Measurement of φ-meson nuclear modificatiion factors in p+Al collisions at the energy of 200 GeV

Abstract

The φ-mesons production in the relativistic collisions of proton beams with aluminum nuclei (p + Al, small system) at energy of 200 GeV has been studied. The PHENIX experiment was carried out at the RHIC. The φ-mesons’ invariant transverse momentum spectra and their nuclear modification factors were measured in four centrality bins of the range of transverse momentum (%): 0 – 20, 20 – 40, 40 – 72, 0 – 72. The obtained results were compared with similar data on the π0-mesons production. The experimental data analysis led to the conclusion that the φ-mesons’ nuclear modification factors were equal to one (within the measurement uncertainties) over all available ranges of centrality and transverse momenta. The findings of the work testified that quark-gluon plasma did not produce in the performed collisions.

Keywords

• quark-gluon plasma
• cold nuclear matter effect
• nuclear modification factor
• relativistic ion collision