Selected Experimental Results from Heavy-Ion Collisions at LHC

Abstract

We review a subset of experimental results from the heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) facility at CERN. Excellent consistency is observed across all the experiments at the LHC (at center of mass energy [subscript]sNN[/subscript] =2.76 TeV) for the measurements such as charged particle multiplicity density, azimuthal anisotropy coefficients, and nuclear modification factor of charged hadrons. Comparison to similar measurements from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at lower energy ([subscript]sNN[/subscript] =200 GeV) suggests that the system formed at LHC has a higher energy density and larger system size and lives for a longer time. These measurements are compared to model calculations to obtain physical insights on the properties of matter created at the RHIC and LHC.

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)

Ranbir Singh 1 and Lokesh Kumar 2, 3 and Pawan Kumar Netrakanti 4 and Bedangadas Mohanty 3

Academic Editor:Edward Sarkisyan-Grinbaum

1, Physics Department, University of Jammu, Jammu 180001, India
2, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
3, School of Physical Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar 751005, India
4, Nuclear Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India

Received 10 April 2013; Revised 29 July 2013; Accepted 6 August 2013

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

1. Introduction

The main goal of the high energy heavy-ion collisions is to study the phase structure of the quantum chromodynamic (QCD) phase diagram [1-3]. One of the most interesting aspects of these collisions is the possibility of forming a phase of deconfined quarks and gluons, a system that is believed to have existed in a few microseconds-old universe. First principle QCD calculations suggest that it is possible to have such a state of matter if the temperatures attained can be of the order of the QCD scale (~ 200 MeV) [4-6]. In laboratory, such temperatures could be attained by colliding heavy ions at relativistic energies. Furthermore, in very high energy collisions of heavy ions at the LHC and RHIC, the lifetime of the deconfined phase may be long enough to allow for the detailed study of the fundamental constituents (quarks and gluons) of the visible matter.

The results from heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have clearly demonstrated the formation of a deconfined system of quarks and gluons in Au+Au collisions at _sNN =200 GeV [7-11]. The produced system exhibits copious production of strange hadrons, shows substantial collectivity developed in the partonic phase, and exhibits suppression in high transverse momentum (_pT ) hadron production relative to p+p collisions and small fluidity as reflected by a small value of viscosity to entropy density ratio (η/s ). A factor of 14 increase in _sNN for Pb+Pb collisions at LHC is expected to unravel the temperature dependence of various observables and to extend the kinematic reach in rapidity and _pT of previous measurements at RHIC. On the other hand, the beam energy scan program at RHIC is expected to provide additional details of the QCD phase diagram not accessible at the LHC [12].

In this review paper, we discuss a subset of results that have come out from LHC Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV. We have divided the discussion into three sections. In the second section, we discuss the consistency of various measurements among the three LHC experiments that have heavy-ion programs: ALICE, ATLAS, and CMS. Section 2.1 discusses the results on the charged particle multiplicity. Section 2.2 discusses the results on azimuthal anisotropy, and Section 2.3 discusses the results on the nuclear modification factor.

In the third section, we make a comparative study between similar observables measured at lower energy collisions at RHIC and those from LHC. In doing this, we highlight the additional information that heavy-ion collisions at LHC bring compared to RHIC. In Section 3.1, we discuss the bulk properties at freeze-out that include results on multiplicity, average transverse mass and Bjorken energy density, volume and decoupling time, kinetic freeze-out temperature and average flow velocity, and fluctuations. Section 3.2 is devoted on the results to azimuthal anisotropy, where we discuss the energy dependence of _pT integrated _v2 , dependence of various azimuthal anisotropy coefficients on _pT , and flow fluctuations. In Section 3.3, we discuss results for nuclear modification factor.

In the fourth section, we present a comparison of various model calculations to the corresponding measurements at LHC. We concentrate mainly on the results for charged particle multiplicity density and K/π ratio in Section 4.1, azimuthal anisotropy in Section 4.2, and nuclear modification factor in Section 4.3.

Finally, we summarize our observations in the last section of the paper.

2. Consistency of Results among LHC Experiments

2.1. Charged Particle Multiplicity

One of the first measurements to come out of the heavy-ion collision program at LHC is the charged particle multiplicity per unit pseudorapidity in Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV. Figure 1 shows the centrality (reflected by the number of participating nucleons, _Npart , obtained from a Glauber model calculation [13]) dependence of d_Nch /dη at midrapidity for Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV from ALICE [14], CMS [15], and ATLAS [16] experiments. The error bars reflect statistical uncertainties. The ATLAS measurements of d_Nch /dη_|η=0 are obtained over |η|<0.5 using a minimum bias trigger with a central solenoid magnet off data set. The charged particles are reconstructed using two different algorithms using the information from pixel detectors covering |η|< 2.0. The _Npart values are obtained by comparing the summed transverse energy in the forward calorimeter over a pseudorapidity range 3.2<......|η|......<4.9 to a Glauber model simulation. The CMS results for d_Nch /dη_|η=0 are from the barrel section of the pixel tracker covering |η|< 2.5. The minimum bias trigger data set was in the magnetic field off configuration so as to improve the acceptance of low _pT particles. The centrality determinations as in the case of ATLAS experiment are done using information from hadron forward calorimeter (2.9...<...|η|...<...5.2 ) and Glauber model simulations. The ALICE measurement uses a minimum bias data set from the silicon pixel detector (|η|<2.0 ). The centrality selection is carried out using signals from VZERO detectors (2 arrays of 32 scintillator tiles) covering the regions 2.8...<...η...<...5.1 and -3.7...<...η...<...-1.7 , along with the corresponding Glauber modeling of the data.

Figure 1: (Color online) Average charged particle multiplicity per unit pseudorapidity (d_Nch /dη ) at midrapidity per participating nucleon (Y9;_Npart YA; ) pair plotted as a function of Y9;_Npart YA; for Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN = 2.76 TeV. The measurements are shown from ALICE [14], CMS [15], and ATLAS [16] experiments.

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

In spite of the difference in operating conditions and measurement techniques, the d_Nch /dη versus _Npart results for Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN = 2.76 TeV show a remarkable consistency across the three experiments. The results show that the charged particle multiplicity per unit pseudorapidity per nucleon pair increases from peripheral to central collisions. This gradual increase in d_Nch /dη per participating nucleon pair indicates that in central head-on collisions, where the number of participating nucleons is more, the charged particle production is different compared to that in peripheral collisions.

2.2. Azimuthal Anisotropy

Azimuthal anisotropy has been studied in great detail in heavy-ion collision experiments. It can provide information about initial stages of heavy-ion collisions. Figure 2 (top panels) shows the azimuthal anisotropy of produced charged particles (_vn =Y9;cos(n([varphi]-_Ψn ))YA; ) as a function of _pT for 30-40% Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV from the three different experiments: ATLAS, ALICE, and CMS. Here, [varphi] is the azimuthal angle of the produced particles, and _Ψn is the nth order reaction plane angle measured in the experiments. The left panel in the figure corresponds to _v2 , the middle panel corresponds to _v3 , and the right panel corresponds to _v4 , respectively. Bottom panels show the ratio of the experimental data to a polynomial fit to the ALICE data.

Figure 2: (Color online) _vn versus _pT at midrapidity for 30-40% Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV. The results are shown from different LHC experiments: CMS [17-20], ATLAS [21-24], and ALICE [25]. The bottom panels show the ratio of the experimental data to a polynomial fit to the ALICE data.

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

In the CMS experiment [17-20], the _v2 measurements use the information from the silicon tracker in the region |η|<2.5 with a track momentum resolution of 1% at _pT = 100 GeV/c kept within a magnetic field of 3.8 Tesla. The event plane angle (_Ψ2 ) is obtained using the information on the energy deposited in the hadron forward calorimeter. A minimum η gap of 3 units is kept between the particles used for obtaining _Ψ2 and _v2 . This ensures suppression of nonflow correlations which could arise, for example, from dijets. The event plane resolution obtained using three subevents technique varies from 0.55 to 0.84, depending on the collision centrality. The ATLAS experiment [21-24] measured _vn using the inner detectors in the |η|...<...2.5 , kept inside a 2 Tesla field of superconducting solenoid magnet. The event planes are obtained using forward calorimeter information, with a resolution varying from 0.2 to 0.85, depending on collision centrality. The ALICE experiment [25] measured _vn using charged tracks reconstructed from the Time Projection Chamber (|η|...<...0.8 ); the event plane was obtained using information from VZERO detectors kept at a large rapidity gap from the TPC. The momentum resolution of the tracks is better than 5%.

A very nice agreement for _v2 , _v3 , and _v4 versus _pT is found between all the experiments to a level of within 10% for most of the _pT ranges presented. The results show an increase of _v2 , _v3 , and _v4 values with _pT for the low _pT and a decrease for _pT above ~ 3 GeV/c . The hydrodynamical evolution of the system affects most of the low _pT particles and hence the increasing _vn at low _pT .

2.3. Nuclear Modification Factor

One of the established signatures of the QGP at top RHIC energy is the suppression of high transverse momentum (_pT ) particles in heavy-ion collisions compared to corresponding data from the binary collisions scaled p+p collisions. It has been interpreted in terms of energy loss of partons in QGP. This phenomenon is referred to as the jet quenching in a dense partonic matter. The corresponding measurement is called the nuclear modification factor (_RAA ).

Figure 3 shows the nuclear modification factor for inclusive charged hadrons measured at midrapidity in LHC experiments for Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN = 2.76 TeV. The nuclear modification factor is defined as _RAA =(d_NAA /dη^d2_pT )/(_TAB d_σNN /dη^d2_pT ) . Here, the overlap integral _TAB =_Nbinary /^{σinelasticpp} with _Nbinary being the number of binary collisions commonly estimated from Glauber model calculation and d_σNN /dη^d2_pT is the cross section of charged hadron production in p+p collisions at s = 2.76 TeV.

Figure 3: (Color online) Nuclear modification factor _RAA of charged hadrons measured by ALICE [26] and CMS [27] experiments at midrapidity for 0-5% most central Pb-Pb collisions at _sNN = 2.76 TeV. The boxes around the data denote _pT -dependent systematic uncertainties. The systematic uncertainties on the normalization are shown as boxes at _RAA = 1.

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

The ALICE experiment [26] uses the inner tracking system (ITS) and the time projection chamber (TPC) for vertex finding and tracking in a minimum bias data set. The CMS experiment [27] reconstructs charged particles based on hits in the silicon pixel and strip detectors. In order to extend the statistical reach of the _pT spectra in the highly prescaled minimum bias data recorded in 2011, it uses unprescaled single-jet triggers. Both experiments take the value of ^{σinelasticpp} =64±5 mb. The result shows that the charged particle production at high _pT in LHC is suppressed in heavy-ion collisions relative to nucleon-nucleon collisions. The suppression value reaches to a minimum at _pT 6-7 GeV/c and then gradually increases to attain an almost constant value at ~ 40 GeV/c . This can be understood in terms of energy loss mechanism differences in intermediate and higher _pT regions. The rise in the _RAA above _pT 6-7 GeV/c may imply the dominance of the constant fractional energy loss which is the consequence of flattening of the unquenched nucleon-nucleon spectrum. An excellent agreement for _RAA versus _pT for charged hadrons in 0-5% central Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV is observed between the two experiments.

Having discussed the consistency of these first measurements in Pb+Pb collisions among different experiments, the major detectors used, acceptances, and ways to determine centrality and event plane, we now discuss the comparison between measurements at RHIC and LHC heavy-ion collisions.

3. Comparison of LHC and RHIC Results

In the first subsection, we discuss the energy dependence of basic measurements made in heavy-ion collisions. These include d_Nch /dη , Y9;_mT YA; (_mT =^pT2 +^m2 ; here, m represents mass of hadron), Bjorken energy density (_...Bj ), life time of the hadronic phase (_τf ), system volume at the freeze-out, kinetic and chemical freeze-out conditions, and finally, the fluctuations in net-charge distributions. In the next subsection, we discuss the energy dependence of _pT integrated _v2 , _vn versus _pT , and flow fluctuations at RHIC and LHC. In the final subsection, we compare the nuclear modification factor for hadrons produced in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC.

3.1. Bulk Properties at Freeze-Out

3.1.1. Multiplicity

Figure 4(a) shows the charged particle multiplicity density at midrapidity (d_Nch /dη ) per participating nucleon pair produced in central heavy-ion collisions versus _sNN . We observe that the charged particle production increases by a factor 2 as the energy increases from RHIC to LHC. The energy dependence seems to rule out a logarithmic dependence of particle production with _sNN and supports a power law type of dependence on _sNN . The red solid curve seems to describe the full energy range. More detailed discussions on the energy dependence of these measurements can be found in [28].

(Color online) (a) d_Nch /dη per participating nucleon pair at midrapidity in central heavy-ion collisions as a function of _sNN . (b) Comparison of d_Nch /dη per participating nucleon at midrapidity in central heavy-ion collisions [15, 16, 29-37] to corresponding results from p+p (p- ) [38-47] and p(d) + A collisions [29, 48, 49].

(a) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(b) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Figure 4(b) shows the excess of d_Nch /dη /Y9;_Npart YA; in A+A collisions [15, 16, 29-37] over corresponding yields in p+p (p- ) [38-47] and p(d)+A collisions [29, 48, 49]. This observation also seen at RHIC persists at LHC but is proportionately larger at the higher energy collisions at the LHC. A power law fit to the p+p collision charged particle multiplicity density leads to a dependence ~^s0.11 , while those for A+A collisions go as ~^s0.15 . There is no scaling observed in the charged particle multiplicity density per participating nucleon, when compared between elementary collisions like p+p and heavy-ion collisions. This is a clear indication that A+A collisions at RHIC and LHC are not a simple superposition of several p+p collisions, whereas the p+A collisions scale with the p+p collisions.

3.1.2. Average Transverse Mass and Bjorken Energy Density

Figure 5(a) shows the Y9;_mT YA; values for pions in central heavy-ion collisions as a function of _sNN . The Y9;_mT YA; value increases with _sNN at lower AGS energies [50, 51], stays independent of _sNN for the SPS energies [52, 53], and then tends to rise further with increasing _sNN at the higher beam energies of LHC. About 25% increase in Y9;_mT YA; is observed from RHIC [41, 54] to LHC [55]. For a thermodynamic system, Y9;_mT YA; can be an approximate representation of the temperature of the system, and dN/dy [proportional, variant]ln(_sNN ) may represent its entropy [56]. In such a scenario, the observations could reflect the characteristic signature of a phase transition, as proposed by Van Hove [57]. Then, the constant value of Y9;_mT YA; versus _sNN has one possible interpretation in terms of formation of a mixed phase of a QGP and hadrons during the evolution of the heavy-ion system. The energy domains accessed at RHIC and LHC will then correspond to partonic phase, while those at AGS would reflect hadronic phase. However, there could be several other effects to which Y9;_mT YA; is sensitive, which also need to be understood for proper interpretation of the data [56].

(a) Y9;_mT YA; for charged pions in central heavy-ion collisions at midrapidity for AGS [50, 51], SPS [52, 53], RHIC [41, 54], and LHC [55] energies. The errors shown are the quadrature sum of statistical and systematic uncertainties. (b) The product of Bjorken energy density, _...Bj [58], and the formation time (τ ) in central heavy-ion collisions at midrapidity as a function of _sNN [59-64].

(a) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(b) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Figure 5(b) shows the product of the estimated Bjorken energy density (_...Bj =(1/(_{A[perpendicular]} τ))d_ET /dy ; _{A[perpendicular]} [58] is the transverse overlap area of the nuclei, and _ET is the transverse energy) and formation time (τ ) as a function of _sNN [59-64]. The product of energy density and the formation time at LHC seem to be a factor of 3 larger compared to those attained at RHIC. If we assume the same value of _τ0 (=1 fm/c) for LHC and RHIC, the Bjorken energy density is about a factor of 3 larger at the LHC compared to that at RHIC in central collisions.

3.1.3. Volume and Decoupling Time

The top panel of Figure 6 shows the energy dependence of the product of the three radii (_Rout , _Rside , and _Rlong ) obtained from pion HBT or Bose-Einstein correlation analysis. Here, the "out" corresponds to the axis pointing along the pair transverse momentum, the "side" to the axis perpendicular to it in the transverse plane, and the "long" corresponds to the axis along the beam (Bertsch-Pratt convention [65, 66]). The product of the radii is connected to the volume of the homogeneity region at the last interaction. The product of the three radii shows a linear dependence on the charged-particle pseudorapidity density. The data indicates that the volume of homogeneity region is two times larger at the LHC than at RHIC.

(a) Product of the three pion HBT radii at _kT (average transverse momenta of two pions) =0.3 GeV/c for central heavy-ion collisions at AGS [68], SPS [69, 70], RHIC [71, 72], and LHC [73] energies. (b) The decoupling time extracted from _Rlong (_kT ) for central heavy-ion collisions at midrapidity at AGS, SPS, RHIC, and LHC energies as a function of (d_Nch /dη^)1/3 .

(a) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(b) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Furthermore, within a hydrodynamic picture, the decoupling time for hadrons (_τf ) at midrapidity can be estimated from the magnitude of radii _Rlong as follows: ^Rlong2 = ^τf2 T_K2 (_mT /T)/_mTK1 (_mT /T) , with _mT =^mπ2 +^kT2 , where _mπ is the mass of the pion, T is the kinetic freeze-out temperature, and _K1 and _K2 are the integer-order modified Bessel functions [67]. For the estimation of _τf , the average value of the kinetic freeze-out temperature T is taken to be 120 MeV from AGS to LHC energies. However, the energy dependence of kinetic freeze-out temperature, as discussed in the next subsection, would provide a more accurate description of the _τf values. The extracted _τf values for central heavy-ion collisions at midrapidity at AGS [68], SPS [69, 70], RHIC [71, 72], and LHC [73] energies are shown as a function of cube root of d_Nch /dη in the bottom panel of Figure 6. We observe that _τf scales linearly with (d_Nch /dη^)1/3 and is about 10 fm/c at LHC energies. This value is about 40% larger than at RHIC. It may be noted that the above expression ignores transverse expansion of the system and finite chemical potential for pions. Also there are uncertainties associated with freeze-out temperature that could lead to variations in the extracted _τf values.

3.1.4. Freeze-Out Temperature and Radial Flow Velocity

The hadron yields and spectra reflect the properties of the bulk matter at chemical and kinetic freeze-out, respectively. Generally, the point at which the inelastic collisions cease is called the chemical freeze-out, and the point where even the elastic collisions stop is called the kinetic freeze-out.

The transverse momentum distribution of different particles contains two components: one random and the other collective. The random component can be identified with the temperature of the system at kinetic freeze-out (_Tkin ). The collective component, which could arise from the matter density gradient from the center to the boundary of the fireball created in high energy nuclear collisions, is called collective flow in transverse direction (Y9;βYA; ). Using the assumption that the system attains thermal equilibrium, the blast wave formulation can be used to extract _Tkin and Y9;βYA; . These two quantities are shown in Figure 7 versus _sNN [41, 55, 74-77]. For beam energies at AGS and above, one observes a decrease in _Tkin with _sNN . This indicates that the higher the beam energy is, the longer interactions are among the constituents of the expanding system and the lower the temperature. From RHIC top energy to LHC, there seems to be, however, a saturation in the value of _Tkin . In contrast to the temperature, the collective flow increases with the increase in beam energy, rapidly, reaching a value close to 0.6 times the speed of light at the LHC energy.

Kinetic freeze-out temperature (a) and radial flow velocity (b) in central heavy-ion collisions as a function of collision energy [41, 55, 74-77].

(a) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(b) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Figure 8 shows the chemical freeze-out temperature (_Tch ) versus the baryon chemical potential (_μB ) in central heavy-ion collisions [41, 55, 78-85]. These quantities are obtained by fitting the particle yields to a statistical model assuming thermal equilibrium within the framework of a Grand Canonical ensemble. There are two values of temperature quoted for LHC energies. A _Tch value of about 164 MeV and fixed _μB value of 1 MeV seem to reproduce the multistrange ratios (involving Ξ and Ω ) quite well but were observed to miss the data for p/π and Λ/π . On the other hand, the statistical thermal model prediction with _Tch =152 MeV and fixed _μB =1 MeV fits the measured p/π and Λ/π ratios better but misses the ratios involving multistrange hadrons [86]. This issue is not yet resolved, being possibly related to hadronic final state interactions [87]. The curve corresponds to generalization of the energy dependence of _Tch -_μB using statistical thermal model calculations [78, 79]. The model works within the framework of a Grand Canonical ensemble and takes as input the produced particle yields from experiments to extract the freeze-out parameters such as _Tch and _μB .

Figure 8: (Color online) Chemical freeze-out temperature versus baryon chemical potential in central heavy-ion collisions [41, 55, 78-85]. The curve corresponds to model calculations from [78, 79].

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

3.1.5. Fluctuations

One of the proposed signatures to search for the phase transition from hadronic to partonic medium is to study the net-charge fluctuations in heavy-ion collisions. The partonic phase has constituents with fractional charges, while the hadronic phase has constituents with integral units of charge; hence, the measure of the fluctuations in the net-charge particle production is expected to be different in these two cases. Specifically, net-charge fluctuations are expected to be smaller if the system underwent a phase transition. However, it is important to address how these fluctuations may or may not survive the evolution of the system in the heavy-ion collisions. An experimental measure of net-charge fluctuations is defined as ν(+-,dyn)=(Y9;_N+ (_N+ -1)YA;/Y9;^N+2 YA;)+(Y9;_N- (_N- -1)YA;/Y9;^N-2 YA;)-2(Y9;_N-N+ YA;/Y9;_N- YA;Y9;_N+ YA;) , where Y9;_N- YA; and Y9;_N+ YA; are average negative and positive charged particle multiplicity, respectively [88].

Figure 9 shows the product of ν(+-,dyn) and Y9;_Nch YA; (average number of charged particles) as a function of _sNN [89-91]. We find that this observable fluctuation rapidly decreases with _sNN and approaches expectation for a simple QGP-like scenario [92] as we move from RHIC to LHC energies. Given that several other observables already indicate that a hot and dense medium of color charges has been formed at RHIC and LHC, the net-charge fluctuation result may indicate that the observable ν(+-,dyn) is not sensitive enough to QGP physics or the process of hadronization washes out the QGP signal for this observable. It may be also noted that the model's results do not incorporate the acceptance effects and do not consider any dynamic evolution of the system like, for example, the dilution of the signals in the hadronization process.

Figure 9: (Color online) Energy dependence of net-charge fluctuations about midrapidity in central heavy-ion collisions at SPS [89], RHIC [90], and LHC [91] energies. Also shown are the expectations from a hadron resonance gas model and for a simple QGP picture [92].

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

3.2. Azimuthal Anisotropy

3.2.1. Energy Dependence of _pT Integrated _v2

Figure 10 shows the _pT integrated _v2 close to midrapidity of charged particles for collision centralities around 20-30% as a function of center of mass energy. We observe that there is an increase in magnitude of _v2 by about 30% from top RHIC energy (..._sNN = 200 GeV) to LHC energy (..._sNN =2.76 TeV). This needs to be viewed within the context of a similar magnitude of increase in Y9;_pT YA; of pions from RHIC to LHC energies. The increase of _v2 beyond beam energy of 10 GeV is logarithmic in _sNN . This is expected to be determined by the pressure gradient-driven expansion of the almond-shape fireball produced in the initial stages of a noncentral heavy-ion collision [93] while for _v2 measured at lower beam energies, the dependences observed are due to interplay of passing time of spectators and time scale of expansion of the system. A preference for an inplane emission versus out-of-plane ("squeeze-out") pattern of particles as a function of beam energy is observed. The experimental data used are from FOPI [94, 95], EOS, E895 [96], E877 [97], CERES [98], NA49 [99], STAR [100], PHOBOS [101], PHENIX [102], ALICE [25], ATLAS [103], and CMS [17-20] experiments. Charged particles are used for LHC, RHIC, CERES, and E877 experiments, pion data is used from NA49 experiment, protons' results are from EOS and E895 experiments, and FOPI results are for all particles with Z=1 .

Figure 10: (Color online) Transverse momentum integrated _v2 close to midrapidity for charged (Z=1) particles for collision centralities around 20-30% as a function of center of mass energy.

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

3.2.2. Azimuthal Anisotropy Coefficients versus Transverse Momentum

Figure 11(a) shows the comparison of _v2 (_pT ) , _v3 (_pT ) , and _v4 (_pT ) for 30-40% collision centrality at RHIC (PHENIX experiment [104]) and LHC (ALICE [105]) at midrapidity in Au+Au and Pb+Pb collisions, respectively. The bottom panel of this figure shows the ratio of LHC and RHIC results to a polynomial fit to the LHC data. The _vn (_pT ) measurement techniques are similar at RHIC and LHC energies. One observes that at lower _pT (< 2 GeV/c ), the _v2 (_pT ) and _v3 (_pT ) are about 10-20% smaller at RHIC compared to the corresponding LHC results. However, at higher _pT , the results are quite similar. The _v4 (_pT ) seems higher at RHIC compared to that at LHC.

(Color online) (a) Comparison of _vn (_pT ) at midrapidity for 30-40% collision centrality at RHIC (Au+Au collisions at _sNN =200 GeV from PHENIX experiment [104]) and at LHC (Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN = 2.76 TeV from ALICE experiment [105]). (b) show the ratio of _vn at LHC and RHIC. (b) _v2 versus _pT and _v2 /_nq versus _pT /_nq for pions and protons at midrapidity for 10-20% collision centrality from Au+Au collisions at _sNN =200 GeV (PHENIX experiment [106]) and Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV (ALICE experiment [107]).

(a) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(b) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

One of the most striking observations to come out from RHIC is the number of constituent quark (_nq ) scaling of _v2 (_pT ) for identified hadrons. The basis of such a scaling is the splitting of _v2 (_pT ) between baryons and mesons at intermediate _pT (2-6 GeV/c ). This is shown in the bottom panels of Figure 11(b). Such a splitting between baryon and meson _v2 (_pT ) is also observed at intermediate _pT at LHC energies (seen in the top panels of Figure 11(b)). However, the degree to which _nq scaling holds could be different at RHIC [106] and LHC [107] energies. The _nq scaling is much more closely followed at RHIC compared to LHC. It may be noted that there are several factors which could dilute such scaling, which include energy dependence of radial flow, an admixture of higher Fock states, and consideration of a realistic momentum distribution of quarks inside a hadron [108, 109]. The observation of the baryon-meson splitting is commonly interpreted as due to substantial amount of collectivity being generated in the deconfined phase. Another important feature is that at both RHIC and LHC energies, a clear hydrodynamic feature of mass dependence of _v2 (_pT ) is observed at low _pT (< 2 GeV/c ).

Figure 12 shows the charged hadron _v2 (_pT ) for 30-40% collision centrality in Au+Au collisions at _sNN = 200 GeV and Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV for |η|<1 [17-20]. This figure demonstrates the kinematic reach for higher energy collisions at LHC relative to RHIC. LHC data allows us to study the _v2 (_pT ) in the _pT range never measured before in heavy-ion collisions. The _v2 (_pT )~0 for _pT >40 GeV/c might suggest that those particles must have been emitted very early in the interactions when the collective effects had not set in. These high transverse momentum data are useful to understand the effects of the initial geometry or path-length dependence of various properties associated with parton modification inside the hot QCD medium. In addition, it also provides significantly improved precision measurement of _v2 for 12<_pT <20 GeV/c .

Figure 12: (Color online) Comparison of _v2 (_pT ) at midrapidity for 30-40% collision centrality at RHIC (Au+Au collisions at _sNN = 200 GeV from STAR experiment) and at LHC (Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV from CMS experiment [17-20]). The shaded band about CMS data point are systematic errors and vertical lines represent statistical errors.

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

3.2.3. Flow Fluctuations

Fluctuations in azimuthal anisotropy coefficient _v2 have gained quite an attention in recent times. In particular, the measurement of event-by-event _v2 fluctuations can pose new constraints on the models of the initial state of the collision and their subsequent hydrodynamic evolution. In extracting event-by-event _v2 fluctuations, one needs to separate nonflow effects, and so far, there is no direct method to decouple _v2 fluctuations and nonflow effects in a model independent from the experimental measurements. However, several techniques exist where the nonflow effects can be minimized; for example, flow and non-flow contributions can be possibly separated to a great extent with a detailed study of two particle correlation function in Δ[varphi] and its dependence on η and Δη . Here, we discuss another technique to extract and compare the _v2 fluctuations at RHIC and LHC. We assume that the difference between _v2 {2} (two-particle cumulant) and _v2 {4} (four-particle cumulant) is dominated by _v2 fluctuations, and nonflow effect is negligible for _v2 {4} . Then, the ratio _Rv(2-4) =(_v2 {2^}2 -_v2 {4^}2 )/(_v2 {2^}2 +_v2 {4^}2 ) can be considered as an estimate for _v2 fluctuations in the data. Figure 13 shows the _Rv(2-4) as a function of collision centrality and Y9;d_Nch /dηYA; for RHIC [110] and LHC [107] energies. The centrality dependence of _Rv(2-4) at RHIC or LHC as seen in Figure 13 could be an interplay of residual nonflow effects which increases for central collisions and multiplicity fluctuations which dominate smaller systems. It is striking to see that _Rv(2-4) when presented as a function of % cross section is similar at RHIC and LHC, suggesting it reflects features associated with initial state of the collisions, for example, the event-by-event fluctuations in the eccentricity of the system. But when presented as a function of d_Nch /dη , it tends to suggest a different behavior for most central collisions at RHIC.

(Color online) The ratio _Rv(2-4) =(_v2 {2^}2 -_v2 {4^}2 )/(_v2 {2^}2 +_v2 {4^}2 ) , an estimate of _v2 fluctuations plotted as a function of collision centrality (a) and Y9;d_Nch /dηYA; (b) for RHIC (STAR experiment: Au+Au collisions at _sNN =200 GeV [110]) and LHC (ALICE: Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV [107]) at midrapidity. The bands reflect the systematic errors.

(a) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(b) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Recently, a great interest has been generated on extracting initial condition and flow fluctuation information from the measurement of the probability distribution of _vn at LHC. The probability density of _vn can be expressed as a Gaussian function in transverse plane [111] as p(_vn )=(1/2π^{δ_vn 2} )^{e-(_vn -vn RP )2 /(2δ_vn 2 )} or as one dimensional Bessel-Gaussian function [112, 113] as p(_vn )=(_vn /^{δ_vn 2} )^{e-(((_vn)2 +(vnRP)2 )/2δ_vn 2 )}_I0 (^vnRP_vn /^{δ_vn 2} ) , where _I0 is the modified Bessel function of the first kind and _δvn is the fluctuation in _vn , with _δvn [approximate]_σvn for _δvn ...a;^vnRP (_vn measured with respect to reaction plane).

Figure 14 shows the ^v2RP and _δv2 values extracted from the _v2 distributions as a function of Y9;_Npart YA; by fitting to the above probability functions [114]. They are compared with values of Y9;_v2 YA; and _σv2 obtained directly from the _v2 distributions. The ^v2RP value is always smaller than the value for Y9;_v2 YA; , and it decreases to zero in the 0-2% centrality interval. The value of _δv2 is close to _σv2 , except in the most central collisions. This leads to a value of _δv2 /^v2RP larger than _σv2 /Y9;_v2 YA; over the full centrality range as shown in Figure 14(c). The value of _δv2 /^v2RP decreases with Y9;_Npart YA; and reaches a minimum at Y9;_Npart YA;[approximate]200 but then increases for more central collisions. Thus, the event-by-event _v2 distribution brings additional insight for the understanding of _v2 fluctuations.

(Color online) The dependence of ^v2RP and Y9;_v2 YA; (a), _δv2 and _σv2 (b), and _δv2 /^v2RP and _σv2 /Y9;_v2 YA; (c) on Y9;_Npart YA; [114]. The shaded boxes indicate the systematic uncertainties.

(a) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(b) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(c) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

3.3. Nuclear Modification Factor

Figure 15 shows the _RAA of various particles produced in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC. In Figure 15(a), we observe that the shape of the _RAA versus _pT of charged hadrons at RHIC and LHC [26, 27] is very similar for the common _pT range of measurements. The values _RAA at RHIC are higher compared to those at LHC energies up to _pT <8 GeV/c . The higher kinematic reach of LHC in _pT allows us to see the full _pT evolution of _RAA in high energy heavy-ion collisions. All these measurements suggest that the energy loss of partons in the medium formed in heavy-ion collisions at LHC energies is perhaps larger compared to that at RHIC. In Figure 15(b), we observe that the nuclear modification factors for d+Au collisions at _sNN =200 GeV [115] and p+Pb collisions at _sNN =5.02 TeV [116] are greater than unity for the _pT >2 GeV/c . The values for RHIC are slightly larger compared to those for LHC. A value greater than unity for the nuclear modification factor in p(d)+A collisions is generally interpreted as due to Cronin effect [117, 118]. However, several other physics effects could influence the magnitude of the nuclear modification factor in p(d)+A collisions such as nuclear shadowing and gluon saturation effects. But the results that the nuclear modification factors in p(d)+A collisions are not below unity strengthen the argument (from experimental point of view) that a hot and dense medium of color charges is formed in A+A collisions at RHIC and LHC. In Figure 15(c), we show the _RAA of particles that do not participate in strong interactions, and some of them are most likely formed in the very early stages of the collisions. These particles (photon [119, 120], ^W± [121], and Z [122] bosons) have an _RAA ~ 1, indicating that the _RAA <1 , observed for charged hadrons in A+A collisions, is due to the strong interactions in a dense medium consisting of color charges.

(Color online) (a) Nuclear modification factor _RAA of charged hadrons measured by ALICE [26] and CMS [27] experiments at midrapidity for 0-5% most central Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV. For comparison, shown are the _RAA of charged hadrons at midrapidity for 0-5% most central collisions measured by STAR [115] and _RAA of ^π0 at midrapidity for 0-10% most central collisions measured by PHENIX [173] for Au+Au collisions at _sNN =200 GeV. (b) Comparison of nuclear modification factor for charged hadrons versus _pT at midrapidity for minimum bias collisions in d+Au collisions at _sNN =200 GeV [115] and p+Pb collisions at _sNN =5.02 TeV [116]. (c) The nuclear modification factor versus _pT for isolated photons in central nucleus-nucleus collisions at _sNN =200 GeV [119] and 2.76 TeV [120]. Also shown are the _pT integrated _RAA of ^W± [121] and Z bosons [122] at corresponding _mT at LHC energies. Open and shaded boxes represents the systematic uncertainties in the experimental measurements and normalization uncertainties, respectively.

(a) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(b) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(c) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

4. Comparison to Model Calculations

In this section, we compare some of the experimental observables discussed above with corresponding model calculations. This helps us to interpret the data at both RHIC and LHC energies. We restrict our discussion on the comparison of the models with the experimental data for charged particle production, ratio of kaon to pion yields as a function of beam energy, _pT dependence of _v2 , and _RAA for charged particles and pions. For the charged particle production, we compare the experimental data with models inspired by the perturbative QCD-based calculations (HIJING, DPMJET) with macroscopic models (statistical and hydrodynamical), microscopic models (string, transport, cascade, etc.), and calculations which are derived by the different parametrizations of the nucleon-nucleon and nucleus-nucleus lower energy data. The ratio of kaon to pion yields for different beam energies is compared with the statistical and thermal models. The transverse momentum dependence of _v2 is compared with models incorporating the calculations based on hydrodynamic and transport approaches. Finally, the _RAA results are compared with the perturbative QCD-based calculations with different mechanism for the parton energy loss in the presence of colored medium.

4.1. Charged Particle Multiplicity Density and Particle Ratio

Figure 16 compares the measured charged particle pseudorapidity density at RHIC (0.2 TeV) and LHC (2.76 TeV) energies to various model calculations.

(Color online) Comparison of d_Nch /dη measurement at midrapidity for central heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC with model predictions.

(a) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(b) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Empirical extrapolation from lower energy data (named "Busza" in the figure) [123] significantly under-predicts the measurement at LHC energies. A simple power-law growth of charged-particle multiplicities near midrapidity in central Au+Au collisions seems to be followed up to RHIC energies (named as "Barshay and Kreyerhoff" in the figure) [124]. Perturbative QCD-inspired Monte Carlo event generators, the HIJING model without jet quenching [125], the Dual Parton Model [126] (named "DPMJET III" in the figure), and the Ultrarelativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics model [127] (named "UrQMD" in the figure) are consistent with the measurement. The HIJING model results without jet quenching were also consistent with the RHIC measurements. The semimicroscopic models like LEXUS are successful in explaining the observed multiplicity at RHIC (named as "Jeon and Kapusta" in the figure) [128]. Models based on initial-state gluon density saturation have a range of predictions depending on the specifics of the implementation [129-133]. The best agreement with LHC data happens for model as described in (named as "Kharzeev et al." and "Armesto et al." in the figure) [131, 133]. Conclusions for RHIC energy from these models are similar. The prediction of a hybrid model based on hydrodynamics and saturation of final-state phase space of scattered partons (named as "Eskola et al." in the figure) [134] is slightly on a higher side compared to the measurement at LHC. But such a model seems to do a reasonable job for RHIC energies [135]. Another hydrodynamic model in which multiplicity is scaled from p+p collisions overpredicts the measurement (named as "Bozek et al." in the figure) [136]. Models incorporating constituent quark scaling and Landau hydrodynamics (named as "Sarkisyan and Sakharov" in the figure) [137, 138] and based on modified PYTHIA and hadronic re-scattering (named as "Humanic" in the figure) [139] underpredict the measurement at LHC energy. At RHIC energies, models considering minijet production in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions by taking semihard parton rescatterings explicitly into account underpredict the multiplicities (named as "Accardi" in the figure) [140]. It is also seen at RHIC energies that models based on string fusion [141] and dual string model [142] seem to work well, whereas those based on heavy-ion cascade LUCIFER model [143] underpredict the data.

Figure 17 shows the (d_Nch /dη)/(Y9;_Npart YA;/2) versus Y9;_Npart YA; for Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV [14]. Also shown are the corresponding RHIC results scaled up by a factor 2.15. Remarkable similarity is observed in the shape of the distributions at RHIC and LHC energies. Particle production based on saturation model explains the trends nicely (named as "ALbacete and Dumitru" in the figure) [144] (published after the most central d_Nch /dη value [25] was known). simple fit to the data using a power law form for the Y9;_Npart YA; also explains the measurements. In addition, a functional form inspired by the detailed shape of pseudorapidity distribution of charged particle multiplicity distributions at RHIC [47] explains the centrality trends nicely.

Figure 17: (Color online) Centrality dependence of (d_Nch /dη)/(Y9;_Npart YA;/2) for Pb+Pb collisions at _sNN =2.76 TeV [14] and Au+Au collisions at _sNN =200 GeV. The RHIC results are scaled up by a factor of 2.15. Also shown are comparisons to theoretical model calculations [144] and some parametrization based on detail shape of d_Nch /dη distributions at RHIC [47] and Y9;_Npart YA; .

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

Strangeness production in heavy-ion collisions is a classic signature for formation of QGP [145]. The particle yield ratio K/π could reflect the strangeness enhancement in heavy-ion collisions with respect to the elementary collisions. Figure 18 shows the energy dependence of ^K± /^π± ratio for central collisions at midrapidity. It will be interesting to see which model explains such an impressive collection of systematic data on K/π ratio. Figure 18 also shows the energy dependence of K/π ratio from various theoretical model calculations. The energy dependence of ^K+ /^π+ ratio has been interpreted using the Statistical Model of Early Stage (SMES) [146]. The model predicts first-order phase transition and the existence of mixed phase around beam energy of 7-8 GeV. The SHM or statistical hadronization model [147] assumes that the strong interactions saturate the particle production matrix elements. This means that the yield of particles is controlled predominantly by the magnitude of the accessible phase space. The system is in chemical nonequilibrium for _sNN <7.6 GeV, while for higher energies, the oversaturation of chemical occupancies is observed. The statistical model [148] assumes that the ratio of entropy to ^T3 as a function of collision energy increases for mesons and decreases for baryons. Thus, a rapid change is expected at the crossing of the two curves, as the hadronic gas undergoes a transition from a baryon-dominated to a meson-dominated gas. The transition point is characterized by T=140 MeV, _μB =410 MeV, and _sNN =8.2 GeV. In the thermal model [79], the energy dependence of ^K± /^π± is studied by including σ -meson, which is neglected in most of the models, and many higher mass resonances (m>2 GeV/^c2 ) into the resonance spectrum employed in the statistical model calculations. The hadronic nonequilibrium kinetic model [149] assumes that the surplus of strange particles is produced in secondary reactions of hadrons generated in nuclear collisions. Then, the two important aspects are the available energy density and the lifetime of the fireball. It is suggested that these two aspects combine in such a way so as to show a sharp peak for the strangeness-to-entropy or K/π ratio as a function of beam energy. In the hadron resonance gas and hagedorn (HRG+Hagedorn) model [150], all hadrons as given in PDG with masses up to 2 GeV/^c2 are included. The unknown hadron resonances in this model are included through Hagedorn's formula for the density of states. The model assumes that the strangeness in the baryon sector decays to strange baryons and does not contribute to the kaon production. The energy dependence of ^K± /^π± ratio seems to be best explained using HRG+Hagedorn model.

Figure 18: (Color online) Energy dependence of ^K± /^π± ratio for central collisions at midrapidity. Errors are statistical and systematic added in quadrature. Results are also compared with various theoretical model predictions [79, 147-150].

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

This systematic measurement of K/π ratio reveals two interesting pieces of information. (a) The ^K+ /^π+ ratio shows a peak around _sNN =8 GeV, while the ^K- /^π- ratio increases monotonically; the peak indicates the role of the maximum baryon density at freeze-out around this collision energy. (b) For _sNN >100 GeV, pair production becomes the dominant mechanism for ^K± production, so both the ratios ^K+ /^π+ and ^K- /^π- approach the value of 0.16. Taking into account the different masses between pions and kaons, this asymptotic value corresponds to a temperature of the order of 160 MeV.

4.2. Azimuthal Anisotropy

The azimuthal anisotropy parameter _v2 , measured at RHIC and LHC, provides a unique opportunity to study the transport properties of the fundamental constituents of any visible matter, a system of quarks and gluons. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity to understand whether the underlying dynamics of the evolution of the system formed in the collisions are governed by macroscopic hydrodynamics [151-153] or by microscopic transport approach [154]. Figure 19 shows the _v2 versus _pT for 30-40% collision centrality Au+Au and Pb+Pb collisions at midrapidity for _sNN =200 GeV and 2.76 TeV, respectively. The measurements are compared to a set of model calculations based on hydrodynamic approach (including THERMINATOR [155, 156]) and another set of calculations based on transport approach. It is observed that hydrodynamic-based models explain the _v2 measurements both at RHIC and LHC energies. Transport-based models including partonic interactions (like AMPT [154]) also explain the _v2 measurements. However, those transport models which do not incorporate partonic interactions like UrQMD [157, 158] fail to explain the data. The model comparison also reveals that the data favors a high degree of fluidity reflected by a small value of shear viscosity to entropy density ratio (η/s)...<...0.2 . A more detailed comparison of the model calculations with various order azimuthal anisotropy parameters _vn would in the near future give us a more quantitative picture of the temperature (or energy) dependence of transport coefficients of the system formed in the heavy-ion collisions.

Figure 19: (Color online) The azimuthal anisotropy parameter _v2 , measured in noncentral heavy-ion collisions at midrapidity for RHIC and LHC energies. For comparison, shown are the various theoretical calculations based on hydrodynamic and transport approaches (see text for details).

[figure omitted; refer to PDF]

4.3. Nuclear Modification Factor

The nuclear modification factor (_RAA ) is an observable used to study the structure of strongly interacting dense matter formed in heavy-ion collisions. Here, we discuss the observation of _RAA <1 at high _pT seen at RHIC and LHC by comparing two models within perturbative QCD- (pQCD-) based formalisms. In this picture, the high _pT hadrons are expected to originate from the fragmentation of hard partons (hard scattering scales larger than QCD scales of 200 MeV). The hard partons lose energy through interactions with the hot and dense mediums, which get reflected in the observed values of _RAA . The processes by which they could lose energy includes radiative energy loss and elastic energy loss. For a more elaborate discussion on these models, we refer the reader to the review article [159].

In Figure 20, we show a comparison between experimentally measured _RAA versus _pT at LHC and RHIC energies and corresponding pQCD-based model calculations. All theoretical formalisms require a microscopic model of the medium to set the input parameters for the energy loss calculation. These parameters, for example, are denoted as Y9;q^YA; , the transport coefficient of the medium or the gluon number density d^Ng /dy per unit rapidity. The parameter _Pesc , on the other hand, reflects the strength of elastic energy loss put in the model calculations. Without going into deeper theoretical discussions of each model, we refer the readers to the following related publications: PQM [160], GLV [161], ASW [162], YaJEM [163], WHDG [164], and ZOWW [165]. However, for completeness and to elucidate the approach taken in the model calculations, we briefly mention two formalisms as examples: the GLV approach named after their authors Gyulassy, Levai, and Vitev and ASW approach named after the corresponding authors Armesto, Salgado and Wiedemann, where the medium is defined as separated heavy static scattering centers with color screened potentials, where as in some other formalism, a more precise definition of the medium is considered as being composed of quark gluon quasiparticles with dispersion relations and interactions given by the hard thermal loop effective theory.

(Color online) Measurements of the nuclear modification factor _RAA in central heavy-ion collisions at two different center-of-mass energies, as a function of _pT , for pions (^π±,0 ) [174, 175] and charged hadrons [26, 27], compared to several theoretical predictions (see text). The error bars on the points are the statistical uncertainties, and the boxes around the data points are the systematic uncertainties. Additional absolute normalization uncertainties of order 5% to 10% are not plotted. The bands for several of the theoretical calculations represent their uncertainties.

(a) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

(b) [figure omitted; refer to PDF]

We observe that most models predict the _pT dependence of _RAA well for collisions both at RHIC and LHC energies. The models specially capture the generally rising behavior of _RAA that is observed in the data at high _pT for the LHC energies. The magnitude of the predicted slope of _RAA versus _pT varies between models, depending on the assumptions for the jet-quenching mechanism. The models shown do not need larger values of medium density in the calculation to explain the _RAA for 3<_pT <20 GeV/c at RHIC and LHC for the common kinematic range. They however, require a high medium density at LHC energy to explain the values of _RAA for _pT >20 GeV/c .

5. Summary

In summary, the results on multiplicity density in pseudorapidity, HBT, azimuthal anisotropy, and nuclear modification factor from LHC experiments indicate that the fireball produced in these nuclear collisions is hotter, lives longer, and expands to a larger size at freeze-out compared to lower energies. These results also confirm the formation of a deconfined state of quarks and gluons at RHIC energies. The measurements at LHC provide a unique kinematic access to study in detail the properties (such as transport coefficients) of this system of quarks and gluons.

In this review, we showed that the first set of measurements made by the three LHC experiments within the heavy-ion programs, ALICE, ATLAS, and CMS, show a high degree of consistency. These measurements include centrality dependence of charged particle multiplicity, azimuthal anisotropy, and nuclear modification factor versus transverse momentum. Next, we discussed the comparison of various measurements made at RHIC and LHC energies. LHC measurements of d_Nch /dη clearly demonstrated the power law dependence of charged particle multiplicity on the beam energy. They also reconfirmed the observation at RHIC that particle production mechanism is not a simple superposition of several p+p collisions. The values of Y9;_mT YA; , _...Bj , freeze-out volume, decoupling time for hadrons, and Y9;_v2 YA; and Y9;βYA; are larger at LHC energies compared to those at RHIC energies, even though the freeze-out temperatures are comparable. The value of the net-charge fluctuation measure is observed to rapidly approach towards a simple model-based calculation for QGP state. However, the sensitivity of this observable for a heavy-ion system as well as the lack of proper modeling of the heavy-ion system theoretically for such an observable needs careful consideration. The _v2 fluctuations as a function of centrality fraction have a similar value at both RHIC and LHC. This reflects their sensitivity to initial state effects. Just like at RHIC, the _RdAu and direct photon _RAA measurements experimentally demonstrated that the observed _RAA <1 for charged hadrons is a final state effect; also at LHC, the _RpPb , direct photon, and ^W± and ^Z0 _RAA measurements showed that the observed _RAA ...<...1 is indeed due to formation of a dense medium of colored charges in central heavy-ion collisions. All these conclusions were further validated by the comparison of several observables to corresponding model calculations. Further, it was found that the fluid at LHC shows a comparable degree of fluidity as that at RHIC. This is reflected by a small value of shear viscosity to entropy density ratio.

Measurements-related heavy quark production [166-168], dilepton production, jet-hadron correlations [169, 170], and higher-order azimuthal anisotropy [171, 172] which are now coming out of both RHIC and LHC experiments will provide a much more detailed characterization of the properties of the QCD matter formed in heavy-ion collisions.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank F. Antinori, S. Gupta, D. Keane, A. K. Mohanty, Y. P. Viyogi, and N. Xu for reading the paper and for their helpful discussions and comments. Bedangadas Mohanty is supported by the DAE-SRC project fellowship for this work. Lokesh Kumar is partly supported by the DOE Grant DE-FG02-89ER40531 for carrying out this work.

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