Azimuthal-angle dependence of charged-pion-interferometry measurements with respect to second- and third-order event planes in Au+Au collisions at √[S(NN)]=200 GeV

Phys Rev Lett. 2014 Jun 6;112(22):222301. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.222301. Epub 2014 Jun 3.

Abstract

Charged-pion-interferometry measurements were made with respect to the second- and third-order event plane for Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV. A strong azimuthal-angle dependence of the extracted Gaussian-source radii was observed with respect to both the second- and third-order event planes. The results for the second-order dependence indicate that the initial eccentricity is reduced during the medium evolution, which is consistent with previous results. In contrast, the results for the third-order dependence indicate that the initial triangular shape is significantly reduced and potentially reversed by the end of the medium evolution, and that the third-order oscillations are largely dominated by the dynamical effects from triangular flow.