First Measurements of Pion Correlations by the PHENIX Experiment

Abstract

First identical-pion correlations measured at RHIC energies by PHENIX are presented. Two analyses with separate detectors, systematics, and statistics provide consistent results. The resulting HBT radii are moderately larger than those measured at lower energies. The $k_t$ dependence of the Bertsch-Pratt HBT radii is also similar to previous measures and is consistent with the conjecture of an expanding source.