Light (anti-)nuclei production in the STAR experiment at RHIC

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dc.contributor.advisorRoberts, Jabus B.en_US
dc.creatorZhou, Jianhangen_US
dc.date.accessioned2018-12-03T18:33:14Zen_US
dc.date.available2018-12-03T18:33:14Zen_US
dc.date.issued2009en_US
dc.description.abstractPresented in this thesis is the study of light (anti-)nuclei production in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions. In these collisions hot dense matter is created, in which the quarks and gluons are deconfined. As this hot dense matter expands and cools down, quarks recombine together to form new hadrons. At the final stage called thermal freeze-out, nucleons can combine into light nuclei. Therefore the study of light nuclei production provides a probe for understanding the physical properties of the expanding system at the thermal freeze-out, such as the temperature and the eccentricity. In this thesis, the transverse momentum ( p T ) spectra, and the elliptic flow ( v 2 ) of the anti-deuteron, and the coalescence parameters B 2 for d, d and B 3 for 3 He, from STAR Run-V Cu+Cu 200 GeV collisions are studied and compared with STAR Run-VI Au+Au 200 GeV results. Based on the Au+Au collision results, a blast-wave (BW) model is used to fit the transverse momentum spectra and elliptic flow of hadrons. These fit parameters are used in the BW model to predict the deuteron and helium production. The comparison between the BW predicted and the experimentally measured results leads to a consistent understanding of the freeze-out features. Also presented in the thesis is the search for the anti-alpha particle ( 4 He), which has never been discovered before. The search for heavier anti-nuclei is interesting as they are predicted by the theory but hard to find in real world. The anti-deuteron was discovered many years ago and 3 He was found recently. The anti-alpha particles, if confirmed, will be the heaviest anti particles ever found. In this thesis two anti-alpha candidates are shown. Both are found in STAR Run-VII Au+Au collisions. With the accumulated events and the new particle identification method in the future runs, there is hope to find and confirm more candidates.en_US
dc.format.extent120 ppen_US
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS PHYS. 2010 ZHOUen_US
dc.identifier.citationZhou, Jianhang. "Light (anti-)nuclei production in the STAR experiment at RHIC." (2009) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/103732">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/103732</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.digital750849282en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/103732en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectNuclear physicsen_US
dc.subjectParticle physicsen_US
dc.subjectPure sciencesen_US
dc.subjectAntideuteronsen_US
dc.subjectHeavy ion collisionsen_US
dc.subjectLight nucleien_US
dc.subjectTransverse momentumen_US
dc.titleLight (anti-)nuclei production in the STAR experiment at RHICen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentPhysicsen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineNatural Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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