Reconstructing γ→e+e- with the sPHENIX detector at RHIC

23 Jun 2026, 19:40
20m
Garland 064

Garland 064

Poster presentation Poster session

Speaker

Valerie Wolfe (Lehigh University)

Description

A photon encountering high density matter will probabilistically undergo pair production, resulting in a lepton-antilepton pair that can be detected to reconstruct the incident photon. This analysis uses proton-proton data collected by the sPHENIX detector to reconstruct conversion photons via the dielectron channel. Tracks are fitted to data collected by sPHENIX’s Time Projection Chamber (TPC). Electron and positron candidates are identified using an invariant mass analysis. Tracks identified as daughter candidates are matched to energy clusters in the Electromagnetic Calorimeter (EMCal), and momenta are extracted from the track curvature. The purity of the daughter candidates is verified using the energy to momentum ratio, E / p. This analysis sets the ground work for searches for higher mass resonances reconstructed using the dielectron channel, enabling the reconstruction of charmonia and bottomonia, a vital component of sPHENIX’s heavy-flavor program.

This work is funded by DOE grant # DE-SC0023491, as well as the Dr. Hyo Sang Lee Graduate Fellowship from the College of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh University.

Is this an experimental talk? Yes
Is this on behalf of a collaboration? Yes
Which collaboration? sPHENIX
Are you willing to present as a poster if it is not selected for oral presentation? Yes

Author

Valerie Wolfe (Lehigh University)

Presentation materials