Identified particle production in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at RHIC

Measurements of identified particle production with the PHENIX experiment at RHIC have reached a mature state, where a multitude of nuclear systems at different colliding energies have been studied. The discovery configurations of √SNN = 130 and 200 GeV Au+Au collisions have now been supplemented by additional Au+Au and Cu+Cu configurations at various energies, along with baseline p+p and d+Au runs at √SNN = 200 GeV. In this work we present a systematic study of the Cronin effect in d+Au collisions and recent results from p+p collisions. We then proceed to make a critical comparison of pion, kaon and proton production in heavy ion and baseline systems, and discuss the observed nuclear effects on hadron production. (author)