  A study is reported of the same- and opposite-sign charge-dependent azimuthal
correlations with respect to the event plane in Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV.
The charge multiplicity asymmetries between the up/down and left/right
hemispheres relative to the event plane are utilized. The contributions from
statistical fluctuations and detector effects were subtracted from the
(co-)variance of the observed charge multiplicity asymmetries. In the mid- to
most-central collisions, the same- (opposite-) sign pairs are preferentially
emitted in back-to-back (aligned on the same-side) directions. The charge
separation across the event plane, measured by the difference, $\Delta$,
between the like- and unlike-sign up/down $-$ left/right correlations, is
largest near the event plane. The difference is found to be proportional to the
event-by-event final-state particle ellipticity (via the observed second-order
harmonic $v^{\rm obs}_{2}$), where $\Delta=(1.3\pm1.4({\rm
stat})^{+4.0}_{-1.0}({\rm syst}))\times10^{-5}+(3.2\pm0.2({\rm
stat})^{+0.4}_{-0.3}({\rm syst}))\times10^{-3}v^{\rm obs}_{2}$ for 20-40% Au+Au
collisions. The implications for the proposed chiral magnetic effect are
discussed.
