D meson nuclear modification factor and vn harmonics in PbPb collisions at 5.02 TeV with CMS

Jian Sun

doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2017.05.060

Abstract

The measurement of heavy flavor production is a powerful tool to study the properties of the high-density QCD medium created in heavy-ion collisions as heavy quarks are sensitive to the transport properties of the medium and may interact with the QCD matter differently from light quarks. In particular, the comparison between the nuclear modification factors (RAA) of light- and heavy-flavor particles provides insights into the expected flavor dependence of in-medium parton energy loss. Furthermore, azimuthal anisotropy coefficients (vn) of heavy-flavor particles provide insights into the degree of the thermalization of the bulk medium at low pT, and unique information about the path length dependence of heavy quark energy loss at high pT. Using the large pp and PbPb samples collected at 5.02 TeV during the 2015 LHC run, high precision open charm measurements are performed with the CMS detector in a wide transverse momentum range. This allows us to set an important milestone in our understanding of the interactions between charm quarks and the medium. In this talk, the most recent results of the RAA, v2 and v3 of prompt D0 mesons in PbPb collisions at 5.02 TeV are presented and compared to the same results for charged particles (dominated by light flavor hadrons) at the same energy.

Highlights

Heavy quarks are produced primarily at early stages of heavy-ion collisions due to their large masses, and experience the full evolution of quark gluon plasma produced in such collisions and take important information about the medium
The measurement of heavy flavor production is a powerful tool to study the properties of QGP medium as heavy quarks are sensitive to the transport properties of the medium and may interact with the QCD matter differently from light quarks
The comparison between the nuclear modification factors (RAA) of light- and heavy-flavor particles provides insights into the expected flavor dependence of in-medium parton energy loss. Detailed measurements of both production and azimuthal anisotropy in the final state for charm and bottom hadrons can supply crucial information for understanding the properties of the strongly interacting QCD matter

Summary

Introduction

Heavy quarks are produced primarily at early stages of heavy-ion collisions due to their large masses, and experience the full evolution of quark gluon plasma produced in such collisions and take important information about the medium. The comparison between the nuclear modification factors (RAA) of light- and heavy-flavor particles provides insights into the expected flavor dependence of in-medium parton energy loss.

Results

Conclusion