Observation of Charge-Dependent Azimuthal Correlations in p-Pb Collisions and Its Implication for the Search for the Chiral Magnetic Effect

Abstract

Charge-dependent azimuthal particle correlations with respect to the second-order event plane in p-Pb and PbPb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV have been studied with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurement is performed with a three-particle correlation technique, using two particles with the same or opposite charge within the pseudorapidity range broken vertical bar eta broken vertical bar < 2.4, and a third particle measured in the hadron forward calorimeters (4.4 < broken vertical bar eta broken vertical bar < 5). The observed differences between the same and opposite sign correlations, as functions of multiplicity and. gap between the two charged particles, are of similar magnitude in p-Pb and PbPb collisions at the same multiplicities. These results pose a challenge for the interpretation of charge-dependent azimuthal correlations in heavy ion collisions in terms of the chiral magnetic effect.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland)Academy of Finland (Finland)MSIP (Republic of Korea)NRF (Republic of Korea)COLCIENCIAS (Colombia)