Abstract
The elliptic and triangular flow coefficients v2 and v3 of prompt D0, D+, and D⁎+ mesons were measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.8) in Pb–Pb collisions at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sNN=5.02TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The D mesons were reconstructed via their hadronic decays in the transverse momentum interval 1<pT<36GeV/c in central (0–10%) and semi-central (30–50%) collisions. Compared to pions, protons, and J/ψ mesons, the average D-meson vn harmonics are compatible within uncertainties with a mass hierarchy for pT≲3GeV/c, and are similar to those of charged pions for higher pT. The coupling of the charm quark to the light quarks in the underlying medium is further investigated with the application of the event-shape engineering (ESE) technique to the D-meson v2 and pT-differential yields. The D-meson v2 is correlated with average bulk elliptic flow in both central and semi-central collisions. Within the current precision, the ratios of per-event D-meson yields in the ESE-selected and unbiased samples are found to be compatible with unity. All the measurements are found to be reasonably well described by theoretical calculations including the effects of charm-quark transport and the recombination of charm quarks with light quarks in a hydrodynamically expanding medium.
Highlights
The formation of a strongly coupled colour-deconfined medium in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions, called quark–gluon plasma (QGP), has been established both at RHIC and LHC energies [1,2]
The elliptic and triangular flow of D0, D+, and D∗+ mesons was measured with the SP method at midrapidity (| y| < 0.8) as a function of pT√in central (0–10%) and semi-central (30–50%) Pb– Pb collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV
Compared to other particle species, the average D-meson vn harmonics were found to be compatible with the hypothesis of a mass hierarchy for pT 3 GeV/c as observed for light-flavour hadrons [39]
Summary
The formation of a strongly coupled colour-deconfined medium in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions, called quark–gluon plasma (QGP), has been established both at RHIC and LHC energies [1,2]. The measurement of the D-meson spectra in events with different average eccentricity provides information about the possible correlation between the radial and elliptic flows at low-intermediate pT, and the charm-quark energy loss and the elliptic flow at high pT. The pT-differential yields and v2 of D mesons were measured by the ALICE Collaboration in samples of events selected on the basis of the average bulk elliptic flow with the ESE technique [48]. In this Letter, the measurement of the non-strange D-meson fl√ow sNN harmonics performed = 5.02 TeV collected on by a large sample ALICE in 2018 of Pb–Pb collisions at is reported. The measurements are compared to theoretical calculations in order to assess information about the participation of the charm quark in the collective motion of the system and its interactions with the QGP constituents
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