Energy Loss and Flavor Dynamics from Single Particle Measurements in PHENIX

TL;DR

This paper investigates how high-energy particles lose energy and change flavor in the quark-gluon plasma created in gold-gold collisions at RHIC, using measurements of particle spectra and ratios to test hadronization models and color charge effects.

Contribution

It provides detailed experimental data on particle spectra and ratios across different centralities, and compares these with recombination models to explore parton energy loss and flavor dynamics.

Findings

Particle spectra and ratios vary with centrality and $p_T$

Results support flavor-dependent energy loss mechanisms

Data align with recombination model predictions

Abstract

The transverse momentum spectra, yields, and ratios of charged pions, protons, and antiprotons have been studied up to 5 GeV/c in $p_T$ in 5 different centrality classes in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV. These results are compared and contrasted with the observables calculated in recombination models of hadronization. They are also used to examine the color charge dependence of parton energy loss in the medium.