Measurement of pi0 and eta Mesons with PHENIX in sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

TL;DR

This paper reports precise measurements of pi0 and eta mesons in high-energy Au+Au collisions at RHIC, providing insights into jet quenching and particle suppression with implications for understanding the quark-gluon plasma.

Contribution

It presents the first systematic comparison of pi0 nuclear modification factors with theoretical models and introduces new eta meson measurements in the same collision environment.

Findings

pi0 R_AA constrains gluon density and transport coefficient

First eta meson spectra and R_AA in these collisions

High-statistics measurements improve understanding of particle suppression

Abstract

The pi0 meson has been a crucial proble for observing jet quenching in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions at RHIC. Measurements of the eta meson in the same collisions have also shed light on a possible dependence of the observed suppression on the particle species. The preliminary pi0 nuclear modification factor R_AA from the 2004 RHIC run allowed a first systematic comparison between a precise measurement with high statistics and theoretical calculations, constraining model parameters such as the initial gluon density dN^g/dy, and the transport coefficient qhat. The final pi0 spectra and R_AA are shown as well as the first eta results obtained with both PHENIX electromagnetic calorimeters.