The study of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), a deconfined state of nuclear matter, remains a central focus of high-energy heavy-ion collision experiments. Light-flavor hadrons act as essential probes of the QGP, offering insights into its bulk properties. In particular, the pseudorapidity density of charged particles, which reflects the energy density achieved in such collisions, serves as a key...
Hadronic resonances are crucial probes to understand the various phases of matter created during relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Due to their short lifetimes, the yields of these resonances can be affected by competing rescattering and regeneration mechanisms in the final hadronic phase. Rescattering can alter the momentum of the resonance decay products, limiting their reconstruction...
Relativistic heavy-ion collisions create a hot, dense state of QCD matter called Quark–Gluon Plasma (QGP). In ultra-central collisions, the QGP volume saturates and remains constant; instead, entropy fluctuations cause temperature variations in the system. This property can be probed by measuring the correlation between the average transverse momentum (⟨$p_{\rm T}$⟩) and the multiplicity of...
Recent PP collisions at the highest available LHC energies (at 13 TeV CM energies) are performed with such a high luminosity, when the detected multiplicity dependence can be observed by high precision and its microscopical origin can be studied and discussed. Indeed, the measured hadron transverse momentum spectra differ at lower and higher final state multiplicities, which offers the...
sPHENIX is the first new collider detector experiment dedicated to heavy-ion physics since the inception of the LHC. Successfully commissioned in 2023–2024, one of its standout features is a streaming-capable tracking system that enables the collection of large, unbiased p+p datasets—previously unattainable at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Leveraging this capability, sPHENIX...
Electromagnetic probes are a unique tool for studying the space-time evolution of the hot and dense matter created in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Dielectron pairs are emitted during the entire evolution of the medium created in such collisions, allowing the extraction of the real direct photon fraction at vanishing mass and providing access to thermal radiation from the early hot...
