Quark Matter 2005 Conference   Quark Matter 2005 Conference


Comparison of Phi properties as seen in dielectron and hadronic decay channels in Au+Au collisions by PHENIX at RHIC

Alexander V. Kozlov

Collaboration: PHENIX

Abstract:

The Phi meson is an important diagnostic tool for the state of matter produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions, since it is expected to be particularly sensitive to chiral symmetry restoration. PHENIX has the unique capability to measure the Phi meson through the electron-positron and $K^+K^-$ decay channels simultaneously. Because the electron-positron measurement can see decays that occur inside the dense medium, comparison of the Phi yields from these two channels is a powerful tool that may allow us to detect possible in-medium modifications of vector meson properties (mass and/or width). During the RHIC run 4 in 2004 the PHENIX experiment collected about 1.5 billion minimum bias events in AuAu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV. The results of the Phi meson production as determined by the two decay channels will be presented and compared.


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