Hard probes at RHIC
At the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), hard scattering processes become accessible at high transverse momentum, opening up a new set of experimental tools with which to study the properties of hot QCD matter. This paper reviews the status of hard probes at RHIC, with particular emphasis on results from the STAR experiment.

title: Transverse-momentum and collision-energy dependence of high-pT hadron suppression in Au+Au collisions at ultrarelativistic energies.
abstract: We report high statistics measurements of inclusive charged hadron production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=200 GeV. A large, approximately constant hadron suppression is observed in central Au+Au collisions for 5<p(T)<12 GeV/c. The collision energy dependence of the yields and the centrality and p(T) dependence of the suppression provide stringent constraints on theoretical models of suppression. Models incorporating initial-state gluon saturation or partonic energy loss in dense matter are largely consistent with observations. We observe no evidence of p(T)-dependent suppression, which may be expected from models incorporating jet attenuation in cold nuclear matter or scattering of fragmentation hadrons.

title: Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations in the hard scattering regime at RHIC.
abstract: Azimuthal anisotropy (v(2)) and two-particle angular correlations of high p(T) charged hadrons have been measured in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=130 GeV for transverse momenta up to 6 GeV/c, where hard processes are expected to contribute significantly. The two-particle angular correlations exhibit elliptic flow and a structure suggestive of fragmentation of high p(T) partons. The monotonic rise of v(2)(p(T)) for p(T)<2 GeV/c is consistent with collective hydrodynamical flow calculations. At p(T)>3 GeV/c, a saturation of v(2) is observed which persists up to p(T)=6 GeV/c.

title: K/pi Fluctuations at relativistic energies.
abstract: We report K/pi fluctuations from Au + Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]= 19.6, 62.4, 130, and 200 GeV using the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. K/pi fluctuations in central collisions show little dependence on incident energy and are on the same order as those from NA49 at the Super Proton Synchrotron in central Pb + Pb collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=12.3 and 17.3 GeV. We report results for the collision centrality dependence of K/pi fluctuations and results for charge-separated fluctuations. We observe that the K/pi fluctuations scale with the charged particle multiplicity density.

title: Measurement of inelastic, single- and double-diffraction cross sections in proton–proton collisions at the LHC with ALICE
abstract: Measurements of cross sections of inelastic and diffractive processes in proton–proton collisions at LHC energies were carried out with the ALICE detector. The fractions of diffractive processes in inelastic collisions were determined from a study of gaps in charged particle pseudorapidity distributions: for single diffraction (diffractive mass MX<200 GeV/c2) $\sigma_{\mathrm{SD}}/\sigma_{\mathrm {INEL}} = 0.21 \pm 0.03, 0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.08}$, and $0.20^{+0.04}_{-0.07}$, respectively at centre-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s} = 0.9, 2.76\mbox{, and }7~\mbox{TeV}$; for double diffraction (for a pseudorapidity gap Δη>3) σDD/σINEL=0.11±0.03,0.12±0.05, and $0.12^{+0.05}_{-0.04}$, respectively at $\sqrt{s} = 0.9, 2.76\mbox{, and }7~\mbox{TeV}$. To measure the inelastic cross section, beam properties were determined with van der Meer scans, and, using a simulation of diffraction adjusted to data, the following values were obtained: $\sigma_{\mathrm{INEL}} = 62.8^{+2.4}_{-4.0} (\mathrm{model}) \pm1.2 (\mathrm{lumi})$ mb at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76\ \mbox{TeV}$ and $73.2^{+2.0}_{-4.6} (\mathrm{model}) \pm2.6 (\mathrm{lumi})~\mbox{mb}$ at $\sqrt{s} = 7\ \mbox{TeV}$. The single- and double-diffractive cross sections were calculated combining relative rates of diffraction with inelastic cross sections. The results are compared to previous measurements at proton–antiproton and proton–proton colliders at lower energies, to measurements by other experiments at the LHC, and to theoretical models.

title: Alignment of the ALICE inner tracking system with cosmic-ray tracks
abstract: ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 mu m in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurements, and the reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and from proton-proton collisions. The main track-based alignment method uses the Millepede global approach. An iterative local method was developed and used as well. We present the results obtained for the ITS alignment using about 10(5) charged tracks from cosmic rays that have been collected during summer 2008, with the ALICE solenoidal magnet switched off.

title: alpha decay and recoil decay tagging studies of 183Tl
abstract: Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom Oliver Lodge Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZE, United Kingdom Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA Technology Development Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, FIN-40351, Jyväskylä, Finland University of Keele, Keele, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, United Kingdom (Received 22 June 2004; published 13 December 2004 )

title: A new plunger device to measure lifetimes of unbound states in tagged exotic nuclei
abstract: A new plunger device has been designed and is being built at the University of Manchester to measure lifetimes of unbound states in exotic nuclei approaching the proton drip-line. The device is designed to work in both vacuum and gas environments and will be used in conjunction with the gas filled separator RITU and the vacuum-mode separator MARA at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. This will enable the accurate measurement of excited state lifetimes identified via isomer and charged-particle tagging. The plunger will be used to address many key facets of nuclear structure physics with particular emphasis on the effect of deformation on proton emission rates.

title: Decays of the Y-97 isomers to the single neutron nucleus Zr-97
abstract: The decays of the 9/2(+) and of the three-quasiparticle high spin isomer in Y-97 have been investigated following on-line mass separation with the ion-guide technique. Spins and parities for several of the lowest-lying levels in the daughter nucleus Zr-97 are revised and configurations are proposed. In particular, the 2264 keV level is identified as the h(11/2) single-neutron level. The population of a cascade on top of the h(11/2) level provides evidence for Gamow-Teller beta decay of the high-spin Y-97 isomer. Levels and transition rates are qualitatively well reproduced by regarding Zr-97 as a single-neutron nucleus with respect to the doubly closed Zr-96 core.

title: Identification of gamma rays from Au-172 and alpha decays of Au-172, Ir-168, and Re-164
abstract: The low-lying structures of the extremely neutron-deficient nuclei 106Te, 107Te, 110Xe, 170Ir and 172Au have been investigated experimentally. Prompt gamma rays emitted in fusion-evaporation reactions were detected by the Jurogam HPGe array. The gamma rays were assigned to specific reaction channels using the recoil-decay tagging technique provided by the gas-filled separator RITU and the GREAT focal-plane spectrometer. The experimental set-up and the technique used to extract the information from the experimental data are described in detail. Results were interpreted in terms of the nuclear shell model and Total Routhian Surface calculations. In addition, decay studies on 170Ir, 172Au and 164Re led to the discovery of new alpha-decay branches in these nuclei.

title: In-beam gamma-ray and alpha-decay spectroscopy of 170Ir
abstract: Excited states in the highly neutron deficient odd-odd nucleus Ir-170 have been investigated. The experiment was performed using the Sn-112(Ni-60, pn)Ir-170 reaction and employing the recoil-decay ...