J/psi production versus centrality, transverse momentum, and rapidity in Au+Au collisions at square root sNN=200 GeV

Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Jun 8;98(23):232301. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.232301. Epub 2007 Jun 4.

Abstract

The PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has measured J/psi production for rapidities -2.2<y<2.2 in Au+Au collisions at square root sNN=200 GeV. The J/psi invariant yield and nuclear modification factor RAA as a function of centrality, transverse momentum, and rapidity are reported. A suppression of J/psi relative to binary collision scaling of proton-proton reaction yields is observed. Models which describe the lower energy J/psi data at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron invoking only J/psi destruction based on the local medium density predict a significantly larger suppression at RHIC and more suppression at midrapidity than at forward rapidity. Both trends are contradicted by our data.