Understanding the J/psi Production Mechanism at PHENIX

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2010-01-01
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Kempel, Todd
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John G. Lajoie
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Physics and Astronomy
Physics and astronomy are basic natural sciences which attempt to describe and provide an understanding of both our world and our universe. Physics serves as the underpinning of many different disciplines including the other natural sciences and technological areas.
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Abstract

The large mass of the charm quark, along with the abundance of J/ψ mesons observed from proton-proton collisions at PHENIX, allow for new measurements which are sensitive to basic properties of QCD. Two measurements are presented in this document: a transverse single-spin asymmetry (SSA) of J/ψ production and the angular distribution for decay leptons in various reference frames. The decay distribution is directly sensitive to the J/ψ production mechanism, while the transverse SSA is also sensitive to the distribution of gluons in a transversely polarized proton. Taken together, the two measurements provide a wealth of information about the formation of a J/ψ meson.

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Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2010