Measurement of transverse single-spin asymmetries for midrapidity production of neutral pions and charged hadrons in polarized p + p collisions at square root(s) = 200 GeV

Pseudorapidity Dependence of Particle Production and Elliptic Flow in Asymmetric Nuclear Collisions of p+Al, p+Au, d+Au, and ^{3}He+Au at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

Asymmetric nuclear collisions of p+Al, p+Au, d+Au, and ^{3}He+Au at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV provide an excellent laboratory for understanding particle production, as well as exploring interactions among these particles after their initial creation in the collision. We present measurements of charged hadron production dN_{ch}/dη in all such collision systems over a broad pseudorapidity range and as a function of collision multiplicity. A simple wounded quark model is remarkably successful at describing the full data set. We also measure the elliptic flow v_{2} over a similarly broad pseudorapidity range. These measurements provide key constraints on models of particle emission and their translation into flow.

Novel Functions of Death-Associated Protein Kinases through Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase-Related Signals

Death associated protein kinase (DAPK) is a calcium/calmodulin-regulated serine/threonine kinase; its main function is to regulate cell death. DAPK family proteins consist of DAPK1, DAPK2, DAPK3, DAPK-related apoptosis-inducing protein kinases (DRAK)-1 and DRAK-2. In this review, we discuss the roles and regulatory mechanisms of DAPK family members and their relevance to diseases. Furthermore, a special focus is given to several reports describing cross-talks between DAPKs and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) family members in various pathologies. We also discuss small molecule inhibitors of DAPKs and their potential as therapeutic targets against human diseases.

Charged hadron fragmentation functions from collider data: NNPDF Collaboration

We present NNFF1.1h, a new determination of unidentified charged-hadron fragmentation functions (FFs) and their uncertainties. Experimental measurements of transverse-momentum distributions for charged-hadron production in proton-(anti)proton collisions at the Tevatron and at the LHC are used to constrain a set of FFs originally determined from electron-positron annihilation data. Our analysis is performed at next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics. We find that the hadron-collider data is consistent with the electron-positron data and that it significantly constrains the gluon FF. We verify the reliability of our results upon our choice of the kinematic cut in the hadron transverse momentum applied to the hadron-collider data and their consistency with NNFF1.0, our previous determination of the FFs of charged pions, kaons, and protons/antiprotons.

Single Spin Asymmetries from a Single Wilson Loop

We study the leading-power gluon transverse-momentum-dependent distributions (TMDs) of relevance to the study of asymmetries in the scattering off transversely polarized hadrons. Next-to-leading-order perturbative calculations of these TMDs show that at large transverse momentum they have common dynamical origins but that in the limit of a small longitudinal momentum fraction x, only one origin remains. We find that in this limit, only the dipole-type gluon TMDs survive and become identical to each other. At small x, they are all given by the expectation value of a single Wilson loop inside the transversely polarized hadron, the so-called spin-dependent odderon. This universal origin of transverse spin asymmetries at small x is of importance to current and future experimental studies, paving the way to a better understanding of the role of gluons in the three-dimensional structure of spin-polarized protons.

Indication on the process dependence of the Sivers effect

We analyze the spin asymmetry for single inclusive jet production in proton-proton collisions collected by the AnDY experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Sivers asymmetry data from semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering experiments. In particular, we consider the role color gauge invariance plays in determining the process dependence of the Sivers effect. We find that after carefully taking into account the initial-state and final-state interactions between the active parton and the remnant of the polarized hadron, the calculated jet spin asymmetry based on the Sivers functions extracted from HERMES and COMPASS experiments is consistent with the AnDY experimental data. This provides a first indication for the process dependence of the Sivers effect in these processes. We also make predictions for both direct photon and Drell-Yan spin asymmetry, to further test the process dependence of the Sivers effect in future experiments.

Measurement of bottom versus charm as a function of transverse momentum with electron-hadron correlations in p + p collisions at square root of s = 200 GeV

The momentum distribution of electrons from semileptonic decays of charm and bottom quarks for midrapidity |y|<0.35 in p+p collisions at square root of s=200 GeV is measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over the transverse momentum range 2<pT<7 GeV/c. The ratio of the yield of electrons from bottom to that from charm is presented. The ratio is determined using partial D/D-->e(+/-)K(-/+)X (K unidentified) reconstruction. It is found that the yield of electrons from bottom becomes significant above 4 GeV/c in pT. A fixed-order-plus-next-to-leading-log perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculation agrees with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties. The extracted total bottom production cross section at this energy is sigma(bb)=3.2(-1.1)(+1.2)(stat)(-1.3)(+1.4)(syst)mub.

Partonic pole matrix elements for fragmentation

A model-independent analysis of collinear three-parton correlation functions for fragmentation is performed. By investigating their support properties it is shown, in particular, that the so-called partonic pole matrix elements vanish. This sheds new light on the understanding of transverse single spin asymmetries in various hard semi-inclusive reactions. Moreover, it gives additional strong evidence for the universality of transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions.

Sivers single-spin asymmetry in photon-jet production

We study a weighted asymmetry in the azimuthal distribution of photon-jet pairs produced in the process pp-->gamma jet X with a transversely polarized proton. We focus on the contribution of the Sivers effect only, considering experimental configurations accessible at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. We show that predictions for the asymmetry, obtained in terms of gluonic-pole cross sections calculable in perturbative QCD, can be tested and clearly discriminated from those based on a generalized parton model, involving standard partonic cross sections. Experimental measurements of the asymmetry will therefore test our present understanding of single-spin asymmetries.

Single electrons from heavy-flavor decays in collisions at

The invariant differential cross section for inclusive electron production in p+p collisions at [FORMULA: SEE TEXT] has been measured by the PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over the transverse momentum range 0.4<or=pT<OR=5.0 GeV/c in the central rapidity region ([FORMULA: SEE TEXT]). The contribution to the inclusive electron spectrum from semileptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy flavor, i.e., charm quarks or, at high , bottom quarks, is determined via three independent methods. The resulting electron spectrum from heavy-flavor decays is compared to recent leading and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations. The total cross section of charm quark-antiquark pair production is determined to be [FORMULA: SEE TEXT].