Reconstructing $\pi^0$ Decays at Intermediate Energy Using the MPC-EX Detector at RHIC-PHENIX

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory produces $\pi^0$s that decay into the majority of photons detected by the Pioneering High Energy Nuclear Interaction eXperiment (PHENIX). The Muon Piston Calorimeter (MPC) in PHENIX is a PbWO4 electromagnetic calorimeter situated at forward rapidity (3<$|\eta|$<4). The preshower MPC-EX is a Si-W extension to the MPC that detects the decay photon shower position with higher spatial resolution than the MPC. The lowest energy $\pi^0$s decay into photons that are separated in the MPC while the highest energy $\pi^0$s decay to photons that are reconstructed as a single electromagnetic shower. At intermediate energies, both can happen and fluctuations in the showers are larger than at higher energies. Care must be taken to reconstruct $\pi^0$s at these energies. We will show the current status of the analysis of intermediate energy $\pi^0$s in $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV d+Au collisions.