Dilepton mass spectra in p plus p collisions at root s=200 GeV and the contribution from open charm

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2009-01-05
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Adare, Andrew
Grau, Nathan
Hill, John
Lajoie, John
Lebedev, Alexandre
Ogilvie, Craig
Pei, H.
Rosati, Marzia
Skutnik, S.
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Ogilvie, Craig
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Physics and Astronomy
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Abstract

PHENIX has measured the electron-positron pair mass spectrum from 0 to 8 GeV/c(2) in p + p collisions at root s = 200 GeV. The contributions from light meson decays to e(+)e(-) pairs have been determined based on measurements of hadron production cross sections by PHENIX. Within the systematic uncertainty of similar to 20% they account for all e(+)e(-) pairs in the mass region below similar to 1 GeV/c(2). The e(+)e(-) pair yield remaining after subtracting these contributions is dominated by semileptonic decays of charmed hadrons correlated through flavor conservation. Using the spectral shape predicted by PYTHIA, we estimate the charm production cross section to be 544 +/- 39(stat) +/- 142(syst) +/- 200(model) pb. which is consistent with QCD calculations and measurements of single leptons by PHENIX.

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This is an article from Physics Letters B 670 (2009): 313, doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2008.10.064. Posted with permission.

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Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2008
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