Measurement of the higher-order anisotropic flow coefficients for identified hadrons in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV
nucl-ex
/ Authors
A. Adare, S. Afanasiev, C. Aidala, N. N. Ajitanand, Y. Akiba, H. Al-Bataineh, J. Alexander, K. Aoki, Y. Aramaki, E. T. Atomssa
and 377 more authors
R. Averbeck, T. C. Awes, B. Azmoun, V. Babintsev, M. Bai, G. Baksay, L. Baksay, K. N. Barish, B. Bassalleck, A. T. Basye, S. Bathe, V. Baublis, C. Baumann, A. Bazilevsky, S. Belikov, R. Belmont, R. Bennett, A. Berdnikov, Y. Berdnikov, A. A. Bickley, J. S. Bok, K. Boyle, M. L. Brooks, H. Buesching
/ Abstract
New PHENIX measurements of the anisotropic flow coefficients $v_2\{Ψ_2\}$, $v_3\{Ψ_3\}$, $v_4\{Ψ_4\}$ and $v_4\{Ψ_2\}$ for identified particles ($π^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, and $p+\bar{p}$) obtained relative to the event planes $Ψ_n$ in Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV are presented as functions of collision centrality and particle transverse momenta $p_T$. The $v_n$ coefficients show characteristic patterns consistent with hydrodynamical expansion of the matter produced in the collisions. For each harmonic $n$, a modified valence quark number $n_q$ scaling plotting $v_n/(n_q)^{n/2}$ versus ${\rm KE}_T/n_q$ is observed to yield a single curve for all the measured particle species for a broad range of transverse kinetic energies ${\rm KE}_T$. A simultaneous blast wave model fit to the observed particle spectra and $v_n(p_T)$ coefficients identifies spatial eccentricities $s_n$ at freeze-out, which are much smaller than the initial-state geometric values.