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At least 19 records

Effectiveness of denoising diffusion probabilistic models for fast and high-fidelity whole-event simulation in high-energy heavy-ion experiments

Artificial intelligence (AI) generative models, such as generative adversarial networks (GANs), variational autoencoders, and normalizing flows, have been widely used and studied as efficient alternatives for traditional scientific simulations. However, they have several drawbacks, including training instability and inability to cover the entire data distribution, especially for regions where data are rare. This is particularly challenging for whole-event, full-detector simulations in high-energy heavy-ion experiments, such as sPHENIX at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and Large Hadron Collider experiments, where thousands of particles are produced per event and interact with the detector. This work investigates the effectiveness of denoising diffusion probabilistic models (DDPMs) as an AI-based generative surrogate model for the sPHENIX experiment that includes the heavy-ion event generation and response of the entire calorimeter stack. DDPM performance in sPHENIX simulation data is compared with a popular rival, GANs. Results show that both DDPMs and GANs can reproduce the data distribution where the examples are abundant (low-to-medium calorimeter energies). Nonetheless, DDPMs significantly outperform GANs, especially in high-energy regions where data are rare. Additionally, DDPMs exhibit superior stability compared to GANs. The results are consistent between both central and peripheral centrality heavy-ion collision events. Moreover, DDPMs offer a substantial speedup of approximately a factor of 100 compared to the traditional Geant4 simulation method.

42 ENGINEERING

Measurement of charged hadron multiplicity in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV with the sPHENIX detector

The pseudorapidity distribution of charged hadrons produced in Au + Au collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV is measured using data collected by the sPHENIX detector. Charged hadron yields are extracted by counting cluster pairs in the inner and outer layers of the Intermediate Silicon Tracker, with corrections applied for detector acceptance, reconstruction efficiency, combinatorial pairs, and contributions from secondary decays. The measured distributions cover |η| < 1.1 across various centralities, and the average pseudorapidity density of charged hadrons at mid-rapidity is compared to predictions from Monte Carlo heavy-ion event generators. This result, featuring full azimuthal coverage at mid-rapidity, is consistent with previous experimental measurements at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, thereby supporting the broader sPHENIX physics program.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS

ALICE upgrades during the LHC Long Shutdown 2

A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE) has been conceived and constructed as a heavy-ion experiment at the LHC. During LHC Runs 1 and 2, it has produced a wide range of physics results using all collision systems available at the LHC. In order to best exploit new physics opportunities opening up with the upgraded LHC and new detector technologies, the experiment has undergone a major upgrade during the LHC Long Shutdown 2 (2019–2022). This comprises the move to continuous readout, the complete overhaul of core detectors, as well as a new online event processing farm with a redesigned online-offline software framework. These improvements will allow to record Pb-Pb collisions at rates up to 50 kHz, while ensuring sensitivity for signals without a triggerable signature.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION

The QCD phase diagram and Beam Energy Scan physics: A theory overview

Herein we review recent theoretical developments relevant to heavy-ion experiments carried out within the Beam Energy Scan program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Our main focus is on the description of the dynamics of systems created in heavy-ion collisions and establishing the necessary connection between the experimental observables and the QCD phase diagram.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS

Search for jet quenching with dijets from high-multiplicity pPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 8.16 TeV

The first measurement of the dijet transverse momentum balance xj in proton-lead (pPb) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 8.16 TeV is presented. The xj observable, defined as the ratio of the subleading over leading jet transverse momentum in a dijet pair, is used to search for jet quenching effects. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 174.6 nb −1 , were collected with the CMS detector in 2016. The x j distributions and their average values are studied as functions of the charged-particle multiplicity of the events and for various dijet rapidity selections. The latter enables probing hard scattering of partons carrying distinct nucleon momentum fractions x in the proton- and lead-going directions. The former, aided by the high-multiplicity triggers, allows probing for potential jet quenching effects in high-multiplicity events (with up to 400 charged particles), for which collective phenomena consistent with quark-gluon plasma (QGP) droplet formation were previously observed. The ratios of x j distributions for high- to low-multiplicity events are used to quantify the possible medium effects. These ratios are consistent with simulations of the hard-scattering process that do not include QGP production. These measurements set an upper limit on medium-induced energy loss of the subleading jet of 1.26% of its transverse momentum at the 90% confidence level in high multiplicity pPb events.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS

Extraction of ground-state nuclear deformations from ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions: Nuclear structure physics context

The collective-flow-assisted nuclear shape-imaging method in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions (UHICs) has recently been used to characterize nuclear collective states. In this paper, we assess the foundations of the shape-imaging technique employed in these studies. We argue that some current UHIC nuclear imaging techniques neglect fundamental aspects of spontaneous symmetry breaking and symmetry restoration in colliding ions and incorrectly infer one-body multipole moments from studies of nucleonic correlations. Therefore, the impact of this approach on nuclear structure research has been overstated. Conversely, efforts to incorporate existing knowledge on nuclear shapes into analysis pipelines can be beneficial for benchmarking tools and calibrating models used to extract information from ultrarelativistic heavy-ion experiments.

Nuclear data analysis & compilation

Search for medium effects using jet axis decorrelation in inclusive jets from PbPb collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{\text{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV

The jet axis decorrelation in inclusive jets is studied using lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV. The jet axis decorrelation is defined as the angular difference between two definitions of the jet axis. It is obtained by applying two recombination schemes on all the constituents of a given jet reconstructed by the anti-kT sequential algorithm with a distance parameter of R = 0.4. The data set, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.66 nb −1 , was collected in 2018 with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The jet axis decorrelations are examined across collision centrality selections and intervals of jet transverse momentum. A centrality dependent evolution of the measured distributions is observed, with a progressive narrowing seen in more central events. This narrowing could result from medium-induced modification of the internal jet structure or reflect color charge effects in energy loss. This new measurement probes jet substructure in previously unexplored kinematic domains and show great promise for providing new insights on the color charge dependence of energy loss to jet-quenching models.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS

Measurement of beauty production via non-prompt charm hadrons in p–Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV

The production cross sections of D 0 , D + , and Λ$^{+}_{c}$ hadrons originating from beauty-hadron decays (i.e. non-prompt) were measured for the first time at midrapidity in proton–lead (p–Pb) collisions at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV. Nuclear modification factors (R pPb ) of non-prompt D 0 , D + , and Λ$^{+}_{c}$ are calculated as a function of the transverse momentum (p T ) to investigate the modification of the momentum spectra measured in p–Pb collisions with respect to those measured in proton–proton (pp) collisions at the same energy. The R pPb measurements are compatible with unity and with the measurements in the prompt charm sector, and do not show a significant p T dependence. The p T -integrated cross sections and p T -integrated R pPb of non-prompt D 0 and D + mesons are also computed by extrapolating the visible cross sections down to p T = 0. The non-prompt D-meson R pPb integrated over p T is compatible with unity and with model calculations implementing modification of the parton distribution functions of nucleons bound in nuclei with respect to free nucleons. The non-prompt Λ$^{+}_{c}$/D 0 and D + /D 0 production ratios are computed to investigate hadronisation mechanisms of beauty quarks into mesons and baryons. The measured ratios as a function of p T display a similar trend to that measured for charm hadrons in the same collision system.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS

Intelligent experiments through real-time AI: Fast Data Processing and Autonomous Detector Control for sPHENIX and future EIC detectors (Phase-I)

With an ever increasing demand for high precision data from modern detectors for discovery science and precision measurements, all major high energy nuclear and particle experiments, current and future, are facing the challenge on how to deal with the large volume of raw data generated from sophisticated state-of-the-art detectors in high rate collisions. These goals need to be balanced with available hardware and cost limits on DAQ (Data AcQuisition system) bandwidth and offline computing resources to capture, store and process the signal events. Two prototypical examples are the upcoming sPHENIX experiment, the DOE next generation heavy ion physics experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at BNL, and the future EIC experiments that are planned to be online circa 2030.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS

Achieving a large transverse emittance ratio in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider: Beam experiments, analytical estimates, and implications for the Electron-Ion Collider

The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), to be built at Brookhaven National Laboratory, will collide a polarized high-energy electron beam with polarized proton and light ion beams in the center-of-mass energy range of 20–140 GeV, achieving a maximum peak luminosity of up to 1 × 10 34 cm − 2 s − 1 for the proton and electron collisions. To achieve such a high luminosity, the EIC will employ small, flat beams at the interaction point, which requires a transverse emittance ratio of about 11:1. Since 2017, we have carried out a series of beam experiments to test the feasibility of achieving such a large emittance ratio in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Thanks to the existing stochastic cooling and decoupling feedback system in RHIC, we successfully demonstrated a large transverse emittance ratio of 11:1 with gold ion beams in 2023. In this article, we will present more details and data analysis for these experiments, along with analytical estimates and numerical multiparticle simulations, and provide an outlook for future EIC coupling compensation. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS

Bottom quark energy loss and hadronization with B + and ${\textrm{B}}_{\textrm{s}}^0$ nuclear modification factors using pp and PbPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV

The production cross sections of $ {\textrm{B}}_{\textrm{s}}^0 $ and B$^{+}$ mesons are reported in proton-proton (pp) collisions recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC with a center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 302 pb$^{−1}$. The cross sections are based on measurements of the $ {\textrm{B}}_{\textrm{s}}^0 $→ J/ψ(μ$^{+}$μ$^{−}$)ϕ(1020)(K$^{+}$K$^{−}$) and B$^{+}$→ J/ψ(μ$^{+}$μ$^{−}$)K$^{+}$ decay channels. Results are presented in the transverse momentum (p$_{T}$) range 7–50 GeV/c and the rapidity interval |y| < 2.4 for the B mesons. The measured p$_{T}$-differential cross sections of B$^{+}$ and $ {\textrm{B}}_{\textrm{s}}^0 $ in pp collisions are well described by fixed-order plus next-to-leading logarithm perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations. Using previous PbPb collision measurements at the same nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy, the nuclear modification factors, R$_{AA}$, of the B mesons are determined. For p$_{T}$> 10 GeV/c, both mesons are found to be suppressed in PbPb collisions (with R$_{AA}$ values significantly below unity), with less suppression observed for the $ {\textrm{B}}_{\textrm{s}}^0 $ mesons. In this p$_{T}$ range, the R$_{AA}$ values for the B$^{+}$ mesons are consistent with those for inclusive charged hadrons and D$^{0}$ mesons. Below 10 GeV/c, both B$^{+}$ and $ {\textrm{B}}_{\textrm{s}}^0 $ are found to be less suppressed than either inclusive charged hadrons or D$^{0}$ mesons, with the $ {\textrm{B}}_{\textrm{s}}^0 $R$_{AA}$ value consistent with unity. The R$_{AA}$ values found for the B$^{+}$ and $ {\textrm{B}}_{\textrm{s}}^0 $ are compared to theoretical calculations, providing constraints on the mechanism of bottom quark energy loss and hadronization in the quark-gluon plasma, the hot and dense matter created in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS

Space-time evolution of particle emission in p–Pb collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{\text{NN}}} = 5.02$ TeV with 3D kaon femtoscopy

The measurement of three-dimensional femtoscopic correlations between identical charged kaons (K ± K ± ) produced in p–Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $\sqrt{{s}_{\text{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV with ALICE at the LHC is presented for the first time. This measurement, supplementary to those in pp and Pb–Pb collisions, allows understanding the particle-production mechanisms at different charged-particle multiplicities and provides information on the dynamics of the source of particles created in p–Pb collisions, for which a general consensus does not yet exist. It is shown that the measured source sizes increase with charged-particle multiplicity and decrease with increasing pair transverse momentum. These trends for K ± K ± are similar to the ones observed earlier in identical charged-pion and ${\text{K}}_{\text{s}}^{0}{\text{K}}_{\text{s}}^{0}$ correlations in Pb–Pb collisions at various energies and in π ± π ± correlations in p–Pb collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{\text{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV. At comparable multiplicity, the source sizes measured in p–Pb collisions agree within uncertainties with those observed in pp collisions, and there is an indication that they are smaller than those observed in Pb–Pb collisions. The obtained results are also compared with predictions from the hadronic interaction model EPOS 3, which tends to underestimate the source size for the most central collisions and agrees with the data for semicentral and peripheral events. Furthermore, the time of maximal emission for kaons is extracted. It turns out to be comparable with the value obtained in highly peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at the same energy, indicating that the kaon emission evolution is similar to that in p–Pb collisions.

Heavy Ion Experiments

Multiplicity and transverse momentum dependence of charge-balance functions in pPb and PbPb collisions at LHC energies

Measurements of the charge-dependent two-particle angular correlation function in proton-lead (pPb) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 8.16 TeV and lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV are reported. The pPb and PbPb data sets correspond to integrated luminosities of 186 nb -1 and 0.607 nb -1 , respectively, and were collected using the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The charge-dependent correlations are characterized by balance functions of same- and opposite-sign particle pairs. The balance functions, which contain information about the creation time of charged particle pairs and the development of collectivity, are studied as functions of relative pseudorapidity (Δη) and relative azimuthal angle (Δφ), for various multiplicity and transverse momentum (p T ) intervals. A multiplicity dependence of the balance function is observed in Δη and Δφ for both systems. The width of the balance functions decreases towards high-multiplicity collisions in the momentum region < 2 GeV, for pPb and PbPb results. Integrals of the balance functions are presented in both systems, and a mild dependence of the charge-balancing fractions on multiplicity is observed. No multiplicity dependence is observed at higher transverse momentum. The data are compared with HYDJET, HIJING, and AMPT generator predictions, none of which capture completely the multiplicity dependence seen in the data. The comparison of results with different center-of-mass energies suggests that the balance functions become narrower at higher energies, which is consistent with the idea of delayed hadronization and the effect of radial flow.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS

Observation of the antimatter hypernucleus $^4_{\bar{\Lambda}}\overline{\hbox{H}}$

Matter-antimatter asymmetry is a research topic of fundamental interest, as it is the basis for the existence of the matter world, which survived annihilation with antimatter in the early Universe. High energy nuclear collisions create conditions similar to the Universe microseconds after the Big Bang, with comparable amounts of matter and antimatter. Much of the antimatter created escapes the rapidly expanding fireball without annihilation, making such collisions an effective experimental tool to create heavy antimatter nuclear objects and study their properties. In this paper, we report the first observation of the antimatter hypernucleus $^4_{\bar{\Lambda}}\overline{\hbox{H}}$, composed of an $\bar{\Lambda}$, an antiproton and two antineutrons. The discovery was made through its two-body decay after production in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. In total, 15.6 candidate $^4_{\bar{\Lambda}}\overline{\hbox{H}}$ antimatter hypernuclei are obtained with an estimated background count of 6.4. Lifetimes of the antihypernuclei $^3_{\bar{\Lambda}}\overline{\hbox{H}}$ and $^4_{\bar{\Lambda}}\overline{\hbox{H}}$ are measured and compared with lifetimes of their corresponding hypernuclei, testing the symmetry between matter and antimatter. Various production yield ratios among (anti)hypernuclei and (anti)nuclei are also measured and compared with theoretical model predictions, shedding light on their production mechanism.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS

Measurement of directed flow in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s{NN}}$ = 19.6 and 27 GeV with the STAR event plane detector

In heavy-ion collision experiments, the global collectivity of final-state particles can be quantified by anisotropic flow coefficients (𝑣 𝑛 ) . The first-order flow coefficient, also referred to as the directed flow (𝑣 1 ), describes the collective sideward motion of produced particles and nuclear fragments in heavy-ion collisions. It carries information on the very early stage of the collision, especially at large pseudorapidity (𝜂), where it is believed to be generated during the nuclear passage time. Directed flow therefore probes the onset of bulk collective dynamics during thermalization, providing valuable experimental guidance to models of the pre-equilibrium stage. In 2018, the Event Plane Detector (EPD) was installed in STAR and used for the Beam Energy Scan phase-II (BES-II) data taking. The combination of EPD (2.1 < |𝜂| < 5.1) and high-statistics BES-II data enables us to extend the 𝑣 1 measurement to the forward and backward 𝜂 regions. In this paper, we present the measurement of 𝑣 1 over a wide 𝜂 range in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 19.6 and 27 GeV using the STAR EPD. The results of the analysis at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 19.6 GeV exhibit excellent consistency with the previous PHOBOS measurement, while elevating the precision of the overall measurement. The increased precision of the measurement also revealed finer structures in heavy-ion collisions, including a potential observation of the first-order event-plane decorrelation. Multiple physics models were compared to the experimental results. Only a transport model and a three-fluid hybrid model can reproduce a sizable 𝑣 1 at large 𝜂 as was observed experimentally. The model comparison also indicates 𝑣 1 at large 𝜂 might be sensitive to the QGP phase transition.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS

Beyond $\rho ^{2/3}$ scaling: microscopic origins and multimessengers of high-density nuclear symmetry energy

The nature and Equation of State (EOS) of dense neutron-rich matter are still very poorly known, while they have broad impacts on many interesting issues in both astrophysics and nuclear physics. In particular, the nuclear symmetry energy $E_{\textrm{sym}}(\rho )$ encoding the cost to make nuclear matter more neutron-rich has been the most uncertain component of the EOS of dense neutron-rich nucleonic matter. It significantly affects the radii, tidal deformations, cooling rates, and frequencies of various oscillation modes of isolated neutron stars as well as the strain amplitude and frequencies of gravitational waves from their mergers, besides its many effects on the structures of nuclei as well as the dynamics and observables of their collisions. Siemens (1970s) observed that $E_{\textrm{sym}}(\rho )$ scales as $(\rho /\rho _0)^{2/3}$ near the saturation density $\rho _0$ of nuclear matter, since both the kinetic part and the potential contribution (quadratic in momentum) exhibit this dependence. The scaling holds if: (1) the nucleon isoscalar potential is quadratic in momentum, and (2) the isovector interaction is weakly density-dependent. After examining many empirical evidences and understanding theoretical findings in the literature, we conclude that: (1) Siemens’ $\rho ^{2/3}$ scaling is robust and serves as a valuable benchmark for both nuclear theories and experiments up to $2\rho _0$ but breaks down at higher densities, (2) Experimental and theoretical findings about $E_{\textrm{sym}}(\rho )$ up to $2\rho _0$ are broadly consistent, but uncertainties remain large for its curvature $K_{\textrm{sym}}(\rho )$ and higher-order parameters, (3) Above $2\rho _0$ , uncertainties grow due to poorly constrained spin-isospin-dependent tensor and three-body forces as well as the resulting nucleon short-range correlations. Looking forward, combining signals from both observations of neutron stars and terrestrial heavy-ion reaction experiments is the most promising path to finally constraining the high-density $E_{\textrm{sym}}(\rho )$ and the EOS of supradense neutron-rich matter. Multiple examples of community efforts to further constrain the high-density $E_{\textrm{sym}}(\rho )$ using both real and mocked data of present and future high-precision observations of neutron stars, as well as heavy-ion collisions involving high-energy rare isotopes, are briefly reviewed.

Li, Bao-An [East Texas A & M Univ., Commerce, TX (

Finite density QCD equation of state: Critical point and lattice-based 𝑇′ expansion

Here, we present a novel construction of the QCD equation of state (EoS) at finite baryon density. Our work combines a recently proposed resummation scheme for lattice QCD results with the universal critical behavior at the QCD critical point. This allows us to obtain a family of equations of state in the range 0 ≤ 𝜇 𝐵 ≤ 700 MeV and 25 MeV ≤ 𝑇 ≤ 800 MeV, which match lattice QCD results near 𝜇 𝐵 =0 while featuring a critical point in the 3D Ising model universality class. The position of the critical point can be chosen within the range accessible to beam-energy scan heavy-ion collision experiments. The strength of the singularity and the shape of the critical region are parametrized using a standard parameter set. We impose stability and causality constraints and discuss the available ranges of critical point parameter choices, finding that they extend beyond earlier parametric QCD EoS proposals. We present thermodynamic observables, including baryon density, pressure, entropy density, energy density, baryon susceptibility and speed of sound, that cover a wide range in the QCD phase diagram relevant for experimental exploration.

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Observation of $t\overline{t}$ production in the lepton+jets and dilepton channels in p+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}$ = 8.16 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports the observation of top-quark pair production in proton-lead collisions in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is performed using 165 nb -1 of p+Pb data collected at $\sqrt{^sNN}$ = 8.16 TeV in 2016. Events are categorised in two analysis channels, consisting of either events with exactly one lepton (electron or muon) and at least four jets, or events with two opposite-charge leptons and at least two jets. In both channels at least one b-tagged jet is also required. Top-quark pair production is observed with a significance over five standard deviations in each channel. The top-quark pair production cross-section is measured to be σ $t\overline{t}$ =58.1 ± 2.0(stat.)$^{+4.8}_{-4.4}$(syst.) nb, with a total uncertainty of 9%. In addition, the nuclear modification factor is measured to be R pA = 1.090 ± 0.039(stat.)$^{+0.094}_{-0.087}$(syst.). The measurements are found to be in good agreement with theory predictions involving nuclear parton distribution functions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS