THE DIJET CROSS SECTION MEASUREMENT IN PROTON-PROTON COLLISIONS AT A CENTER OF MASS ENERGY OF 500 GEV AT STAR

Author

Grant D. Webb, University of KentuckyFollow

Date Available

5-5-2014

Year of Publication

2014

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Physics and Astronomy

First Advisor

Dr. Renee Fatemi

Abstract

Polarized deep inelastic scattering experiments play a vital role in the exploration of the spin structure of the proton. The polarized proton-proton collider at RHIC provides direct access to the gluon spin distribution through longitudinal double spin asymmetry measurements of inclusive jets, pions, and dijets. This thesis presents the measurement of the dijet double differential cross-section in proton-proton collisions at center of mass energies of √s = 500 GeV. The data represent an integrated luminosity of 8.7 pb^-1 recorded by the STAR detector during the 2009 RHIC run. A comprehensive jet analysis was performed to determine the ideal jet algorithm and jet parameters used in √s = 500 GeV collisions at the STAR detector. The cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass (30 ≤ M_ij ≤ 152 GeV) in the mid rapidity region with a maximum rapidity range of |y_max| ≤ 0.8. This result shows agreement with theoretical next-to-leading order pQCD calculations, motivating the use of dijet asymmetries at STAR to further constrain the shape of Δg(x).

Recommended Citation

Webb, Grant D., "THE DIJET CROSS SECTION MEASUREMENT IN PROTON-PROTON COLLISIONS AT A CENTER OF MASS ENERGY OF 500 GEV AT STAR" (2014). Theses and Dissertations--Physics and Astronomy. 20.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/physastron_etds/20