Universal centrality and collision energy trends for v 2 measurements from 2D angular correlations

• Published in: The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields Vol. 62; no. 1; pp. 175 - 181
• Main Author: Kettler, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer Nature B.V 01.07.2009
• Subjects: Collisions; Correlation analysis; Dependence; Equations of state; Hadrons; Quadrupoles; System dynamics; Trends
• ISSN: 1434-6044; 1434-6052
• DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-009-1003-5

We have measured the pt-integrated quadrupole component of two-particle azimuth correlations (related to quantity v2, denoted in this case by v2{2D}) via two-dimensional (2D) angular autocorrelations on (η,φ) for unidentified hadrons in Au-Au collisions at 62 and 200 GeV. The 2D autocorrelation provides a method to remove non-quadrupole contributions to v2 (conventionally termed “nonflow”) under the assumption that such processes produce significant dependence on pair-wise relative η within the detector acceptance. We hypothesize, based on empirical observations, that non-quadrupole contributions are dominated by minijets or minimum-bias jets. Using the optical Glauber eccentricity model for initial-state geometry we find simple and accurate universal energy and centrality trends for the quadrupole component. Centrality trends are determined only by the initial state (impact parameter b and center-of-mass energy \(\sqrt{s_{\mathit{NN}}}\)). There is no apparent dependence on evolving system dynamics (e.g., equation of state or number of secondary collisions). Our measurements of the quadrupole and non-quadrupole components have implications for the contributions to v2. They suggest that the main source of the difference between v2{2} and v2{4} (or v2{2D}) is measured properties of minijets.