Experimental Studies of the Production of π0-Mesons and η-Mesons in U + U Interactions at an Energy of 192 GeV

Abstract

Studies of collisions between ultrarelativistic heavy nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) led to the discovery of a qualitatively new state of matter (strongly coupled quark–gluon plasma), in which quarks and gluons are not bound inside hadrons, but move freely within the volume of the created medium. The U + U collision system with an energy of 192 GeV at the RHIC is the heaviest system of colliding nuclei used in colliding beam experiments and allows us to obtain the highest energy density among systems of ultrarelativistic colliding nuclei. The results are presented from measuring factors of the nuclear modification of π⁰- and η-mesons in (U + U) collisions at an energy of 192 GeV.