Photon decay in a strong magnetic field in heavy-ion collisions

Thumbnail Image
Date
2011-01-01
Authors
Major Professor
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract

We calculate the photon pair production rate in a strong magnetic field created in off-central heavy-ion collisions. Photon decay leads to depletion of the photon yield by a few percent at RHIC and by as much as 20% at the LHC. It also generates a substantial azimuthal asymmetry (“elliptic flow”) of the final photon distribution. We estimate v2 ≈ 2% at RHIC and v2 ≈ 14% at LHC. Photon decay measurements is an important tool for studying the magnetic fields in early stages of heavy-ion collisions.

Series Number
Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
Academic or Administrative Unit
Type
article
Comments

This article is from Physical Review C 83 (2011): 017901, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevC.83.017901. Posted with permission.

Rights Statement
Copyright
Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2011
Funding
DOI
Supplemental Resources
Collections