continuum. This is the first observation of the ! in ultra-peripheral collisions, and the first measurement of ρ - ω interference at energies where photoproduction is dominated by Pomeron exchange.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗