Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2752

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    DIRECTED AND ELLIPTIC FLOW MEASUREMENTS: A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PARTICIPANT AND SPECTATOR PLANES IN Pb+Pb COLLISIONS AT √sNN = 5.02 TeV WITH CMS AT THE LHC
    (2024) Lascio, Samuel Andrew; Mignerey, Alice C.; Chemistry; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Directed and elliptic flow of unidentified charged hadrons at mid-rapidity are measured as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and pseudorapidity (η) in ultra-relativistic PbPb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The reaction plane (RP) angle is approximated using participants and spectator neutrons measured with the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector and the newly installed Spectator Reaction Plane Detector (SRPD), respectively. The SRPD is the latest addition to the existing Zero Degree Calorimeter (ZDC) designed to measure spectator neutrons +/- 140 m from the interaction point at CMS. The Event Plane (EP) Method is used to calculate the v1odd, v1even, and v2 harmonic flow parameters as functions of η and pT. The directed flow measurements using participants and spectators with CMS are compared and contrasted. Overall results are in good agreement between participants and spectators, however v1even(pT) measurements using spectators begin to show the opposite trend to those using participants at pT > 2 GeV/c. Results are compared to those obtained by A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE), which is another experiment at the CERN LHC. Directed flow results do not agree with those obtained by ALICE. Additionally, the first elliptic flow measurements using the EP Method and mixed harmonics with the SRPD are reported. A slight asymmetry in v2(η) is observed using spectators. The elliptic flow results do agree with ALICE. Tracking efficiency as determined by the CMS collaboration is applied to the data and potential corruption as a result is discussed. Results strongly support continued use of the SRPD as a spectator neutron detector for reaction plane determination within the CMS ZDC.
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    DIRECTED FLOW MEASUREMENTS USING THE SPECTATOR PLANE WITH THE CMS DETECTOR IN THE 2018 PB-PB RUN AT √SNN = 5.02 TEV
    (2022) Adams, Eric Brian; Mignerey, Alice C; Chemistry; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is used along with the Spectator Reaction PlaneDetectors (SRPD) to measure the directed flow signal, using spectator neutrons, in the 2018 √sNN = 5.02 TeV Pb-Pb run with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The Hadron Forward detector (HF), along with the tracker, is also used to measure the directed flow signal but instead uses participant nucleons. The results from the CMS 2018 Pb-Pb spectator and participant measurements of the directed flow signal are compared. These are the first spectator plane directed flow measurements from the CMS detector. The results are compared to the Pb-Pb collisions as reported by the A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE) collaboration in 2013 [1].
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    Jet Production Cross Section Measurement In √ s = 5.02 Tev pp Collisions
    (2021) Baron, Owen David Cadwalader; Mignerey, Alice C; Chemistry; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The study of jets offers insights into the nature of the basic partons composing matter, and enables further studies into the nature of the universe. This analysis presents the double-differential production cross section of radius parameter R = 0.3 proton-proton jets in units of pseudorapidity and transverse momentum at √ s = 5.02 TeV, measured in the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at the Large Hadron Collider experiment located at CERN. Jets are reconstructed using Particle Flow and the anti-kT algorithms. The methodology of correcting the detector response through Jet Energy Corrections and Bayesian unfolding is described with a detailed explanation. The results from data recorded in CMS in 2015 are shown and compared with leading-order theory-based simulated PYTHIA8 Monte Carlo events.
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    Nuclear Structure Studies of ${^78,80}$Ge and Adjacent Nuclei
    (2018) Forney, Anne Marie; Walters, William B; Chemistry; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The main topic of this thesis concerns the unusual features of the nuclear structure of $^{78}$Ge. The discovery of a sequence of levels separated by one unit of angular momentum for which the expected crossover transitions carrying two units of angular momentum are not observed. This result stands in contrast to the neighboring even-even Ge and Se nuclei, as well as the results of most model calculations. The level structures of adjacent $^{82,80}$Ge are also studied to place the results for $^{78}$Ge in context. Likewise, shell-model calculations are performed as comparisons with the structures for all three nuclei. The data come from experiments at Argonne National Laboratory using the Gammasphere detector array. These experiments are important because of the broad interest in the structure of $^{76}$Ge and neighboring nuclei, owing to a world-wide effort in the search for neutrinoless double $\beta$ decay. Owing to the unusual features of this level sequence, it is labelled as a $\kappa$ band, taken from the Greek word καινουργιος, meaning new. The results pose a challenge to theorists to find ways to develop models that can fit both these features, as well as the other aspects of the structure of $^{78}$Ge. In addition, this study is important determining why no sequence like this has been found in any of the adjacent nuclei.
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    A Probe of Colored Medium Effects on Quarkonia Polarization in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions at CMS
    (2017) Ferraioli, Charles Christopher; Mignerey, Alice C; Chemistry; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The suppression of quarkonia mesons is one of the signature indications of the presence of a quark-gluon plasma, the colored, asymptotically free state of matter believed to have existed moments after the Big Bang, and recreated by colliding heavy-ions. Two S-wave charmonia states, the J/ψ and the ψ(2S), along with three S-wave bottomonia states, the Υ(1S), Υ(2S), and Υ(3S), have been studied in heavy-ion collisions at both the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), showing clear sequential suppression patterns, with the most tightly bound states less suppressed than the others, relative to scaled proton-proton (pp) collisions. Yet, the results remain difficult to interpret, owing to a combination of complicated feed-down processes from P-wave χ states, as well as regeneration of quarkonia occurring well after the initial collision. Further, the basic production mechanism of quarkonia is still far from certain, leaving open the possibility that changing mechanisms could affect the scaling of pp yields. This thesis aims to be the first in a line of studies into the effects of a colored medium on the basic production mechanism of quarkonia by measuring quarkonia polarization. Polarization can be measured using the angular distributions of dimuons emanating from quarkonia decays, and the Compact Muon Solenoid detector is well suited for these measurements. The polarizations of the three Υ(nS) and two ψ(nS) states were measured versus event multiplicity using a dimuon data sample collected during the 2011 LHC run of √s = 7 TeV pp collisions, with a total integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb−1. The measurements were integrated over the available rapidity range, for transverse momentum up to 35 GeV/c. All quarkonia states showed small polarizations, which were cross checked across several reference frames, and are consistent with multiplicity-integrated analyses. In the states for which a precise measurement could be made, the J/ψ and the Υ(1S), there was no variation with multiplicity, but these states are strongly affected by feed-down, preventing any definitive conclusions. Ultimately, this study leads the way for a polarization measurement in heavy-ion collisions, which would provide a more decisive look into the affect of a colored medium on quarkonium production.
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    Directed Flow In Heavy Ion Collisions at sqrt{s_NN}=2.76 TeV
    (2015) Gomez, Jaime Arturo; Mignerey, Alice L; Chemical Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The directed flow of charged particles at midrapidity is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=2.76$ TeV relative to the collision Event Plane, defined by the participant plane using various subdetectors. The rapidity-even directed flow component is measured for the first time using an Event Plane weighted by the transverse momentum of the emitted charged hadrons and found to be largely independent of pseudorapidity with a sign change at transverse momenta $p_{T}$ between 1.2 and $1.7$  GeV/c. These results are compared to measurements made by two other experiments at the LHC. Combined with the observation from ALICE of a vanishing rapidity-even $p_{T}$ shift along the spectator deflection plane is strong evidence for dipole like initial density fluctuations in the overlap zone of the nuclei. These observations open new possibilities for investigation of the initial conditions in heavy-ion collisions with spectator nucleons.
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    Elliptic flow at forward rapidity in sqrt(s_(NN)) = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions
    (2012) Richardson, Eric; Mignerey, Alice C.; Chemistry; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Forward rapidity elliptic flow (v2) of both unidentified charged hadrons and decay muons has been measured from √sNN = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions as a function of pseudorapidity (η), transverse momentum, and number of nucleon collision participants. The measurements were performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider using the PHENIX experiment's Muon Arm spectrometers, located at 1.2 < |η| 􏰁 2.4. To identify hadrons, which consist mostly of pions, kaons, and protons, a longitudinal momentum cut was applied to tracks stopping in the shallow steel layers of the Muon Arms. Those particles traversing completely through the Muon Arms consist of mostly muons from pion and kaon decays. The standard event plane (EP) method was used to measure v2, whose accuracy was improved ∼20-25% by combining the measured EP angles of several detectors, instead of using the measured EP from a single detector. Additionally, a hit swapping technique was devised to optimize track cuts, estimate background, and apply a background correction. To investigate the ability of the Muon Arms to accurately measure unidentified hadron v2, a GEANT simulation was also undertaken. The forward rapidity v2 results show good agreement with mid-rapidity measurements for central collisions (􏰁 20-30% centrality), indicating a longitudinally extended thermalized medium with similar eccentricity, at least out to the Muon Arm η region. Only when compared to very forward BRAHMS measurements (η ≈ 3) is a v2 suppression seen for central collisions. For increasingly peripheral collisions, a growing suppression in v2 is observed for the Muon Arm measurements compared to mid-rapidity, indicating increased changes in the medium properties of ever smaller systems. For peripheral collisions of the same/similar centralities, an increased suppression is observed toward forward η.