Perturbative and non-perturbative interactions between heavy quarks and quark-gluon plasma within a unified approach

Abstract

While perturbative QCD is sufficient for understanding the color, mass and energy dependences of parton energy loss and jet quenching at large transverse momentum in heavy-ion collisions, a simultaneous description of heavy flavor nuclear modification factor RAA and elliptic flow coefficient v2 at low and intermediate pT still remains a challenge due to the effects from non-perturbative interactions. In this work, we extend the linear Boltzmann transport model by implementing a generalized Cornell-type potential that incorporates both short-range Yukawa interaction and long-range color confining interaction between heavy quarks and the QGP medium. Combining our new approach for heavy-quark-QGP interaction with a (3+1)-dimensional hydrodynamic model CLVisc for the QGP evolution and a hybrid fragmentation-coalescence model for heavy quark hadronization, we obtain a satisfactory description of heavy meson RAA and v2 from low to intermediate to high pT observed at both RHIC and the LHC. By model-data-comparison, we obtain for the first time the in-medium heavy quark potential from open heavy flavor measurements; the result is in agreement with the lattice QCD calculation. Our study indicates that while jet quenching at high pT is dominated by perturbative QCD interactions, non-perturbative interactions are indispensible for understanding heavy flavor quenching and flow at low and intermediate pT.