PHENIX study of the initial state with forward hadron measurements in 200 GeV p(d)+A and 3He+Au collisions
Résumé
Forward hadron measurements in p(d)+A provide a signal to study nuclear shadowing, initial state energy loss and/or gluon saturation effects as a function of rapidity, centrality and energy. High p T identified π0 measurements are an essential first step toward measuring prompt photon production. The π0 measurements are enabled by the PHENIX MPC-EX detector, a Si-W preshower detector located in front of the Muon Piston Calorimeter (MPC), expanding the neutral pion reconstruction capabilities in the rapidity range 3.1 < η < 3.8 out to high energies, E < 80 GeV. Previous PHENIX measurements of punch-through charged hadrons in the muon arms in the rapidity range 1.4 < | η | < 2.2 were significantly improved through the capability of the forward silicon vertex detector (FVTX) to determine the transverse momentum and rapidity with high precision and reject background from secondary hadrons.