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“Ridge” in Proton-Proton Scattering at 7 TeV

K. Werner, Iu. Karpenko, and T. Pierog
Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 122004 – Published 24 March 2011
Physics logo See Synopsis: A melting pot of protons

Abstract

One of the most important experimental results for proton-proton scattering at the LHC is the observation of a so-called “ridge” structure in the two-particle correlation function versus the pseudorapidity difference Δη and the azimuthal angle difference Δϕ. One finds a strong correlation around Δϕ=0, extended over many units in Δη. We show that a hydrodynamical expansion based on flux tube initial conditions leads in a natural way to the observed structure. To get this result, we have to perform an event-by-event calculation, because the effect is due to statistical fluctuations of the initial conditions, together with a subsequent collective expansion. This is a strong point in favor of a fluidlike behavior even in pp scattering, where we have to deal with length scales of the order of 0.1 fm.

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  • Received 2 November 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.122004

© 2011 American Physical Society

Synopsis

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A melting pot of protons

Published 24 March 2011

Theorists uncover hints of a quark-gluon plasma in high-energy proton collisions at the LHC.

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Authors & Affiliations

K. Werner1, Iu. Karpenko2, and T. Pierog3

  • 1SUBATECH, University of Nantes—IN2P3/CNRS—EMN, Nantes, France
  • 2Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kiev 143, 03680, Ukraine
  • 3Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)—Campus North, Institut für Kernphysik, Karlsruhe, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 106, Iss. 12 — 25 March 2011

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