Harmonic decomposition of two particle angular correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV

Angular correlations between unidentified charged trigger (t) and associated (a) particles are measured by the ALICE experiment in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV for transverse momenta 0.25 < p(T)(t,a) < 15 GeV/c, where p(T)(t) > p(T)(a). The shapes of the pair correlation distributions are studied in a variety of collision centrality classes between 0 and 50% of the total hadronic cross section for particles in the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 1.0. Distributions in relative azimuth Delta phi equivalent to phi(t) - phi(a) are analyzed for |Delta eta| equivalent to |eta(t) - eta(a)| > 0.8, and are referred to as "long-range correlations". Fourier components V-n Delta equivalent to < cos(n Delta phi)> are extracted from the long-range azimuthal correlation functions. If particle pairs are correlated to one another through their individual correlation to a common symmetry plane, then the pair anisotropy V-n Delta (p(T)(t), p(T)(a)) is fully described in terms of single-particle anisotropies v(n)(p(T)) as V-n Delta(p(T)(t), p(T)(a)) = v(n)(p(T)(t))v(n)(p(T)(a)). This expectation is tested for 1 <= n <= 5 by applying a global fit of all V-n Delta(p(T)(t), p(T)(a)) to obtain the best values v(n){GF}(p(T)). It is found that for 2 <= n <= 5, the fit agrees well with data up to p(T)(a) similar to 3-4 GeV/c, with a trend of increasing deviation as p(T)(t) and p(T)(a) are increased or as collisions become more peripheral. This suggests that no pair correlation harmonic can be described over the full 0.25 < p(T) < 15 GeV/c range using a single v(n)(p(T)) curve: such a description is however approximately possible for 2 <= n <= 5 when p(T)(a) < 4 GeV/c. For the n = 1 harmonic, however, a single v(1)(p(T)) curve is not obtained even within the reduced range p(T)(a) < 4 GeV/c. (C) 2012 CERN. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.