English

Photon decay in strong magnetic field in heavy-ion collisions

Nuclear Theory 2011-02-21 v2 High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Nuclear Experiment

Abstract

We calculate the photon pair production rate in strong magnetic field created in off-central heavy-ion collisions. Photon decay leads to depletion of the photon yield by a few percent at RHIC and by as much as 20% at the LHC. It also generates a substantial azimuthal asymmetry ("elliptic flow") of the final photon distribution. We estimate v_2~2% at RHIC and v_2~14% at LHC. Photon decay measurements is an important tool for studying the magnetic fields in early stages of heavy-ion collisions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1008.1604,
  title  = {Photon decay in strong magnetic field in heavy-ion collisions},
  author = {Kirill Tuchin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1008.1604},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

6 pages, 3 figures