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Experiments at the CERN SPS: first signals of deconfinement

Federico Antinori, Marek Gazdzicki, Tapan K. Nayak, Guy Paic, Karel Šafařík, Enrico Scomparin, Itzhak Tserruya, Emanuele Quercigh, Gianluca Usai

Abstract

Heavy-ion experiments at the CERN SPS began in the mid-1980s to study nuclear matter at extreme temperatures and densities. The program started with light ions, such as oxygen and sulphur, at energies of 60A GeV and 200A GeV, later advancing to lead ions at 158A GeV. A series of experiments, employing novel detector technologies, explored various signatures of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation. In February 2000, these results led CERN to announce evidence for the QGP formation. Subsequently, an energy scan was conducted with lead ions from 20A GeV to 158A GeV, to locate the threshold of QGP creation.

Experiments at the CERN SPS: first signals of deconfinement

Abstract

Heavy-ion experiments at the CERN SPS began in the mid-1980s to study nuclear matter at extreme temperatures and densities. The program started with light ions, such as oxygen and sulphur, at energies of 60A GeV and 200A GeV, later advancing to lead ions at 158A GeV. A series of experiments, employing novel detector technologies, explored various signatures of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation. In February 2000, these results led CERN to announce evidence for the QGP formation. Subsequently, an energy scan was conducted with lead ions from 20A GeV to 158A GeV, to locate the threshold of QGP creation.
Paper Structure (29 sections, 31 figures)

This paper contains 29 sections, 31 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Heavy ions at CERN: a brief history
  2. Experiment NA44 - particle correlations
  3. NA44 experimental setup
  4. Key findings from NA44
  5. Experiment NA45/CERES - Dileptons
  6. Brief history
  7. The CERES spectrometer
  8. Main results from CERES/NA45
  9. Experiments NA35 to NA49 - strangeness and fluctuations
  10. A note on NA35
  11. NA49 program
  12. NA49-2: collision energy dependence of hadron production
  13. Key findings from NA35 and NA49
  14. Experiments NA38 to NA50 - quarkonium suppression
  15. NA50 experimental setup
  16. ...and 14 more sections

Figures (31)

  • Figure 1: Timeline of the heavy-ion physics experiments program at the CERN SPS.
  • Figure 2: Setup of the first-generation heavy-ion experiments at the CERN SPS.
  • Figure 3: The NA44 experimental setup for Pb-Pb running (taken from Ref. Bearden:2000ex).
  • Figure 4: (Left) The source size at freeze-out as a function of charged particle multiplicity Bearden:2000ex. (Right) The inverse slope parameter $T$ as a function of particle mass NA44:1996xlh.
  • Figure 5: CERES setup for the 1995 and 1996 Pb beam runs. The original setup had one SiDC and a Si pad chamber downstream of the target, and no pad chamber and multiplicity array downstream of mirror-2. In the last two runs (1999 and 2000), these were replaced by a radial drift TPC to improve the spectrometer's mass resolution.
  • ...and 26 more figures