The fluctuation energy exchange of a heavy quark in a collisional quark–gluon plasma

Abstract

The polarization and fluctuation chromoelectromagnetic fields will be produced at the same time when a heavy quark travels through the quark–gluon plasma (QGP). These fields exerting in return on the heavy quark will cause energy loss to it. Collisions are one of the main sources of dissipation and are responsible for driving a system to approach equilibrium. We address the collision effects on the fluctuation energy exchange of the heavy quark in the medium. For this purpose, we apply the dielectric functions derived from the kinetic theory associated with the BGK collisional kernel which determine the fluctuation energy exchange. In that approach, the collision rate depicting the collision effects is embedded in the dielectric functions. Numerical results show that compared to the collisionless case, the collision rate remarkably augments the fluctuation energy gain.