Recent ALICE results on quarkonium production in nuclear collisions

Abstract

Quarkonium production has long been regarded as a potential probe of deconfinement in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Recently, the production of J/ψ via regeneration within the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) or at the phase boundary has been identified as an important ingredient for the interpretation of quarkonium production results from lead-lead collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Quarkonium polarization could also be used to investigate the properties of the hot and dense medium created at LHC energies, as well as the initial stages of the heavy-ion collision. In this contribution, the latest ALICE quarkonium results are presented and discussed. These include, among others, the nuclear modification of (prompt, non-prompt and inclusive) J/ψ, the ψ(2S) production, and the J/ψ polarization, all measured in lead-lead collisions at the LHC. The results are compared with available theoretical model calculations.