Nuclear Physics Seminar

The observation of long range correlations in highly asymmetric
systems as in p+Pb and d+Au collisions suggests the creation
of a medium with collective behavior. Single particle production has
proven to be a valuable tool to probe the quark-gluon plasma formed
in heavy ion collisions as it is sensitive to energy loss, modifications
of the nuclear wavefunction. It is an open question whether the apparent
medium in small-on-large collisions and the QGP in large-on-large
collisions is indeed the same, as is the role of the dynamics of
the projectile (nucleon) wavefunction. In order to address these
questions with a systematic study of highly asymmetric collisions,
the RHIC collider provided beams for p+Al, p+Au, d+Au and 3He+Au
collisions. The hadron production as a function of transverse
momentum (pT) and rapidity can provide us very useful information
about the evolution of the initial state and medium formation with
system size. We will present the neutral pion and charged hadron
measurements at forward, mid- and backward rapidities and discuss
the implications of the results.