Measuring differential particle correlations in relativistic nuclear collisions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how transverse momentum-dependent particle correlations in relativistic nuclear collisions can reveal details about final state effects, using models to interpret experimental data and suggest future measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of differential symmetric and asymmetric correlations with respect to transverse momentum, highlighting their sensitivity to final state effects in nuclear collisions.

Findings

Correlations are sensitive to final state effects' $p_T$ dependencies.

Event-plane fluctuations significantly influence correlation measurements.

Model comparisons help distinguish flow-related effects from non-flow contributions.

Abstract

This study explores the transverse momentum ($p_T$) dependencies of Symmetric and Asymmetric Correlations (SC and ASC) with one and two particles of interest in Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV. Leveraging the AMPT model, the investigation delves into the sensitivity of these correlations to the final state effects, providing valuable insights into their potential for constraining the final state effects' $p_T$ dependencies. The HIJING model is employed as a benchmark for non-flow correlations, shedding light on their impact on interpreting SC and ASC data. Moreover, the study points out that differential SC and ASC with one and two particles of interest (POIs) typically incorporate contributions from event-plane angle fluctuations. Consequently, this work highlights the significance of SC and ASC with one and two POIs as valuable tools for investigating the $p_T$ nature of the final state effects and advocates for comprehensive experimental measurements across various beam energies and system sizes to enhance our understanding and provide additional constraints for theoretical models.