Session J13: Minisymposium on Hard Probes of the Quark-Gluon Plasma
10:45 AM–12:33 PM, Sunday, April 13, 2008
Hyatt Regency St. Louis Riverfront (formerly Adam's Mark Hotel), Room: St. Louis F
Sponsoring Unit:
DNP
Chair: Xin-Nian Wang, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Abstract ID: BAPS.2008.APR.J13.5
Abstract: J13.00005 : A Monte Carlo Event Generator for Ultra Peripheral Collisions
11:57 AM–12:09 PM
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Abstract 
Authors:
Joseph Butterworth
(Creighton University)
Spencer Klein
Yury Gorbunov
Joakim Nystrand
Janet Seger
Ultra peripheral collisions occur when the nuclei pass one another without overlapping. The intense electric fields present can be treated as a flux of photons; these photons can interact with the other nucleus, producing a range of particles, including vector mesons (Upsilon, J/Psi, rho, {\ldots}) and pairs of oppositely charged pions. In order to effectively study ultra peripheral collisions at the STAR experiment, a Monte Carlo event generator was created to optimize particle selection criteria and to assess on whether rarer physics processes are possible to study. The FORTRAN program was initially designed in 1995 to simulate ultra-relativistic Au-Au interactions. Since then, changes have been made to the program to fit the needs of newer experiments. I will present the kinds of physics that are modeled by the program such as photonuclear and photon-photon interactions, comparisons to data, and the current and future upgrades being made to the Monte Carlo. The upgrades include the consolidation of versions into C++, additional final states, asymmetric collisions of arbitrary nuclei, and improved expandability.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2008.APR.J13.5