Speaker
shengli huang
(PHENIX Collaboration)
Description
Collisions of light with heavy ions have been considered control
experiments for heavy ion collisions, but measurements of long-range
azimuthal correlations of light hadrons in $p(d)$+A collisions at
RHIC and LHC challenge this assumption. Hydrodynamic model
calculations have been successful in describing experimental
results, though alternative explanations involving initial-state
Glasma diagrams have not been not ruled out. Further understanding
of the origin of the observed anisotropies can be achieved in
$^3$He$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV, which change
the shape and size of the initial reaction zone compared to
$p(d)$$+$A. We present PHENIX results for $^3$He$+$Au collisions at
$\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV. Production of neutral pions is measured
in a wide transverse-momentum range and is used to study centrality
dependence of the cold-nuclear-matter effects. Azimuthal
correlations for rapidity separated ($\Delta\eta>3.5$) particles
are measured in a wide transverse-momentum range and compared to
that in $p$$+$$p$ collisions. Elliptic and triangular flow
coefficients are measured for charged hadrons and their dependence
on particle mass and rapidity is reported. The experimental results
are compared theoretical predictions, including to models where
three hot spots created by the impact of the three $^3$He nucleons
on the Au nucleus expand hydrodynamically to generate triangular
flow. The agreement of data with these models may indicate the
formation of low-viscosity quark-gluon plasma, even in these small
collision systems.
| On behalf of collaboration: | PHENIX |
|---|
Author
shengli huang
(PHENIX Collaboration)
