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Chen, Z.

Publications and source records attributed to Chen, Z..

At least 109 records · Page 6
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DOE OSTI2023

Search for sub-TeV Neutrino Emission from Novae with IceCube-DeepCore

The understanding of novae, the thermonuclear eruptions on the surfaces of white dwarf stars in binaries, has recently undergone a major paradigm shift. Though the bolometric luminosity of novae was long thought to arise directly from photons supplied by the thermonuclear runaway, recent gigaelectronvolt (GeV) gamma-ray observations have supported the notion that a significant portion of the luminosity could come from radiative shocks. More recently, observations of novae have lent evidence that these shocks are acceleration sites for hadrons for at least some types of novae. In this scenario, a flux of neutrinos may accompany the observed gamma rays. As the gamma rays from most novae have only been observed up to a few GeV, novae have previously not been considered as targets for neutrino telescopes, which are most sensitive at and above teraelectronvolt (TeV) energies. Here, we present the first search for neutrinos from novae with energies between a few GeV and 10 TeV using IceCube-DeepCore, a densely instrumented region of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory with a reduced energy threshold. We search both for a correlation between gamma-ray and neutrino emission as well as between optical and neutrino emission from novae. We find no evidence for neutrino emission from the novae considered in this analysis and set upper limits for all gamma-ray detected novae.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Global polarization of Λ and $\overline{Λ}$ hyperons in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 19.6 and 27 GeV

In relativistic heavy-ion collisions, a global spin polarization, 𝑃 H , of Λ and $\overline{Λ}$ hyperons along the direction of the system angular momentum was discovered and measured across a broad range of collision energies and demonstrated a trend of increasing 𝑃 H with decreasing $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$. A splitting between Λ and $\overline{Λ}$ polarization may be possible due to their different magnetic moments in a late-stage magnetic field sustained by the quark-gluon plasma which is formed in the collision. The results presented in this study find no significant splitting at the collision energies of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 19.6 and 27 GeV in the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions Beam Energy Scan Phase II using the STAR detector, with an upper limit of 𝑃 $\overline{Λ}$ – 𝑃 Λ < 0.24% and 𝑃 $\overline{Λ}$ – 𝑃 Λ < 0.35%, respectively, at a 95% confidence level. We derive an upper limit on the naive extraction of the late-stage magnetic field of 𝐵 < 9.4 × 10 12 T and 𝐵 < 1.4 × 10 13 T at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 19.6 and 27 GeV, respectively, although more thorough derivations are needed. Differential measurements of 𝑃 H were performed with respect to collision centrality, transverse momentum, and rapidity. With our current acceptance of |𝑦| < 1 and uncertainties, we observe no dependence on transverse momentum and rapidity in this analysis. Furthermore, these results challenge multiple existing model calculations following a variety of different assumptions which have each predicted a strong dependence on rapidity in this collision-energy range.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Event-by-event correlations between Λ ( Λ ¯ ) hyperon global polarization and handedness with charged hadron azimuthal separation in Au + Au collisions at s N N = 27 GeV from STAR

Global polarizations (P) of Λ (Λ¯) hyperons have been observed in non-central heavy-ion collisions. The strong magnetic field primarily created by the spectator protons in such collisions would split the Λ and Λ¯ global polarizations (ΔP=P Λ –P Λ ¯<0). Additionally, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) predicts topological charge fluctuations in vacuum, resulting in a chirality imbalance or parity violation in a local domain. This would give rise to an imbalance (Δn = N L –N R /< N L +N R > ≠0) between left- and right-handed Λ (Λ¯) as well as a charge separation along the magnetic field, referred to as the chiral magnetic effect (CME). This charge separation can be characterized by the parity-even azimuthal correlator (Δγ) and parity-odd azimuthal harmonic observable (Δa 1 ). Measurements of ΔP, Δγ, and Δa 1 have not led to definitive conclusions concerning the CME or the magnetic field, and Δn has not been measured previously. Correlations among these observables may reveal new insights. Furthermore, this paper reports measurements of correlation between Δn and Δa 1 , which is sensitive to chirality fluctuations, and correlation between ΔP and Δγ sensitive to magnetic field in Au+Au collisions at 27 GeV. For both measurements, no correlations have been observed beyond statistical fluctuations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Search for the chiral magnetic wave using anisotropic flow of identified particles at energies available at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

The chiral magnetic wave (CMW) has been theorized to propagate in the deconfined nuclear medium formed in high-energy heavy-ion collisions, and to cause a difference in elliptic flow (v 2 ) between negatively and positively charged hadrons. Experimental data consistent with the CMW have been reported by the STAR Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), based on the charge asymmetry dependence of the pion v 2 from Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 27 to 200 GeV. In this comprehensive study, we present the STAR measurements of elliptic flow and triangular flow of charged pions, along with the v 2 of charged kaons and protons, as a function of charge asymmetry in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 27, 39, 62.4 and 200 GeV. The slope parameters extracted from the linear dependence of the v2 difference on charge asymmetry for different particle species are reported and compared in different centrality intervals. In addition, the slopes of v 2 for charged pions in small systems, i.e., p+Au and d+Au at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV, are also presented and compared with those in large systems, i.e., Au+Au at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV and U+U at 193 GeV. Our results provide new insights for the possible existence of the CMW, and further constrain the background contributions in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC energies.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Observation of high-energy neutrinos from the Galactic plane

The origin of high-energy cosmic rays, atomic nuclei that continuously impact Earth’s atmosphere, is unknown. Because of deflection by interstellar magnetic fields, cosmic rays produced within the Milky Way arrive at Earth from random directions. However, cosmic rays interact with matter near their sources and during propagation, which produces high-energy neutrinos. We searched for neutrino emission using machine learning techniques applied to 10 years of data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. By comparing diffuse emission models to a background-only hypothesis, we identified neutrino emission from the Galactic plane at the 4.5σ level of significance. The signal is consistent with diffuse emission of neutrinos from the Milky Way but could also arise from a population of unresolved point sources.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2023

Measurement of electrons from open heavy-flavor hadron decays in Au+Au collisions at $ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $ = 200 GeV with the STAR detector

We report a new measurement of the production of electrons from open heavy-flavor hadron decays (HFEs) at mid-rapidity (|y| < 0.7) in Au+Au collisions at $ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $ = 200 GeV. Invariant yields of HFEs are measured for the transverse momentum range of 3.5 < p T < 9 GeV/c in various configurations of the collision geometry. The HFE yields in head-on Au+Au collisions are suppressed by approximately a factor of 2 compared to that in p + p collisions scaled by the average number of binary collisions, indicating strong interactions between heavy quarks and the hot and dense medium created in heavy-ion collisions. Comparison of these results with models provides additional tests of theoretical calculations of heavy quark energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Measurements of the Elliptic and Triangular Azimuthal Anisotropies in Central He 3 + Au , d + Au and p + Au Collisions at s N N = 200 GeV

The elliptic (v 2 ) and triangular (v 3 ) azimuthal anisotropy coefficients in central 3He + Au, d + Au, and p + Au collisions at $\sqrt{S_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV are measured as a function of transverse momentum (P T ) at midrapidity (|n| < 0.9) via the azimuthal angular correlation between two particles both at |n| < 0.9 while the v 2 (P T ) values depend on the colliding systems, the v 3 (P T ) values are system independent within the uncertainties, suggesting an influence on eccentricity from subnucleonic fluctuations in these small-sized systems. Furthermore, these results also provide stringent constraints for the hydrodynamic modeling of these systems.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Measurements of dielectron production in Au + Au collisions at s N N = 27 , 39, and 62.4 GeV from the STAR experiment

We report systematic measurements of dielectron (e + e – ) invariant-mass M ee spectra at midrapidity in Au + Au collisions at s N N = 27 = 27, 39, and 62.4 GeV taken with the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. For all energies studied, a significant excess yield of dielectrons is observed in the low-mass region ( 0.40 < M ee < 0.75 MeV / c 2 ) compared to hadronic cocktail simulations at freeze-out. Models that include an in-medium broadening of the ρ -meson spectral function consistently describe the observed excess. In addition, we report acceptance-corrected dielectron-excess spectra for Au + Au collisions at midrapidity ( |y ee | < 1) in the 0–80% centrality bin for each collision energy. The integrated excess yields for 0.4 < M ee < 0.75 GeV / c 2 , normalized by the charged particle multiplicity at midrapidity, are compared with previously published measurements for Au + Au at s N N = 27 = 19.6 and 200 GeV. Models that include an in-medium broadening of the ρ -meson spectral function consistently describe the observed excess. Furthermore, the normalized excess yields in the low-mass region show no significant collision energy dependence. The data, however, are consistent with model calculations that demonstrate a modest energy dependence.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Observation of Directed Flow of Hypernuclei $^3_Λ\text{H}$ and $^4_Λ\text{H}$ in $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}$ = 3 GeV Au + Au Collisions at RHIC

We report here the first observation of directed flow ($v_1$) of the hypernuclei $^3_Λ\text{H}$ and $^4_Λ\text{H}$ in mid-central Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}$ = 3 GeV at RHIC. These data are taken as part of the beam energy scan program carried out by the STAR experiment. From 165 × 10 6 events in 5%–40% centrality, about 8400 $^3_Λ\text{H}$ and 5200 $^4_Λ\text{H}$ candidates are reconstructed through two- and three-body decay channels. In this work, we observe that these hypernuclei exhibit significant directed flow. Comparing to that of light nuclei, it is found that the midrapidity $v_1$ slopes of $^3_Λ\text{H}$ and $^4_Λ\text{H}$ follow baryon number scaling, implying that the coalescence is the dominant mechanism for these hypernuclei production in the 3 GeV Au + Au collisions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Beam Energy Dependence of Triton Production and Yield Ratio $N_t \times N_p / N^2_d$ in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

We report the triton (t) production in midrapidity (|y| < 0.5) Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 7.7-200$ GeV measured by the STAR experiment from the first phase of the beam energy scan at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The nuclear compound yield ratio ($N_t \times N_p / N^2_d$), which is predicted to be sensitive to the fluctuation of local neutron density, is observed to decrease monotonically with increasing charged-particle multiplicity ($dN_{ch}/dη$) and follows a scaling behavior. The $dN_{ch}/dη$ dependence of the yield ratio is compared to calculations from coalescence and thermal models. Enhancements in the yield ratios relative to the coalescence baseline are observed in the 0%-10% most central collisions at 19.6 and 27 GeV, with a significance of 2.3σ and 3.4σ, respectively, giving a combined significance of 4.1σ. The enhancements are not observed in peripheral collisions or model calculations without critical fluctuation, and decreases with a smaller $p_T$ acceptance. The physics implications of these results on the QCD phase structure and the production mechanism of light nuclei in heavy-ion collisions are discussed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

D-Egg: a dual PMT optical module for IceCube

The D-Egg, an acronym for "Dual optical sensors in an Ellipsoid Glass for Gen2," is one of the optical modules designed for future extensions of the IceCube experiment at the South Pole. The D-Egg has an elongated-sphere shape to maximize the photon-sensitive effective area while maintaining a narrow diameter to reduce the cost and the time needed for drilling of the deployment holes in the glacial ice for the optical modules at depths up to 2700 m. The D-Egg design is utilized for the IceCube Upgrade, the next stage of the IceCube project also known as IceCube-Gen2 Phase 1, where nearly half of the optical sensors to be deployed are D-Eggs. With two 8-inch high-quantum efficiency photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) per module, D-Eggs offer an increased effective area while retaining the successful design of the IceCube digital optical module (DOM). The convolution of the wavelength-dependent effective area and the Cherenkov emission spectrum provides an effective photodetection sensitivity that is 2.8 times larger than that of IceCube DOMs. The signal of each of the two PMTs is digitized using ultra-low-power 14-bit analog-to-digital converters with a sampling frequency of 240 MSPS, enabling a flexible event triggering, as well as seamless and lossless event recording of single-photon signals to multi-photons exceeding 200 photoelectrons within 10 ns. Mass production of D-Eggs has been completed, with 277 out of the 310 D-Eggs produced to be used in the IceCube Upgrade. In this paper, we report the design of the D-Eggs, as well as the sensitivity and the single to multi-photon detection performance of mass-produced D-Eggs measured in a laboratory using the built-in data acquisition system in each D-Egg optical sensor module.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Reaction dynamics and in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross section with 12 C+ 1 H at 95 MeV/nucleon

Reaction dynamics and effective in-medium nucleon-nucleon (NN) cross section are studied, using the antisymmetrized molecular dynamics (AMD) model with one of the simplest heavy ion collisions, 12 C+ ⁢1 H. The roles of different stochastic processes are studied, which are installed in the original AMD. One is the diffusion process as a part of the quantum fluctuation originated from the Fermi motion during the time evolution of the wave packets in the mean field (AMD/D). The second is a coalescence treatment for light clusters with A ≤ 8 (AMD/D-COALS). The third is the collision process, installed in AMD with different form of the in-medium NN cross sections. These different processes are examined, using the experimental angular distributions and energy spectra of light charged particles and intermediate mass fragments. The effective in-medium NN cross sections are evaluated from the simulated AMD events and compared with the experimentally extracted values. A good agreement is obtained between the AMD values from the 12 C + 1 H reaction at 95 MeV/nucleon and the experimental results for nuclear matter.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Beam energy dependence of the linear and mode-coupled flow harmonics in Au+Au collisions

The linear and mode-coupled contributions to higher-order anisotropic flow are presented for Au+Au collisions at √ S NN = 27, 39, 54.4, and 200 GeV and compared to similar measurements for Pb+Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The coefficients and the flow harmonics' correlations, which characterize the linear and mode-coupled response to the lower-order anisotropies, indicate a beam energy dependence consistent with an influence from the specific shear viscosity (η/s). In contrast, the dimensionless coefficients, mode-coupled response coefficients, and normalized symmetric cumulants are approximately beam-energy independent, consistent with a significant role from initial-state effects. These measurements could provide unique supplemental constraints to (i) distinguish between different initial-state models and (ii) delineate the temperature (T) and baryon chemical potential (μ B ) dependence of the specific shear viscosity η/s(T, μ B ).

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Limits on Neutrino Emission from GRB 221009A from MeV to PeV Using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have long been considered a possible source of high-energy neutrinos. While no correlations have yet been detected between high-energy neutrinos and GRBs, the recent observation of GRB 221009A—the brightest GRB observed by Fermi-GBM to date and the first one to be observed above an energy of 10 TeV—provides a unique opportunity to test for hadronic emission. In this paper, we leverage the wide energy range of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory to search for neutrinos from GRB 221009A. We find no significant deviation from background expectation across event samples ranging from MeV to PeV energies, placing stringent upper limits on the neutrino emission from this source.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

$K^{*0}$ production in $\text{Au} \times \text{Au}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 7.7$, 11.5, 14.5, 19.6, 27, and 39 GeV from the RHIC beam energy scan

We report the measurement of K *0 meson at midrapidity (|y|< 1.0) in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 7.7, 11.5, 14.5, 19.6, 27 and 39 GeV collected by the STAR experiment during the RHIC beam energy scan (BES) program. The transverse momentum spectra, yield, and average transverse momentum of K *0 are presented as functions of collision centrality and beam energy. The K *0 /K yield ratios are presented for different collision centrality intervals and beam energies. The K *0 /K ratio in heavy-ion collisions are observed to be smaller than that in small system collisions (e+e and p+p). The K *0 /K ratio follows a similar centrality dependence to that observed in previous RHIC and LHC measurements. The data favor the scenario of the dominance of hadronic re-scattering over regeneration for K *0 production in the hadronic phase of the medium.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Measurement of Sequential ϒ Suppression in Au + Au Collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV with the STAR Experiment

We report on measurements of sequential ϒ suppression in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV with the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) through both the dielectron and dimuon decay channels. In the 0%–60% centrality class, the nuclear modification factors (𝑅 𝐴⁢𝐴 ), which quantify the level of yield suppression in heavy-ion collisions compared to 𝑝 + 𝑝 collisions, for ϒ⁡(1⁢𝑆) and ϒ⁡(2⁢𝑆) are 0.40 ± 0.03⁢(stat) ± 0.03⁢(sys) ± 0.09⁢(norm) and 0.26 ± 0.08⁢(stat) ± 0.02⁢(sys) ± 0.06⁢(norm), respectively, while the upper limit of the ϒ⁡(3⁢𝑆) 𝑅 𝐴⁢𝐴 is 0.17 at a 95% confidence level. This provides experimental evidence that the ϒ⁡(3⁢𝑆) is significantly more suppressed than the ϒ⁡(1⁢𝑆) at RHIC. The level of suppression for ϒ⁡(1⁢𝑆) is comparable to that observed at the much higher collision energy at the Large Hadron Collider. Furthermore, these results point to the creation of a medium at RHIC whose temperature is sufficiently high to strongly suppress excited ϒ states.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Search for the chiral magnetic effect in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 27 GeV with the STAR forward event plane detectors

A decisive experimental test of the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) is considered one of the major scientific goals at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) towards understanding the nontrivial topological fluctuations of the Quantum Chromodynamics vacuum. In heavy-ion collisions, the CME is expected to result in a charge separation phenomenon across the reaction plane, whose strength could be strongly energy dependent. The previous CME searches have been focused on top RHIC energy collisions. In this Letter, we present a low energy search for the CME in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 27 GeV. We measure elliptic flow scaled charge-dependent correlators relative to the event planes that are defined at both mid-rapidity |η| < 1.0 and at forward rapidity 2.1 < |η| < 5.1. We compare the results based on the directed flow plane ( $Ψ$ 1 ) at forward rapidity and the elliptic flow plane ( $Ψ$ 2 ) at both central and forward rapidity. The CME scenario is expected to result in a larger correlation relative to $Ψ$ 1 than to $Ψ$ 2 , while a flow driven background scenario would lead to a consistent result for both event planes. In 10-50% centrality, results using three different event planes are found to be consistent within experimental uncertainties, suggesting a flow driven background scenario dominating the measurement. We obtain an upper limit on the deviation from a flow driven background scenario at the 95% confidence level. This work opens up a possible road map towards future CME search with the high statistics data from the RHIC Beam Energy Scan Phase-II.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗