Azimuthal Charged-Particle Correlations and Possible Local Strong Parity Violation
- Resource Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Source
- Physical Review Letter
- Subject
- 73 HADRONS
PARITY
PARTICLE RAPIDITY
QUANTUM CHROMODYNAMICS
QUARKS 251601
- Language
- English
Parity-odd domains, corresponding to non-trivial topological solutions of the QCD vacuum, might be created during relativistic heavy-ion collisions. These domains are predicted to lead to charge separation of quarks along the system's orbital momentum axis. We investigate a three particle azimuthal correlator which is a {Rho} even observable, but directly sensitive to the charge separation effect. We report measurements of charged hadrons near center-of-mass rapidity with this observable in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at {radical}s{sub NN} = 200 GeV using the STAR detector. A signal consistent with several expectations from the theory is detected. We discuss possible contributions from other effects that are not related to parity violation.